Assessment of coal and ash environmental impact with the use of gamma- and X-ray spectrometry

Gamma-ray spectrometry (GS), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis methods and wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) were applied for the studies of some coal components, e.g., sulphur, light and heavy metal element concentrations and naturally occurring radioactive isotope contents. Hundred fifty coal samples originating mostly from eight different coal mines from Upper Silesian Coal Basin and 150 samples of ash obtained from these coal samples in laboratory by total combustion at final temperature of 820°C, were analyzed. Such comparitive analyses can be helpful in selection of most suitable kind of coal for burning in electrical power and heat plants to minimize the environmental pollution.     

Thermo-mechanical behavior of electrospun thermoplastic polyurethane nanofibers

Analysis of the thermo-mechanical behavior of electrospun thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) block co-polymer nanofibers (glass transition temperature ∼−50 °C) is presented. Upon heating, nanofibers began to massively contract, at ∼70 °C, whereas TPU cast films started to expand. Radial wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) profiles of the nanofibers and the films showed no diffraction peaks related to crystals, whereas their amorphous halo had an asymmetric shape, which can be approximated by two components, associated with hard and soft segments. During heating, noticeable changes in the contribution of these components were only observed in nanofibers. These changes, which were accompanied with an endothermic DSC peak, coinciding with the start of the nanofibers contraction, can be attributed to relaxation of an oriented stretched amorphous phase created during electrospinning. Such structure relaxation becomes possible when a portion of the hard segment clusters, forming an effective physical network, is destroyed upon heating.     

Application of Solid-Phase Extraction and Planar Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection to the Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Dyes in Beverages

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - The objective of this study was the use of solid-phase extraction and planar chromatography with diode-array detection for analysis...     

Properties of biomass vs. coal fly ashes deposited in electrostatic precipitator

This paper presents comparative experimental studies of the morphology and elemental composition of fly ash particles from coal- and biomass-fired boilers, deposited in each stage of 3-stage electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). It was shown that fly ash morphology, its physical properties, and the percentage of elements in the fly ash taken from each stage of ESP depend on the kind of fuel. The biomass fly ash contains many irregular large particles, which are pieces of unburned wood. Bulk density of biomass fly ash is on average lower than that of coal fly ash, and drastically decreases in the second and third stages of ESP. The resistivity, measured at electric field of 4 kV/cm, of fly ash from biomass-fired boilers is much lower than that from coal, and can be below 10² Ω m, whereas from coal, except the first stage, varies in the range from 10⁷ to 10¹⁰ Ω m. The low resistivity of coal fly ash in the first stage of ESP results from high carbon content, and of biomass is probably an effect of additional high percentage of potassium, calcium and sodium sulfates. The percentage of Si, Al, Na, Fe, and Ti in fly ash from coal-fired boilers is much higher than from biomass, and in the opposite, the percentage of Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Mo, S, Cl, and P in biomass ash exceeds that in coal fly ash. Potential detrimental effects of biomass combustion products (salts, acids, tar) leaving the boiler on the construction elements of the electrostatic precipitator, including electrodes and HV insulators have been discussed in this paper. It was concluded that the long-term effects of biomass co-firing on the electrostatic precipitator performance, including the collection efficiency, have not been sufficiently studied in the literature and these issues require further detailed investigations.     

Applying Mechanochemistry for Bottom‐Up Synthesis and Host–Guest Surface Modification of Semiconducting Nanocrystals: A Case of Water‐Soluble β‐Cyclodextrin‐Coated Zinc Oxide

Mechanochemistry has recently emerged as an environmentally friendly solventless synthesis method enabling a variety of transformations including those impracticable in solution. However, its application in the synthesis of well‐defined nanomaterials remains very limited. Here, we report a new bottom‐up mechanochemical strategy to rapid mild‐conditions synthesis of organic ligand‐coated ZnO nanocrystals (NCs) and their further host–guest modification with β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) leading to water‐soluble amide‐β‐CD‐coated ZnO NCs. The transformations can be achieved by either one‐pot sequential or one‐step three‐component process. The developed bottom‐up methodology is based on employing oxo‐zinc benzamidate, [Zn₄(μ₄‐O)(NHOCPh)₆], as a predesigned molecular precursor undergoing mild solid‐state transformation to ZnO NCs in the presence of water in a rapid, clean and sustainable process.     

Quantum Fractals on <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>–Spheres. Clifford Algebra Approach

Using the Clifford algebra formalism we extend the quantum jumps algorithm of the Event Enhanced Quantum Theory (EEQT) to convex state figures other than those stemming from convex hulls of complex projective spaces that form the basis for the standard quantum theory. We study quantum jumps on n-dimensional spheres, jumps that are induced by symmetric configurations of non-commuting state monitoring detectors. The detectors cause quantum jumps via geometrically induced conformal maps (M?bius transformations) and realize iterated function systems (IFS) with fractal attractors located on n-dimensional spheres. We also extend the formalism to mixed states, represented by “density matrices” in the standard formalism, (the n-balls), but such an extension does not lead to new results, as there is a natural mechanism of purification of states. As a numerical illustration we study quantum fractals on the circle (one-dimensional sphere and pentagon), two–sphere (octahedron), and on three-dimensional sphere (hypercubetesseract, 24 cell, 600 cell, and 120 cell). The attractor, and the invariant measure on the attractor, are approximated by the powers of the Markov operator. In the appendices we calculate the Radon-Nikodym derivative of the SO(n + 1) invariant measure on Sⁿ under SO(1, n + 1) transformations and discuss the Hamilton’s “icossian calculus” as well as its application to quaternionic realization of the binary icosahedral group that is at the basis of the 600 cell and its dual, the 120 cell. As a by-product of this work we obtain several Clifford algebraic results, such as a characterization of positive elements in a Clifford algebra as generalized Lorentz “spin–boosts”, and their action as M?bius transformation on n-sphere, and a decomposition of any element of Spin⁺(1, n + 1) into a spin–boost and a spin–rotation, including the explicit formula for the pullback of the SO(n + 1) invariant Riemannian metric with respect to the associated M?bius transformation.     

Gain–loss asymmetry for emerging stock markets

Stock indexes for some European emerging markets are analyzed using an investment-horizon approach. Austrian ATX index and Dow Jones have been studied and compared with several emerging European markets. The optimal investment horizons are plotted as a function of an absolute return value. Gain–loss asymmetry, originally found for American DJIA index, is observed for all analyzed data. It is shown, that this asymmetry has different character for emerging and for established markets. For established markets, gain curve lies typically above loss curve, whereas in the case of emerging markets the situation is just the opposite. We propose a measure quantifying the gain–loss asymmetry that clearly exhibits a difference between emerging and established markets.     

Isoelectric focusing nonporous silica reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry: a three-dimensional liquid-phase protein separation method as applied to the human erythroleukemia cell-line

A liquid-phase three-dimensional protein separation method has been developed that is used to separate the cytosolic fraction of a HEL cell lysate via isoelectric focusing (IEF), nonporous silica (NPS) reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-TOFMS), respectively. Several hundred unique protein molecular weights were observed in a pI range from 4.8 to 8.5 and a mass range from 5 to 85 kDa. Proteins were positively identified by analysis of the pI (+/-0.5 pI units), an intact protein molecular weight (+/-150 ppm), and peptide mass mapping results. Using the molecular weight (MW) and peptide mapping results of identified proteins it was possible to characterize their posttranslational (PTMs) and/or sequence modifications. PTMs were detected on both forms of cytosolic actin, heat shock 90 beta, HINT and alpha-enolase. Sequence modifications or conflicts were observed for beta-and gamma-actin, ATP beta-synthase and heat shock 90 beta. IEF-NPS-RP-HPLC/ESI-TOFMS was used to determine experimental pI, MW and relative hydrophobicity values for each protein detected. This data was used to generate a 2-D pI-MS protein map, where proteins are displayed according to their pI and molecular weight. Protein molecular weight peaks are represented as bands in the 2-D pI-MS image where the gray scale of each band is proportional to the intensity of the protein molecular weight peak. In addition, a third hydrophobicity dimension (%B) was added as the % acetonitrile elution to generate a 3-D pI-MS-%B plot where each protein can be tagged according to three parameters.