In the Fugleberget catchment area (Spitsbergen, Hornsund Fiord region) the growing season lasted 95 days, with growth beginning under the snow. In this time shoots of moss Calliergon stramineum reached a mean length of 19 mm and mean biomass of 0.593 mg dry weight. Annual primary production of moss communities amounts to 220-270 g dry weight per square meter per year. In the first year of destruction the dead plant material lost 30-45% of its initial value, after 10 years only ca 25% of the initial amount of organic matter was left.

Flowability of fine, highly cohesive calcium carbonate powder was improved using high energy mixing (dry coating) method consisting in coating of CaCO3 particles with a small amount of Aerosil nanoparticles in a planetary ball mill. As measures of flowability the angle of repose and compressibility index were used. As process variables the mixing speed, mixing time, and the amount of Aerosil and amount of isopropanol were chosen. To obtain optimal values of the process variables, a Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was applied. To match the RSM requirements it was necessary to perform a total of 31 experimental tests needed to complete mathematical model equations. The equations that are second-order response functions representing the angle of repose and compressibility index were expressed as functions of all the process variables. Predicted values of the responses were found to be in a good agreement with experimental values. The models were presented as 3-D response surface plots from which the optimal values of the process variables could be correctly assigned. The proposed, mechanochemical method of powder treatment coupled with response surface methodology is a new, effective approach to flowability of cohesive powder improvement and powder processing optimisation.

The presented article concerns the issue of supporting the ADI cast iron product manufacturing process and presents an IT system dedicated mainly to designers and technologists. Designers can be supported at the stage of selecting types of materials and technologies (including ADI cast iron) to produce products with required properties. Technologists can obtain support in determining the parameters (temperature and chemical) of the ADI cast iron manufacturing process in order to obtain products with specific properties. The system also contains an information resources (standards, documentation, examples) concerning ADI cast iron and products made of it. Examples of use by individual system users are presented as a case study.

In this work Response Surface Methodology and Central Composite Rotatable Design were applied to find high-energy mixing process parameters enabling flow properties of highly cohesive Disulfiram powder to be improved. Experiments were conducted in a planetary ball mill. The response functions were created for an angle of repose and compressibility index as measures of powder flowability. To accomplish an optimisation procedure of mixing process parameters according to a desirability function approach, the results obtained earlier for potato starch, as another cohesive coarse powder, were also employed. Coupling these results with those achieved in a previous work, it was possible to develop some guidelines of practical importance allowing mixing conditions to be predicted towards flow improvement of fine and coarse powders.

The structure of Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) is depend of many factors at individual stages of casting production. There is a rich literature documenting research on the relationship between heat treatment and the resulting microstructure of cast alloy. A significant amount of research is conducted towards the use of IT tools for indications production parameters for thin-walled castings, allowing for the selection of selected process parameters in order to obtain the expected properties. At the same time, the selection of these parameters should make it possible to obtain as few defects as possible. The input parameters of the solver is chemical composition Determined by the previous system module. Target wall thickness and HB of the product determined by the user. The method used to implement the solver is the method of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The developed IT tool was used to determine the parameters of heat treatment, which will ensure obtaining the expected value for hardness. In the first stage, the ADI cast iron heat treatment parameters proposed by the expert were used, in the next part of the experiment, the settings proposed by the system were used. Used of the proposed IT tool, it was possible to reduce the number of deficiencies by 3%. The use of the solver in the case of castings with a wall thickness of 25 mm and 41 mm allowed to indication of process parameters allowing to obtain minimum mechanical properties in accordance with the PN-EN 1564:2012 standard. The results obtained by the solver for the selected parameters were verified. The indicated parameters were used to conduct experimental research. The tests obtained as a result of the physical experiment are convergent with the data from the solver.