Porosity is one of the major defects in aluminum castings, which results is a decrease of a mechanical properties. Porosity in aluminum alloys is caused by solidification shrinkage and gas segregation. The final amount of porosity in aluminium castings is mostly influenced by several factors, as amount of hydrogen in molten aluminium alloy, cooling rate, melt temperature, mold material, or solidification interval. This article deals with effect of chemical composition on porosity in Al-Si aluminum alloys. For experiment was used Pure aluminum and four alloys: AlSi6Cu4, AlSi7Mg0, 3, AlSi9Cu1, AlSi10MgCu1.

Wonji Shoa Sugar Estate (WSSE), located in the flood plain of the Awash River (Ethiopia), has been under long-term (>60 years) irrigation, industrial activities and agro-chemical usage. In this study, the hydrochemical properties of ground-water bodies available at WSSE have been characterized for quality compositions. Water samples were collected from groundwater monitoring piezometers distributed in the sugarcane plantation and then analysed for physico-chemical quality parameters (pH, EC,major cations and anions) following standard procedures. Other chemical indices (e.g., total dissolved solids (TDS),total hardness(TH),magnesium absorption ratio(MAR), base exchange (r1), meteoric genesis(r2)) were de-rived from the measured water quality parameters. The compositional variability and groundwater classification has been presented using the Box and Piper plots. The potential sources of minerals were suggested for each of the considered water sources based on their quality characteristics. Both trilinear Piper plot and meteoric genesis index revealed that groundwaterof the area is shallow meteoric water percolation type with a changing of hydrochemical facies and mixing trend. Ground-water of the area, is group 1 (Ca-Mg-HCO3) type, with no dominant cations and HCO3 are the dominant anions. Overall, the study result elucidates that the chemical composition of GW of the area showed spatial variability depending upon the variations in hydrochemical inputs from natural processes and/or anthropogenic activities within the region. The local an-thropogenic processes could be discharges from sugar factory, domestic sewage and agricultural activities.

The cenospheres are formed during the mineral transformation stage in coal combustion. Their content in fly ashes from the combustion of different types of coals varies over a rather wide range from 0.01 to 35.6 wt.%. The cenospheres has three main elements, silicon, aluminium and iron, the oxides of which account for about 89% of the material. Mineralogical analysis using XRD shows that as-received cenospheres mainly contain mullite and quartz as main mineralogical phases. The size of cenospheres varies between 5 and 500 [...], as the most common dimension is 20-300 [...]. The cenospheres are characterized by a low bulk density (0.2-0.8 g/cm3) and can be easily separated by gravitational methods in the form of a concentrate in aqueous media or collected from a water surface of lagoons intended for storage of ash and slag waste. The unique properties of these hollow microspheres make them amenable for wide applications. For example the cenospheres can be used to produce various lightweight construction products, including lightweight cements and aggregates in lightweight concrete.

Changes in the amount of basic nitrogen fractions (total, protein and non-protein nitrogen) were studied in an annual cycle. Significant seasonal changes were noted, minima occurring in Antarctic winter and maxima during spring-summer season. These changes are due mainly to high fluctuations of water content in krill in the annual cycle.

The cement production process is associated with the emission of dust. These are mainly CKD (cement kiln dust) and BPD (by-pass dust), classified as wastes from group 10 – Wastes from thermal processes, subgroups 10 and 13 – wastes from manufacture of cement, lime and plaster and articles and products made from them. Cement kiln dust is a waste of variable composition and properties, which makes it a difficult material to recover. The main directions of recovery presented in the world literature indicate the use of dust from cement kilns in cement, mortar and concrete production, the production of bricks and in order to improve soil quality and wastewater treatment. Factors affecting chemical and phase compositions of dust from cement kilns are the reason why each waste should be analyzed individually. The paper presents the results of the analysis of the cement kiln dust after dedusting cement kilns and two bypass dusts. Analysis of the chemical composition has shown significant concentrations of chlorine, potassium and calcium in all wastes. The content of: Si, S, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Pb, and Bi has also been confirmed. The analyzed dusts were characterized by the presence of carbonates (calcite, dolomite, and arcanite), quartz, alite, belite, sylvine, anhydrite, and portlandite in their phase composition. The leachates which were characterized by an alkaline reaction. In terms of leachability, high concentrations of chlorine ions in the analyzed dust leachates were confirmed, which significantly limits their use.

Blast furnace and cupola furnace are furnace aggregates used for pig iron and cast iron production. Both furnace aggregates work on very similar principles: they use coke as the fuel, charge goes from the top to down, the gases flow against it, etc. Their construction is very similar (cupola furnace is usually much smaller) and the structures of pig iron and cast iron are very similar too. Small differences between cast iron and pig iron are only in carbon and silicon content. The slags from blast furnace and cupola furnace are very similar in chemical composition, but blast furnace slag has a very widespread use in civil engineering, primarily in road construction, concrete and cement production, and in other industries, but the cupola furnace slag utilization is minimal. The contribution analyzes identical and different properties of both kinds of slags, and attempts to explain the differences in their uses. They are compared by the contribution of the blast furnace slag cooled in water and on air, and cupola furnace slag cooled on air and granulated in water. Their chemical composition, basicity, hydraulicity, melting temperature and surface were compared to explain the differences in their utilization.

In order to help develop a better understanding of relevant catchment processes, this paper presents the changes in physico-chemical features of the Wieprz River water during the spring snowmelt flood of 2006. The obtained results showed that the groundwater sampled from the springs and the water sampled from the river had a similar and quite stable composition of the basic physicochemical features in the period of solely groundwater feeding (the river is fed only with the water coming from underground sources). The physico-chemical composition of river water during snowmelt depended on the contribution of surface runoff in total outflow and the flood phase. The correlation coefficients between the discharge in the Wieprz River and the concentrations in the studied indices were significantly negative: pH, SEC, HCO3, Ca, Mg, Na, Sr, SiO2, Cl, SO4, F. Significantly positive correlations associated with an increase in discharge were observed in the case of: K, NO3, NO2, total organic carbon, chemical oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand. Step and bidirectional responses were noted during the snowmelt flood in the case of the content of NH4 and PO4.

The electromagnetic field (EMF) is an environmental factor affecting living organisms. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effect of an extremely low frequency electro- magnetic field (ELF-EMF) on selected chemical components of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The FTIR method provides information on the chemical structure of compounds through identification and analysis of functional groups. The honeybees were treated with EMF at a frequency of 50 Hz and magnetic induction of 1.6 mT for 2, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours. Analysis of FTIR spectra showed that EMF exposure longer than 2 hours induced changes in the structure of chemical compounds, especially in the IR region corresponding to DNA, RNA, phospholipids and protein vibrations, compared to control samples (bees not EMF treated). The results confirm the effect of EMF on bees depending on the duration of exposure.

Changes in chemical composition of the surface waters percolated through the soil and running off from the penguin rookeries are described. It was found, that the chemical composition of waters flowing from the breeding places depends on the size and rate of precipitation, and also on the location of rookeries. The longer and more complicated is the run off route of waters from the terrain of rookery, the more diluted are the solutions that reach the sea. In such case a significant part of phosphorus contained in the fecal materials may be retained on land, while most of ammonia volatilizates into the atmosphere.

Bacterial, enzymatic and chemical analyses pointed to active microbiological mineralization and transformation of penguin excrements at "maritime Antarctic". The following physiological groups of bacteria were found: proteolitic, amonifying, nitrifying, lecithin degrading, Са3(Р04 ) 2 dissolving, chitin degrading and spore forming ones. The number of molds was not significant. The nitrate reducers and N2 — fixing bacteria were not detected. About 50% of С and N were volatilized during three weeks. Some parts of N — NH3 was oxidized to N — NO3 in surface layer of the soil. The content of P increased during degradation of penguin excrements. About 1/3 part of total organic carbon content in bird excrements residues was derived from chitin.

The surface properties of particles emitted from six selected coal-fired power and heating plants in Poland have been studied in this work for the first time. Samples were collected beyond the control systems. Surface composition of the size-distributed particles was obtained by photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

The reflection of the smallest, submicron particles was also measured to calculate their specific/mass absorption. The surface layer of the emitted particles was clearly dominated by oxygen, followed by silicon and carbon. The sum of the relative concentration of these elements was between 85.1% and 91.1% for coarse particles and 71.8–93.4% for fine/submicron particles. Aluminum was typically the fourth or fifth, or at least the sixth most common element. The mass absorption of the submicron particles emitted from the studied plants ranged from 0.02 m2g-1 to 0.03 m2g-1. Only specific absorption obtained for the “Nowy Wirek” heating plant was significantly higher than in other studied plants probably because the obsolete fire grate is used in this heating plant.

The obtained results suggest that the power/heating-plant-emitted fine particles contain less carbonaceous material/elemental carbon on their surfaces than those that are typical in urban air.

It appears from the analysis of the chemical composition of macroalgae of the Antarctic: Adenocystis utricularis and Himantothallus grandifolius (brown algae), Leptosomia simplex (red algae) and Monostroma hariotti (green algae) that the examined algae, brown algae in particular (mainly Adenocystis utricularis), are rich in mineral components, primarily: sodium, potassium, hologens, and structural polysaccharides. Organic substances, such as: proteins, amino acids, lipids, fatty acids, saccharides reduction, chlorophylls and carotenoids, occur in the analysed algae in quantities much smaller in comparison with taxonomically similar macroalgae derived from marine environment having more favourable hydrochemical and climatic conditions.

Concentrations and elemental composition of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM2.5-10) ambient particles,

at two sampling points located at the same urban background sites, were investigated. The points were 20 m

distant from each other and at various heights (2 and 6 m) above the ground. A dichotomous sampler, equipped

with a virtual impactor, and a cascade impactor were used to sample the dust. An X-ray fluorescence spectrometer was used in the elemental analyses. The investigations revealed heterogeneity of the spatial distribution

and the elemental composition of suspended dust at the investigated urban background site. Coarse dust, whose

concentration at 2.0 m above the ground was affected by secondary emission from roads, soil and other local

low-level sources in some periods, appeared more heterogeneous.

Requirements for environmental protection, such as reducing emissions of CO2, NOx, and SO2 are the reason for growing interest in new technologies for coal utilization. One of the most promoted technologies is coal gasification. However, like any technology using coal, this process produces wastes – fly ash and slag. Due to the small number of coal gasification plants, these wastes are poorly understood. Therefore, before making decisions on the introduction of coal gasification technology, a waste utilization plan should be developed. This also applies to the slags formed in underground coal gasification technology. One of the options under consideration is to use these wastes as a component in mineral binders of a pozzolanic character. This paper compares the properties of two types of slags. The first slag (MI) comes from fuel gasification, and the second slag (BA) is from underground coal gasification. Slag MI can be classified as basic slag with a chemical composition similar to that of silica fly ash from coal combustion. Slag BA – because of its four times greater content of calcium oxide – belongs to a group of weakly basic slags. The main and only mineral component of slag MI is glassy phase. Slag BA forms – besides the glassy phase – crystalline phases such as mullite (3 Al2O3 · 2 SiO2), quartz (-SiO2), anorthite (Ca(Al2Si2O8)), gehlenit (Ca2Al[(Si,Al)2O7]), wollastonite (Ca3[Si3O9]), 2CaO · SiO2, and 4 CaO · Al2O3 · Fe2O3. The results of analyses have shown that slag BA has better pozzolanic properties (the pozzolanic activity index is 75.1% at 90 days) than slag MI (69.9% at 90 days) The preliminary studies lead to the conclusion that these slags are characterized by very low pozzolanic activity and cannot be used as a pozzolanic material.