Development of a new technology for the recovery of waste slurry into new products (in Slovak)

Ľubomír ŠOOŠ, Miloš MATÚŠ, Marcela POKUSOVÁ, Jozef BÁBICS, Stanislav ŽIARAN, Ondrej CHLEBO
Institute of Production Engineering and Quality, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia, e-mail: lubomir.soos@stuba.sk 

During the recovery of waste from old vehicles, various waste streams are created. Most waste can be recovered with more or less success. Among those problematic wastes is plasticine. It has a large volume, low weight, and currently there is no high-efficiency technology for the recovery of this waste and the production of new products. The aim of the presented contribution is the analysis of the state of processing, research, development, design and testing of test samples as a basis for the production of a stand for the production of new 3D products made from foam waste. In the introductory part, the contribution contains an analysis of the amount of plastic waste generated in the automotive industry. It describes the current state of management of the mentioned waste, the possibilities of its use in the production of new products. The core of the contribution is the selection of suitable technology, production and verification experimental measurement and evaluation of the produced test samples at different temperatures, pressures and length of endurance.

Keywords: foam, processing, recycling

Textile waste from the automotive industry as a starting material for the production of sound insulation products  (in Slovak)

Miroslav BADIDA, Tibor DZURO, Kristián PÁSTOR, Lýdia SOBOTOVÁ, Marek MORAVEC, Miriama PIŇOSOVÁ

Technical University of Kosice, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Business Management and Environmental Engineering, Park Komenského 5, 042 00 Kosice, Slovakia
e-mail: miroslav.badida@tuke.sk

The contribution focuses on the possibility of using materials from components from cars after their useful life. Emphasis is placed on problem components from the point of view of their recycling, respectively material recovery. Attention is focused on textile waste from cars. Selected acoustic descriptors that could predict the use of this material as a suitable material for various noise reduction applications are investigated. Compact and free-flowing bulk materials are analyzed.

Keywords: textile waste, automotive industry, anti-noise panel, impedance tube.

Fire properties of new wooden composites containing waste plastics from automobiles (in Slovak)

Iveta ČABALOVÁ, Anna DARABOŠOVÁ, Martin ZACHAR, Jozef KRILEK, Vladimír MANCEL, Mária OSVALDOVÁ, Roman RÉH
Faculty of Wood Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Technology, Technical University in Zvolen, T.G. Masaryka 24, 96001 Zvolen, Slovakia, e-mail:cabalova@tuzvo.sk

Wood-plastic composites are materials that are made from wood and synthetic polymers and have a number of advantages, such as high weather resistance and long life. The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of plastic filler, waste from cars (painted, unpainted bumpers, fuel tanks) on selected fire-technical properties of wood-plastic composites. From the fire-technical properties, the ignition temperature, mass burning rate and calorific value were evaluated. The results show that the ignition temperature and the average time to initiation of the composites ranged from 260 s to 308 s and the average temperature from 433°C to 443°C. In the case of particleboard containing unpainted bumpers and fuel tanks, the time to initiation decreased proportionally with increasing filler concentration. Considering the results of the research, it is necessary to take into account their fire resistance and to increase it, apply protective means incorporated either inside the material or on its surface.

Keywords: wood-plastic composites, waste plastics, automotive industry, ignition temperature, the mass burning rate, fire safety.

Vibration and noise of machinery components at the end of their lifetime (in Slovak)

Stanislav ŽIARAN, Ondrej CHLEBO, Ľubomír ŠOOŠ
Institute of Production Engineering and Quality, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia, e-mail: stanislav.ziaran@stuba.sk

The end of the lifetime cycle of machinery, vehicles, outdated technology and processing conditions of components, or the use of unsuitable materials contribute to their increase in vibration and noise, as well as to the increase in recycling and non-recycling waste. The article deals with determining the operating condition of machinery and its components by processing trend characteristics through measuring mechanical vibration and noise, which objective determine the end of the lifetime cycle of machine components. It focuses mainly on the area of spinning headstocks and proposes a methodology for permanent monitoring of the dynamic behaviour of the bearings of spinning units. The elaborate the methodology for monitoring bearings leads to an increase in the service lifetime of machinery components and to the creation of a more pleasant environment in terms of decreasing the noise load of employees. It analyses the causes and frequency distribution of vibration and noise as well as their decibel values.

Keywords: lifetime, noise, vibration, bearings, trend characteristics

Electricity costs as a determinant of sustainability and investment attractiveness in the automotive industry (in Slovak)

Stanislav ZÁBOJNÍK
Department of Economics, Faculty PEDAS, University of Zilina, Univerzitná 8215/1, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia, e-mail: stanislav.zabojnik@uniza.sk

Since the pandemic period, but especially the war in Ukraine, energy costs have been of increasing importance in industrial production, including the automotive industry. The article analyzes the importance of energy costs in creating added value for the automotive industry in Slovakia and European countries. Applying the methodology of unit energy costs, specifically for the field of electricity, the author quantifies the importance of electricity costs and its impact on the competitiveness of the automotive industry. As for Slovakia, the parameter is below 3%, which makes unit energy costs the only secondary important factor for the sustainability of automotive production in Slovakia (comparing labor costs or labor productivity). The potential change is related to e-mobility and batteries production, whose energy intensity and the importance of electricity prices are considerably higher.

Keywords: unit energy costs, export competitiveness,  automotive industry, electricity costs

Identifying waste problems using quality tools (in Slovak)

Barbara CIECINSKA^a, Aleksandra MAJKA^a, Lýdia SOBOTOVÁ^b*
Rzeszow University of Technology, Powstanców Warszawy 12, 35-959 Rzeszów, Polsko

^a Rzeszow University of Technology, Powstanców Warszawy 12, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland
^b Technical University of Kosice, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Business Management and Environmental Engineering, Park Komenského 5, 042 00 Kosice, Slovakia
^* corresponding author: e-mail: lydia.sobotova@tuke.sk

Environmental management deals with reducing the negative impact of production on the environment. Identification of negative factors can sometimes be difficult due to low awareness of plant employees, lack of motivation, inadequate work organization or ineffective management. The article presents an example of the application of tools known from quality management to support environmental management in a selected machinery enterprise. An employee survey, E-FMEA and 5Whys were proposed for identifying various problems related to production nuisance, and waste nuisance in particular. The effectiveness of teamwork, the joint pursuit of the goal of minimizing waste, including hazardous waste, was pointed out. The 5S method was discussed as a way to organize workstations and facilitate continuous improvement in the context of waste.

Keywords: quality tools, E-FMEA, 5Whys, 5S method, waste management

Assessment of the environmental impacts of wood plastic composites

Helena HYBSKÁ, Dagmar SAMEŠOVÁ, Martina MORDÁČOVÁ, Mária GREGUŠOVÁ, Paulína MAŠKOVIČOVÁ
Technical University in Zvolen, Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Department of Environmental engineering, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia,
e-mail: hybska@tuzvo.sk, samesova@tuzvo.sk

The best ways to limit the release of plastics, and consequently nanoplastics, into the environment are their reduction, reuse, and primarily recycling. Due to the wide usage of chipboards in both indoors and outdoors, recycling plastic waste from the automotive industry as a substitute for wood in chipboards is one of the current methods of their utilization. This article addresses the assessment of the impacts of wood-plastic composites on aquatic and terrestrial environments. Nine chipboard samples were tested, manufactured with 10%, 15% and 20% proportion of ground granulate from painted and unpainted bumpers and fuel tanks, from which the aqueous leachates were prepared. The pH and COD were determined in the aquatic leachates. The effect of the aqueous leachates from the wood-plastic composites samples was monitored by ecotoxicological tests with the test organisms Lemna minor and Daphnia magna. The results confirmed that an increased content of plastic waste in chipboard leads to a decrease in the content of organic matter in the aqueous leachates in comparison to chipboard without wood replacement.

Key words: automotive industry, plastic composites, chipboard, ecotoxicological tests, environment

Plastic medical waste: Energy use and environmental burden (in Slovak)

Nikola ČAJOVÁ KANTOVÁ, Radovan NOSEK, Alexander ČAJA, Alexander BACKA, Martin VANTÚCH
University of Žilina, Research Centre, Department of Power Engineering, Univerzitna 1, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia, e-mail: nikola.cajovakantova@uniza.sk

Plastic waste is still increasing and burdening our environment. The enormous burden on the environment arose mainly during the COVID-19 pandemic when the amount of plastic used increased significantly (single-used masks, respirators, gloves). Currently, it is necessary to look for other ways to effectively dispose of non-separable plastic waste and use it in other processes. Burning plastic waste can bring certain benefits in the form of energy recovery. Their combustion leads to the production of emissions that negatively affect the environment and human health. This article deals with the energy use of plastic waste in the form of pellets, which were created from spruce sawdust and from 10%, 20% and 50% of plastic waste. The pellets were then combusted, while their emission parameters were measured and their environmental burden was investigated. The concentration of gaseous emissions and particulate matter was evaluated for each sample and compared with the concentration obtained by the combustion of wood pellets without plastic content. Based on the results, it is possible to evaluate that the higher presence of plastic waste in wood pellets negatively affects the production of emissions, especially the production of particulate matter.

Keywords: plastic waste, pellets, combustion, emissions.

Recycling of hydrodehalogenation catalyst used for detoxification of halogenated aromatic contaminants based on circular economy principles

Tomas WEIDLICH, Michal HEGEDÜS, Barbora KAMENICKA
Chemical Technology Group, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Pardubice, Studentska 95, 53210 Pardubice, Czech Republic, e-mail: tomas.weidlich@upce.cz

The presentation deals with the application and facile recycling of commercially available Al-Ni alloy highly effective for the destruction of halogenated recalcitrant aromatic compounds from contaminated aqueous streams. The described destruction of non-biodegradable halogenated aromatic contaminants is based on reductive dehalogenation accompanied by formation of completely dehalogenated biodegradable products even at room temperature and ambient pressure. Mentioned Al-Ni alloy is converted to Raney nickel and soluble aluminate salts during dehalogenation process. Inactivated Raney nickel is efficiently recycled using mechanical activation by milling with Al powder with subsequent thermal processing. The Al-Ni based hydrodehalogenation reaction was applied to the samples of real wastewater showing high efficiency for chlorinated benzenes removal. The recyclable Raney Al-Ni alloy provides an alternative to less efficient bimetallic couples or costly precious metal-based hydrodehalogenation catalysts.

Keywords: hydrodechlorination, chlorobenzoic acid, mechano-thermal synthesis, ball-milling

Analysis of the use of remediation techniques as remedial measures at contaminated sites in the Czech Republic (in Czech)

Zdeněk Suchánek^a, Martin KUBAL^b, Tomáš CAJTHAML^c, Ivana KOPECKÁ^c
a Czech Environmental Information Agency, Moskevská 63, 101 00 Prague 10, Czech Republic, e-mail: zdenek.suchanek@cenia.cz
^b University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Faculty of Environmental Technology, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic, e-mail: kubalm@vscht.cz
^c Charles Univerzity, Faculty of Science, Institute for Environmental Studies, Benátská 2, 128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic, e-mail: tomas.cajthaml@natur.cuni.cz

By analysing the data on used remediation techniques contained in the records of the Contaminated Sites Registration System (SEKM), a statistical overview of remediation techniques was created that can be used for future EU reporting for the purposes of the proposal for the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on soil monitoring and resilience from July 2023. Used remediation techniques were characterized from the point of view of the main contaminants to be removed, the state of remedial measures incl. the year of completion of remediation, the existing priority category of the remediated contaminated site, the area of the site in m² and the estimate of total costs. In accordance with the draft directive, a division into 4 types of remediation techniques was used – physical, biological, chemical remediation techniques and remediation techniques for isolation, containment and monitoring, which include a total of 22 partial remediation techniques. For all 4 types of remediation techniques, a total of 2,131 uses were identified at 1,827 contaminated sites with prescribed remedial measures, of which 1,776 (83.3%) uses fall between 2003 and 2023. There are 627 physical remediation techniques (29.4% of all), biological 90 (4.2%), chemical 618 (29.0%) and isolation, containment and monitoring techniques 796 (37.4%). For the purposes of the presented SEKM data analysis, a methodology was developed for selecting KM records according to keywords - the names of remediation techniques, using two basic tools - "search" and "filtering". For the needs of the expected future reporting on the fulfilment of the proposed directive, it will be necessary to adjust some settings and functionalities of SEKM so that the necessary data, or statistics were easier to process. From the point of view of the degree of their development and application in the practice in the Czech Republic, each analysed type of remediation technique was assigned to the group of common methods (850 uses), progressive methods (89 uses), methods in the development phase (one use) and other methods and techniques (1191 use).

Keywords: remedial techniques/technologies, terminology, contaminated sites, corrective remedial measures

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Autorská práva:

WASTE FORUM, jejímž autorem je CEMC - České ekologické manažerské centrum, podléhá licenci Creative Commons 3.0 Česko. V případě převzetí článku vždy uvádějte WASTE FORUM jako zdroj s prolinkem, děkujeme.

WASTE FORUM, authored by CEMC - Czech Environmental Management Center, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Czechia license. When taking over the article, always mention WASTE FORUM as a source with a link, thank you.

ISSN: 1804-0195