The copper droplets contained in the post-processing liquid slag are subjected to the treatment by the complex reagent. The complex reagent has been recently elaborated and patented in frame of the Grant No. PBS3/A5/45/2015. In particular, the complex reagent is dedicated to the post-processing slags coming from the Smelter and Refinery Plant, Głogów, as a product of the direct-to-blister technology performed in the flash furnace. The recently patented complex reagent effectively assists not only in agglomeration, and coagulation but also in the deposition of the copper droplets at the bottom of crucible / furnace as well. The treatment of the postprocessing slags by the complex reagent was performed in the BOLMET S.A. Company as in the industrial conditions which were similar to those usually applied in the KGHM – Polish Copper (Smelter and Refinery Plant, Głogów). The competition between buoyancy force and gravity is studied from the viewpoint of the required deposition of coagulated copper droplets. The applied complex reagent improves sufficiently the surface free energy of the copper droplets. In the result, the mechanical equilibrium between coagulated copper droplets and surrounding liquid slag is properly modified. Finally, sufficiently large copper droplets are subjected to a settlement on the crucible / furnace bottom according to the requirements.

The post-processing slags containing about 0.8 wt.% of copper were subjected to the treatment of a complex reagent. The chemical composition of the complex reagent has been elaborated and patented in frame of the Grant No. PBS3/A5/45/2015. The slags had an industrial origin and were delivered by the Smelter and Refinery Plant, Głogów, as a product of the direct-to-blister technology performed in the flash furnace assisted by the arc furnace. An agglomeration of copper droplets suspended in the liquid slag, their coagulation, and deposition on the bottom of furnace were observed after the treatment this post-processing slag by the mentioned reagent. The treatment of the post-processing slags by the complex reagent was performed in the arc furnace equipped with some additional electrodes situated at the furnace bottom (additional, in comparison with the arc furnace usually applied in the Smelter and Refinery Plant, Głogów). The behaviour of the copper droplets in the liquid slag within the competition between buoyancy force and gravity was studied from the viewpoint of the required deposition of coagulated copper droplets. The applied complex reagent improves sufficiently the surface free energy of the copper droplets. In the result, the mechanical equilibrium between coagulated copper droplets and surrounding liquid slag is properly modified. Eventually, sufficiently large copper droplets are subjected to a settlement on the furnace bottom according to the requirements. The agglomeration and coagulation of the copper droplets were significantly improved by an optimized tilting of the upper electrodes and even by their rotation. Moreover, the settlement was substantially facilitated and improved by the employment of both upper and lower system of electrodes with the simultaneous substitution of the variable current by the direct current.

This study represents the first culture-independent profiling of microbial diversity in post-processing wastewater from underground coal gasification (UCG) processes. Three types of post-processing wastewater, named W1, W2 and W3, were obtained from three UCG processes involving two types of coal and two gasification agents, namely oxygen-enriched air and oxygen. Very high concentrations of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and phenol were detected in the wastewater, classifying it into the fifth toxicity class, indicating very high acute toxicity. The values for the Shannon (H), Ace and Chao1 indices in W2 were the lowest compared to their values in W1 and W3. The dominate phyla were Proteobacteria, contributing 84.64% and 77.92% in W1 and W3, respectively, while Firmicutes dominated in W2 with a contribution of 66.85%. At the class level, Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were predominant in W1 and W3, while Bacilli and Actinobacteria were predominant in W2. Among Bacilli, the Paenibacillus and Bacillus genera were the most numerous. Our results suggest that the main differentiating factor of the bacterial structure and diversity in the wastewater could be the gasification agent. These findings provide new insights into the shifting patterns of dominant bacteria in post-processing wastewater and illustrate the spread of bacteria in industrial contaminated wastewater.

The paper presents new differencing algorithms for post-processing GPS data, using double or triple carrier phase differences and multiple baseline sessions. The characteristic feature of the new algorithms is, that they use full sets of Schreiber's type observation differences with theoretically proved diagonal weight matrices. The proposed estimation models are equivalent to the least squares estimation applied to the original system of un-differenced observation equations. The theoretical ground of the algorithms are the theorems on the properties of differencing equations of Schreiber's type. The theorems become practically useful mainly in case of functional models with triple-differences. In a classical approach, this task was simplified for the sake of necessity of inverting non diagonal covariance matrix, usually of a large dimension. Diagonal weight matrix is also obtained in case of multiple point observation session where correlation of the GPS vectors forces in practice the use of the simplified stochastic models. The proposed method eliminates also the problem of selection of a reference satellite. It is very important especially in case of long observation sessions. The algorithms are applied in professional software for GPS relative positioning.