In this case study, the medium-sized enterprise is looking for ways to achieve sustainable development. Following the Industry 4.0 trend could get the enterprise closer. The rate of information technology usage is very low in the enterprise. The enterprise’s problem is the long production of orders. The orders had to be rejected many times because the customer’s time limit could not be met. The major cause seems to be two environmentally insufficient and obsolete machines in the blast cleaning operation. These machines are replaced in the production by one new wheel blast machine. However, the production process must be redesigned and the layout changed to use this machine effectively. This redesign is difficult to verify and evaluate in the pilot plant experiment. Simulation is the most suitable tool to do it quickly and relatively easily. The ExtendSim simulation program creates a real production process model and then applies the redesign of this process in the model. The model must be thoroughly verified concerning the real production process to not distort the results. The result of the redesign of the production process is the reduction of the production duration by almost 50% and elimination of two environmentally insufficient and obsolete machines. Improved machine blast cleaning has also significantly reduced the utilization of blast cleaning. Spared capacities can be used for pre-production or otherwise for the profit-making of the enterprise. However, a new bottleneck appeared elsewhere in the production process by removing the previous one. The innovation passed through barriers, and Slovak small and medium enterprises started building sustainable development. The enterprise still must focus on further innovation, and more investment will be needed to achieve the final sustainable development goal.

Vibrations caused by blasting works have an impact not only on buildings but also the internal environment of the buildings. If these buildings are situated in the surroundings of quarries, the citizens can perceive these vibrations negatively. By applying an appropriate millisecond timing interval, it is possible to lower the intensity of vibrations to the levels that the citizens will not perceive as negative effects inside the buildings. The limit values for this vibration intensity have not been defined to date. For the protection of the building from the vibrations, normative values of the particle velocity and frequency were determined. Hygienic standards for the inhabitants of the housing were applied, which assessed the impact of the vibration on humans through the measurement of the vibration acceleration in the housing. In this article, the results of the research carried out in Trebejov Quarry are presented. The experimental blasts carried out in Trebejov Quarry proved that the reduction in the vibration intensity under the value 2 mm.s⁻¹ led to the satisfaction of the inhabitants.

In this study, based on a real fire in an object intended to produce electricity, the method of fire extinguishing by fire protection units with components of the Integrated Rescue System was characterised. The goal was to examine the effectiveness of extinguishing the mentioned type of fire in cooperation with other components of the Integrated Rescue System and the effectiveness of the intervention, where the priority task was the rescue of people from a fire-endangered building with forces and resources deployed in the vicinity of the fire. In the study, the time factor of the arrival of individual components, material and technical equipment, and security was also considered and, based on calculations, the possibilities of the starting units to extinguish the fire and ensure the evacuation of people in the building. Subsequently, after evaluating and examining all possibilities, conclusions were chosen and determined from the results at the place of the intervention and recommendations were defined for future fires in similar objects.

There are two important territories in Slovakia with functioning gas well operations: the Eastern Slovak Lowland and the Vienna Basin. This article focuses on the creation of electronic monitoring and graphical mapping of the current technical conditions of gas wells in the Eastern Slovak Lowland. An analysis of the gas wells’ current state in the terrain is available. The aim of the article is to draw attention to the current state of gas wells, such as the insufficient processing of gas wells, the lack of summary and uniform records concerning them, and the lack of an electronic system for monitoring the technical security of the wells. The scientific contribution of this article lies in its ability to interpret and address operational problems related to gas wells. Through analogy, the step algorithm expresses the possibility of also using gas wells for oil, geothermal and hydrogeological wells. The intention was to highlight the importance of the need to create a database for the security and strategic needs of the state regarding the storage of natural gas. As of yet, no computer or graphic system has been used in Slovakia to monitor, unify and clarify the actual technical condition of gas wells. Using the ArcGIS electronic and graphical software tool, the mapping and recording of gas wells was carried out in the area under investigation. The mapping was completed with the mentioned technical patterns. These patterns have the information found on individual gas wells. After the information is added to the database, this mapping can also be carried out in another important area with functioning gas wells, such as in the Vienna Basin, which could be another theme for further research in this area.

High pressures during drilling with the aim to obtain hydrocarbon formations (oil and natural gas) can cause an uncontrolled eruption. Therefore, it is necessary to look for warning signs of kicks and control the formation strength. The aim of this article is to show a real process of fracture pressures during a gas kick and their possible solutions. The evaluation of the lithological structure of formations and the correct evaluation of seismic measurements are closely related to the issue of fracture pressures. The contribution also includes software data for detailed analysis and calculations of formations pressures. We point out the incorrect calculation of the geological lithology and employ a casing shoe; it is a risky decision to use a formation integrity test as opposed to a leak of the test. Based on theoretical knowledge, we compared and verified the recalculation of pressure coefficients during the gas kick. In our case, we propose possible solutions for cracking a casing shoe. We point out the importance of correct calculations for a safe and economical purpose. In this post, a theoretical example was shown where the system of casings was correctly designed, and based on this, we obtained ideal values of the fracture pressures. In the end, we proposed an algorithm to simplify work procedures during well control to minimize formation pressures against the deposit and casing shoe.