This study characterises materials that belong to the group of refuse-derived fuels (RDF). This group of materials regarded as an alternative fuel is derived from industrial, municipal solid and commercial wastes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of waste composition, demonstrate statistically different values and the energy efficiency of the fuel derived from waste. Data on incinerated waste were collected from two different sources. The basic physical and chemical parameters of waste include density and water content. The lower heating value (LHV) of waste, chlorine concentration and ash content of two groups of incinerated waste were also evaluated and compared for a given period of time (one year, with monthly breakdown). Statistical analysis indicated the differences in the combustion of waste groups, visualized by box plots and other diagrams to show the distribution of the results. An analysis of exhaust gas parameters was carried out, both in terms of chemical composition and energy parameters. The RDF combustion process was presented through simulations for the adopted conditions of heat recovery. It was found that for each kilogram of RDF, about 3.85 kWh (13,860 kJ) of heat can be obtained. The combustion process was simulated using Aspen Plus software.

As the maritime transport of containers continues to grow and container ships change in terms of design and construction, it is important to ensure the appropriate level of safety for this type of transport. Over the decades, the size and cargo capacity of container ships have been changing, and so have their manoeuvring restrictions and required stability criteria. It seems that changes in the regulations, technological development and increased stability requirements are not yielding satisfactory results – the causes of container ship accidents continue to show similar patterns. The present article refers to the problem of ensuring safety in sea container transport, with a particular focus on cargo processes. Its purpose is to determine cause-and-effect relations leading to the loss of containers at sea, and to develop a model of loading that could significantly raise the level of safety of container transport. The article provides a general description of threats to ships related to weather conditions, loading methods or stability limitations. A statistical analysis of the occurrence of damage and/or loss of cargo from container ships was carried out and the risk of cargo loss was assessed on the basis of data from 2015‒2019. A Pareto diagram was used for this purpose. The authors present the concept of the container ship loading model, which may contribute to increasing the safety of shipping in the future.

This article concerns the assessment of the level of risk at the stage of construction of a seaport, with particular emphasis on selected adverse incidents that can significantly affect the timeliness of the investment. In this article, the matrix method was used to analyse and evaluate the level of risk, and statistical analysis and case studies were used to identify incidents occurring during the port construction project. This allowed the identification of incidents with the highest probability of occurrence during the port construction process and to determine their impact on environmental pollution and the timeliness and success of the investment. The risk analysis performed identified 15 typical incidents of technical nature. The determined risk level for these incidents is at a moderate level or lower, which can be considered acceptable. For all undesirable incidents the values of probability and loss levels have been averaged, because e.g., a fire can have an extremely different dimension and can cause a different scale of losses. Analysis presented in the paper indicate the need to develop procedures for proceeding during the implementation of significant technical tasks to minimize the level of risk of adverse incidents and their consequences.

According to accident case studies, one of the causes of accidents involving container ships was often the incorrectly declared weight of the container. For this reason, the International Maritime Organization introduced an amendment to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, requiring the verification of container weight declared in the transport document. It partially solved the problem of accurate determination of container ship stability, although an error of 5% by weight is accepted. In this study, using the Macs3 program, the weight of 100 containers was changed by 5% to assess how such a situation affects the ship’s stability. It was found that even a slight change in the weight can affect stability. There are other problems that have to be addressed, e.g., loading of the containers as per positions in the loading plan or sharing information about mass distribution inside. In the last part, Ishikawa’s diagram was used to determine the relationship between the causes and their effect on the accident of MSC Napoli in an attempt to determine other factors that may have contributed to the container ship’s accident and highlight the need to systematize the rules and tools connected to container ship weighing.

This paper presents a novel approach to the production of river buoys, focusing on the use of new composite materials with high recyclability at the end of the buoy’s life cycle. The composites were produced from post-production thermoplastic waste - polyethylene and polyamide 6 - reinforced...