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This chapter critically reviews and discusses the state-of-the-art technologies for the removal of siloxanes from biogas, indicating potentially beneficial development directions and deficiencies in the state of knowledge. The origin of volatile organic silicon compounds (VOSCs) in biogas, their selected physicochemical properties, and technological problems that they can cause during the energetic use of biogas are presented. Both implemented and at the experimental stage, methods of VOSC removal from landfill and sewage gases are reviewed and systematized. Mechanisms and parameters of purification processes, their effectiveness and efficiency are discussed, and individual methods are compared. Possibilities of regeneration of the spent sorbents are assessed. Premises and perspectives for their application are given. Finally, technologies worth further development, combining selected methods with each other and prospective directions for further research, are suggested.
Kazimierz Gaj. Siloxanes removal from biogas and emerging biological techniques. Emerging Technologies and Biological Systems for Biogas Upgrading 2021, 255 -291.
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj. Siloxanes removal from biogas and emerging biological techniques. Emerging Technologies and Biological Systems for Biogas Upgrading. 2021; ():255-291.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj. 2021. "Siloxanes removal from biogas and emerging biological techniques." Emerging Technologies and Biological Systems for Biogas Upgrading , no. : 255-291.
The subject of the study is the analysis of the energy self-sufficiency of a single-family house, equipped with an on-grid photovoltaic plant and electric heating system. The study is based on 3-year tests of a real plant located in southwestern Poland. The main aim of the research was to...
Kazimierz Gaj. Three-Year Exploitation Tests of a Photovoltaic Plant in a Zero-Energy Single-Family House under the Polish Conditions. Journal of Ecological Engineering 2020, 21, 160 -168.
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj. Three-Year Exploitation Tests of a Photovoltaic Plant in a Zero-Energy Single-Family House under the Polish Conditions. Journal of Ecological Engineering. 2020; 21 (7):160-168.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj. 2020. "Three-Year Exploitation Tests of a Photovoltaic Plant in a Zero-Energy Single-Family House under the Polish Conditions." Journal of Ecological Engineering 21, no. 7: 160-168.
Among the biggest challenges facing our civilization is slowing down the rate of climate change and improving air quality in cities. This cannot be achieved in isolation from the sustainability and intensification of relevant research. The aim of this Special Issue: Current Trends in Emission Control and Forecasting of Air Quality and Climate Changes is to publish selected high-quality papers from the 15th Scientific Conference POL-EMIS 2020: Current Trends in Air and Climate Protection—Control Monitoring, Forecasting, and Reduction of Emissions (19–21 October 2020, Wroclaw) and other papers related to the development of: low-emission fuels, industrial technologies, and energy generation, including renewable energy sources (RES); technology for reducing/eliminating emissions from low municipal sources and transport; innovative methods of waste gas purification; emission and immission control methods (including odors); prospective ways of counteracting climate change; indoor air protecting methods; development of mathematical modeling of air quality; new directions in forecasting the effects of air pollution and climate change and air quality management.
Kazimierz Gaj; Urszula Miller; Izabela Sówka. Progressing Climate Changes and Deteriorating Air Quality as One of the Biggest Challenges of Sustainable Development of the Present Decade in Poland. Sustainability 2020, 12, 6367 .
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj, Urszula Miller, Izabela Sówka. Progressing Climate Changes and Deteriorating Air Quality as One of the Biggest Challenges of Sustainable Development of the Present Decade in Poland. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (16):6367.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj; Urszula Miller; Izabela Sówka. 2020. "Progressing Climate Changes and Deteriorating Air Quality as One of the Biggest Challenges of Sustainable Development of the Present Decade in Poland." Sustainability 12, no. 16: 6367.
Siloxanes are among the most technologically troublesome trace compounds present in biogas. As a result of their combustion, hard-to-remove sediments are formed, blocking biogas energy processing devices and reducing the efficiency of biogas plants. The purpose of this study was to help investors and designers to choose the optimal technology for the adsorptive removal of volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) from biogas and to identify adsorbents worth further development. This paper critically reviews and discusses the state-of-the-art technologies for the adsorption removal of siloxanes from biogas, indicating potentially beneficial directions in their development and deficiencies in the state of knowledge. The origin of VMSs in biogas, their selected physicochemical properties, technological problems that they can cause and their typical versus limit concentrations in biogases are presented. Both the already implemented methods of adsorptive VMSs removal from landfill and sewage gases and the ones being under development are verified and systematized. The parameters and effectiveness of adsorption processes are discussed, and individual adsorbents are compared. Possible ways of regenerating spent adsorbents are evaluated and prospects for their application are assessed. Finally, zeolite-based adsorbents—which can also be used for biogas desulfurization—and adsorbents based on polymer resins, as being particularly active against VMSs and most amenable to multiple regeneration, are identified.
Kazimierz Gaj. Adsorptive Biogas Purification from Siloxanes—A Critical Review. Energies 2020, 13, 2605 .
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj. Adsorptive Biogas Purification from Siloxanes—A Critical Review. Energies. 2020; 13 (10):2605.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj. 2020. "Adsorptive Biogas Purification from Siloxanes—A Critical Review." Energies 13, no. 10: 2605.
The main applications of siloxanes, sources of their release, their production volume, and the reasons for the growing interest in them are presented. The premises for which they are currently considered as potential environmental pollutants are explained and commented on. The physical and chemical properties of selected volatile methylsiloxanes are characterized with regard to both the increasing number of their applications and the impact on ecosystems and humans. On the basis of the available scientific literature and official risk assessments, their toxic potential, durability, circulations and transformations in the environment, long-range transport potential, degradation mechanisms, and fate in some environmental compartments are discussed. It is argued that they can interfere with the female reproductive system, the liver, and the lungs and irritate the skin, the eyes, and the respiratory system, considering that their bioaccumulation potential is relatively high. Due to their relative durability, they can be accumulated in various environmental matrices and transported to regions distant from the release sites. It is shown that the main mechanisms of their degradation are hydrolysis and demethylation with OH radicals in, respectively, the water and soil environment and in the air (referred to as the final sink in which the fundamental process of their degradation and decay take place). In conclusion, the need for further research on their impact on human health, their bioaccumulation and biodegradation, their life time and long-term impact on ecosystems, and the development of methods of removing VMSs from wastewater, sludge, and biogas is highlighted.
Kazimierz Gaj. Properties, Potential Toxicity, and Transformations of VMSs in the Environment. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry 2018, 1 -31.
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj. Properties, Potential Toxicity, and Transformations of VMSs in the Environment. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry. 2018; ():1-31.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj. 2018. "Properties, Potential Toxicity, and Transformations of VMSs in the Environment." The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry , no. : 1-31.
This paper critically reviews and discusses the state-of-the-art technologies for the removal of siloxanes from biogas, which could be used to simultaneously remove other contaminants. The reasons for purifying biogas, the scope of this purification and the recommended (depending on the biogas utilization equipment) concentrations of volatile silicon-organic compounds are presented. Established and new promising methods of removing typical methylsiloxanes from biogases from municipal landfills and sewage sludge are characterized and analyzed. Their suitability for the simultaneous removal of other trace biogas impurities and possibilities of regenerating the spent sorbent are assessed. It is shown that the commonly used activated carbon is not suitable for comprehensive biogas treatment. On the basis of the analysis, an adsorption method using halloysite (a natural zeolite mineral) as an inexpensive, universal and regenerable adsorbent is proposed. The method can be used after physicochemical treatment to comprehensively purify biogas from methylsiloxanes, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, halides and other technically and environmentally burdensome impurities. Some directions for further research in this regard and possible environmentally safe ways of utilizing the spent sorbent are indicated.
Kazimierz Gaj. Applicability of selected methods and sorbents to simultaneous removal of siloxanes and other impurities from biogas. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy 2017, 19, 2181 -2189.
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj. Applicability of selected methods and sorbents to simultaneous removal of siloxanes and other impurities from biogas. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy. 2017; 19 (9):2181-2189.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj. 2017. "Applicability of selected methods and sorbents to simultaneous removal of siloxanes and other impurities from biogas." Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy 19, no. 9: 2181-2189.
The Polish Journal of Environmental Studies publishes original papers and critical reviews
Kazimierz Gaj; Anna Pakuluk. Volatile Methyl Siloxanes as Potential Hazardous Air Pollutants. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 2015, 24, 937 -943.
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj, Anna Pakuluk. Volatile Methyl Siloxanes as Potential Hazardous Air Pollutants. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies. 2015; 24 ():937-943.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj; Anna Pakuluk. 2015. "Volatile Methyl Siloxanes as Potential Hazardous Air Pollutants." Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 24, no. : 937-943.
Basing on long-standing cyclic measurements of sludge-originated biogas composition and considering statistical analysis of their results, a regression model describing time variation of biogas desulfurization using bog iron ore has been developed. The model was verified by theoretical calculations and results from laboratory examinations of the sorbent. It was also used to estimate the depletion time and sorption capacity of the bed and to determine the demand index for bog ore.
Kazimierz Gaj; Hanna Cybulska-Szulc. Time changeability model of the bog ore sorption ability. Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S 2014, 21, 113 -123.
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj, Hanna Cybulska-Szulc. Time changeability model of the bog ore sorption ability. Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S. 2014; 21 (1):113-123.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj; Hanna Cybulska-Szulc. 2014. "Time changeability model of the bog ore sorption ability." Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S 21, no. 1: 113-123.
Sylwia Cieślak; Kazimierz Gaj. Hazards of uncontrolled methane release from clathrates analyse and environmental evaluation of extraction methods. Environment Protection Engineering 2014, 40, 1 .
AMA StyleSylwia Cieślak, Kazimierz Gaj. Hazards of uncontrolled methane release from clathrates analyse and environmental evaluation of extraction methods. Environment Protection Engineering. 2014; 40 (3):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSylwia Cieślak; Kazimierz Gaj. 2014. "Hazards of uncontrolled methane release from clathrates analyse and environmental evaluation of extraction methods." Environment Protection Engineering 40, no. 3: 1.
Pochłanianie CO2 przez polskie ekosystemy leśne
Kazimierz Gaj. Carbon dioxide sequestration by Polish forest ecosystems. Forest Research Papers 2012, 73, 17 -21.
AMA StyleKazimierz Gaj. Carbon dioxide sequestration by Polish forest ecosystems. Forest Research Papers. 2012; 73 (1):17-21.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKazimierz Gaj. 2012. "Carbon dioxide sequestration by Polish forest ecosystems." Forest Research Papers 73, no. 1: 17-21.
Quality Evaluation of Biogas and Selected Methods of its Analysis There were presented technological and ecological aspects of biogas quality evaluation and introduced an overview of the limits of its selected parameters. There were characterized analytical methods for determining the basic composition of biogas, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, condensation, dust, oils, siloxanes, and aggregated content of sulfur, chlorine and fluorine. The result of comparative analysis and literature studies are proposes of the most adequate to the studies of biogas - analytical methodologies.
Dorota Zamorska-Wojdyła; Kazimierz Gaj; Anna Hołtra; Magdalena Sitarska. Quality Evaluation of Biogas and Selected Methods of its Analysis. Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S 2012, 19, 77 -87.
AMA StyleDorota Zamorska-Wojdyła, Kazimierz Gaj, Anna Hołtra, Magdalena Sitarska. Quality Evaluation of Biogas and Selected Methods of its Analysis. Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S. 2012; 19 (1):77-87.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDorota Zamorska-Wojdyła; Kazimierz Gaj; Anna Hołtra; Magdalena Sitarska. 2012. "Quality Evaluation of Biogas and Selected Methods of its Analysis." Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S 19, no. 1: 77-87.