A promising type of steel slag for applications is the ladle furnace (LF) slag, which is also known as the basic slag, the reducing slag, the white slag, and the secondary refining slag. The LF slag is a byproduct from further refining molten steel after coming out of a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) or an electric arc furnace (EAF). The use of the LF slag in further applications requires knowledge of its characteristics. The LF slag characterization in this paper has been performed using the following analytical methods: chemical analysis by energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), mineralogical composition by X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area properties by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and the Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) methods, surface chemistry by infrared absorption (FTIR) spectroscopy, and morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the main compounds are calcium, silicon, magnesium, and aluminium oxides, and calcium silicates under their various allotropic forms are the major compounds in the LF slag. Surface area properties have shown that the LF slag is a mesoporous material with relatively great BET surface area. The ladle furnace slag is a nonhazardous industrial waste because the ecotoxicity evaluation by its eluate has shown that the LF slag does not contain constituents which might in any way affect the environment harmfully.

This paper elaborates soil, water, and lettuce contamination status with respect to selenium, sulphur, trace metals, and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) in a coal-based area (Raša Bay, Adriatic Sea, Croatia). A local coal-fired power plant polluted soil with S, Se, Cd, and PAHs due to the combustion of domestic superhigh-organic-sulphur coal. The locality is dotted with waste from coal mining/separation, coal combustion, former metal factories, untreated municipal and coal mine effluents, along with various harbour activities, which contribute to environmental contamination. The methodology involved ICP-MS and GC-MS for the measurement of trace elements and BTEX, respectively, while soil sulphur was determined with Eschka’s mixture. The max values of the analysed trace elements in soil (mg/kg) are reported: Hg 1.14, Cd 3.29, V 624, Se 10.3, Pb 872, Cr 1860, Zn 6580, Cu 1850, and U 25.2. According to ecological indices, these values fall into the category of an extremely high level of soil pollution. Elevated total Se values in surface water are ascribed to leaching of seleniferous coal, ash, and coal-polluted soil. Levels of BTEX in water samples were very low (0–0.83 µg/L). The data provide basic information on the inorganic and organic contamination status of the Raša Bay area.

Abstract:The Labin City area has represented the major Croatian coal mining, metal industry and coal-fired electricity centre for more than two centuries. The domestic superhigh-organic-sulphur (SHOS) Raša coal is a unique variety compared to other coal types worldwide, based on its highest organic sulphur values, up to 11%. It was utilised in the Plomin coal-fired power plant during the period 1970-2000, and was replaced by an imported low-S coal afterwards. This paper presents the levels of S, Se, V, U, Hg, Sr, Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu and Zn in the two coal types, their bottom ash, seawater and plant (clover, mushroom and foliage) specimens collected from the Labin City area, while the sulphate was measured in surface stream water. Their levels were compared with relevant legislative as well as the published data from different world localities. Data analysis was interpreted in the context of past and recent coal combustion activities.

The Istrian coal mines, located in the eastern part of the Istrian Peninsula (Northern Adriatic Sea, Croatia) had by far the most important and economically the most valuable deposits of the anthracite coal reserves in Croatia since the 18th century until the year 1999, when their excavation and use in the coal-fired power plant Plomin ceased. The coal is found within the Palaeocene Kozina limestone beds. Four coal basins, Karojba, Sveti Martin, Pićan, and the Labin basin, hosted seven coal mines, e.g. Tupljak, Potpićan, Kozljak, Štrmac, Raša, Ripenda, and Krapan. The coal has been generally known under the name of Raša coal. It is exceptional in world terms due to its high content of organic sulphur, which can be up to 14%. Herewithin, this paper reviews Croatian scientific publications devoted to various aspects of Raša coal, along with the most important publications on either similar coals or relevant subjects worldwide. A brief introduction deals with the role of coal in electricity production, and the history of coal mining in Istria. The following chapter summarises current knowledge of the coal sulphur geochemistry, with several examples of high-sulphur coals from India and China. It is followed by the geological, geochemical, and physical characterisation of Raša coal. Since perturbations to ecosystems caused by coal combustion have been documented in numerous papers from a number of countries, Croatian studies carried out to determine the impact of Raša coal combustion on the local environment are also presented.

Fossil fuels, coal in particular, are indispensable sources of energy necessary for today's technological and economical progress throughout the world. Their burning releases numerous environmental contaminants, like CO 2 , SO 2 , and a range of organic and inorganic compounds. Arguably, however, and despite the fact that these emissions have resulted in air pollution and regional acid rain problems, there is no evidence yet of their usage completely replaced by a low-CO 2 -producing energy source. Coal, due to its unique composition and characteristics, has been actively investigated by scientists and technologists from various disciplines in a search for economically valuable metals and medically active substances. Also, coal is used universally for the fabrication of new nanomaterials in laboratories, and utilized in wastetreatment and clean-coal technologies. The aim of this paper is to focus on the latest advancements in coal research of leading international scientists from India, China, and the USA. Also, this paper is brie y presenting selected papers of several Indian and Croatian research groups addressing environmental issues and emerging waste-treatment technologies. Although the two countries are di erent from a geographical, historical, economical, and industrial point of view, they both have been linked with coal extraction and its usage in power generation and associated heavy industries.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the adsorption of heavy metals (CrTOT, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+) in wastewater originated from galvanization process and pharmaceuticals (ciprofloxacin and dexamethasone) in aqueous solutions on waste sludge. To get the insight in the adsorption process, the adsorption kinetics and mechanisms are described. The physico‐chemical properties of the waste sludge were determined by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction technique, energy dispersion X‐ray spectrometry, surface area and gas adsorption porosimetry, and laser diffraction. The adsorption on waste sludge was performed as batch tests and the concentration of heavy metals and pharmaceuticals was monitored by atomic absorption spectrometry and UV/Vis spectrophotometry, respectively. The rates of pharmaceuticals adsorption dependent on different initial concentration were explained. The kinetics of heavy metal ions and pharmaceuticals adsorption on the sludge was analyzed using four different models. The pseudo second‐order model assuming chemical adsorption as the rate limiting process showed the best agreement. Furthermore, the results revealed that the adsorption involves complex processes, including film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion. The investigated industrial waste sludge is a promising non‐hazardous and a low cost sorbent with relatively high surface area which can be used for removal of heavy metal ions (CrTOT, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+), and pharmaceuticals (ciprofloxacin and dexamethasone) from wastewater.

The Labin City area has represented the major Croatian coal mining, metal industry and coal-fired electricity centre for more than two centuries. The domestic superhigh-organic-sulphur (SHOS) Raša coal is a unique variety compared to other coal types worldwide, based on its highest organic sulphur values, up to 11%. It was utilised in the Plomin coal-fired power plant during the period 1970-2000, and was replaced by an imported lowS coal afterwards. This paper presents the levels of S, Se, V, U, Hg, Sr, Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu and Zn in the two coal types, their bottom ash, seawater and plant (clover, mushroom and foliage) specimens collected from the Labin City area, while the sulphate was measured in surface stream water. Their levels were compared with relevant legislative as well as the published data from different world localities. Data analysis was interpreted in the context of past and recent coal combustion activities. [