This work concerns non-pressure granulation of mineral materials used for the production of agricultural fertilizers for soil deacidification. In order to expand the product range of Nordkalk Poland sp. z o. o. located in Poland, the granulation conditions of the gypsum–lime mix were examined with the use of various granulation methods. The processed mixture was Jurassic lime flour mined in the Sławno mine (Poland) and waste gypsum (sulfogypsum) obtained from the largest coal-fired power plant in the EU, Bełchatów Power Plant (Poland). This paper presents the results of the optimization of the gypsum–lime fertilizer granulation process. The results of the study of granulation of gypsum–lime mixture realized in one-stage technology in a disc granulator were compared with the effects of two-stage agglomeration. During the research, a mixture (in a 1:1 ratio) of waste sulfogypsum and lime flour was used. Such a weight ratio provides maximum use of the sulfogypsum waste while maintaining good mechanical properties of the granulate. The granulated bed was moistened with a lignosulfonate solution. The process was carried out periodically. After the experiment, the grain composition of the granulate obtained was determined and tests were performed to determine the strength of the product. The test results were compared with analogous ones obtained during granulation with the use of molasses (waste from sugar production). The results obtained were verified during a trial carried out on an industrial scale.

Carbonation lime mud is a by-product formed during the production of sugar in the process of raw beetroot juice purification. On average, during one campaign, over 12,000 tons of carbonation lime mud is obtained in the operation of one sugar production plant. It is stored in prisms, which negatively affects the environment. The chemical properties of carbonation lime mud allow using it as a soil improver. This article presents the results of research into the development of carbonation lime mud disposal technology and its management. The chemical composition and physical properties of waste were determined. It has been proposed to use carbonation lime mud as the basic raw material in the production of mineral–organic fertilizers. Tests were conducted in a disc granulator. The granulated material was wetted with water and aqueous solution of molasses. Carbonation lime mud is a material that is easily subjected to the granulation process, using any wetting liquid. The beds wetted with 33% and 66% solutions of molasses are characterized by a greater homogeneity and smaller size of the obtained product. During experiments in which wetting with water was applied, the product obtained after drying demonstrated low resistance to compression; granules wetted with 33% aqueous solution of molasses demonstrated resistance to compression below 10 N; and granules wetted with 66% aqueous solution of molasses demonstrated resistance to compression above 10 N.

Skrzypłocze (Xiphosura) są jednymi z najdziwniejszych istot w królestwie zwierząt. Grupa ta, współcześnie obejmująca cztery reliktowe gatunki, przetrwała właściwie niezmieniona od ordowiku (480 milionów lat), i była świadkiem masowych wymierań, stąd powszechnie używana jest jako przykład „żywych skamieniałości” lub „stabilomorfów”. Niniejsza praca poświęcona jest opisowi nowych i doskonale zachowanych skamieniałości skrzypłoczy z górnej jury (tyton) kamieniołomu Owadów-Brzezinki, który jest jednym z najważniejszych stanowisk paleontologicznych opisanych w ostatnim czasie w Polsce. Kamieniołom ten znany jest z wyjątkowo dobrze zachowanych skamieniałości organizmów morskich i lądowych. Odkrycie licznych okazów młodocianych skrzypłoczy w kamieniołomie Owadów-Brzezinki stanowi istotny wkład w badania nad paleobiologią tych stawonogów oraz paleoekologią ich środowiska życia. Praca ta podsumowuje ostatnie badania nad tymi unikatowymi skamieniałościami i tym, jaki wkład badania te wnoszą w lepsze poznanie tej grupy zwierząt. Szczegółowe oględziny doskonale zachowanych egzoszkieletów tych skrzypłoczy, a także analiza osadu, w którym je znaleziono, pozwoliły na stworzenie scenariusza paleośrodowiskowego, według którego najbardziej prawdopodobną przyczyną epizodu masowej śmiertelności skrzypłoczy była infekcja glonowa.

A lab. ball mill and a vertical ball mill with a dry material mixer were used to minimize the energy expenditure and to obtain necessary size fraction of the product. The basic milling parameters were detd. according to the theory of statistical moments.

The Owadow-Brzezinki Geopark – a remarkable palaeontological site made available for geotourism. A b s t r a c t. The Owadow-Brzezinki Geopark, located in the western margin of the Holy Cross Mountains in Slawno community (Łodź Voivodeship), was established in June 2019 in close vicinity of the Owadow Brzezinki quarry. The geopark consists of palaeontological museum, educational trail and panoramic viewing platform, located along the quarry edge. The palaeontological museum exhibits unique fossils of marine and terrestrial organisms that were excavated in the quarry during the last six years. Among the most important fossils, which can be seen there are: horseshoe crabs, crustaceans, ammonites, insects, actinopterygian fish, turtles, ichthyosaurs, crocodylomorphs and pterosaurs. In addition to the original fossils, the museum presents life-size reconstructions of animals that inhabited the local seas and islands in the Late Jurassic, and plates illustating palaeogeographical and paleoenvironmental history of this site. Thanks to many important palaeontological and palaeobiological discoveries, this geopark has great geotourist and educational potential. The geopark’s design was drawn upon similar palaeontological museums such as the Jura Museum Eichstatt in the Solnhofen region and the Hauff Museum in the Holzmaden in Germany.

Mixts. of limestone powder and gypsum (1:1 mass ratio) and aq. 20% solns. of molasses added to them in various amts. as a binding liq. were used for (i) one-step or (ii) two-step granulation. Variant (i) included the use of the selected granular type (a mix, disc or drum granulator) while variant (ii) included of a mixer and then the disc or drum granulator. The compressive strength of the granules and their granulometric compn. in the fraction range up the 8 mm were detd. for each variant of the process. An increase in molasses content in mixts. as well as the time of granulation resulted in an increase of the ay. size of granules and their compressive strength for all granulation variants.

Aq. solns. of water glasses, poly(vinyl alc.) and molasses with various concns. were sep. added to the shredded limestone powder (grain diam. 300 mu m, CaCO3 93-95%, MgCO3 1.5%) and then subjected to periodic drum granulation for 5-30 min. The effect of binder type, its concns. in aq. soln., amt. of binder in relation to limestone powder as well as granulation time on the compressive strength of granules and on a degree of their decompn. after contact with a aq. environment (30 min) were detd. The increasing concn. of each type of binder and its amt. in relation to limestone powder as well as the time of granulation resulted in an increase of the compressive strength of granules. Granules obtained by using the molasse binder reached the largest compressive strength as well as the highest degradn. degree.