Underground Coal Gasification

The Central Mining Institute (GIG) in the southern city of Katowice has started work on a three-year underground coal gasification project co-financed by the European Union that aims to develop a model for a new type of mine that would extract syngas instead of coal.

Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a product of coal gasification. It is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen that can be used to generate electricity and produce synthetic liquid and gaseous fuels such as methane and hydrogen. Hydrogen, as the purest fuel, is expected to become the basic source of energy in the future. In mining based on coal gasification, products needed for energy generation will be safely extracted, while waste products, mainly carbon dioxide, will remain underground.

The researchers will be conducting simulations and laboratory research for nearly 18 months. Then a pilot underground coal gasification facility will be set up in the Barbara Experimental Mine in the Silesian city of Mikołów in a coal seam located no deeper than 100 meters underground. The process of converting coal into gas will be taking place in a georeactor, or an underground geological site. Oxygen and chemical compounds will be injected into the seam through a special well drilled from the surface to trigger reactions resulting in the production of syngas. The gas will be taken out to the surface through a second well. Syngas will be used to generate electric power and produce hydrogen, in addition to its application in various chemical processes.

Alongside the Central Mining Institute, the consortium carrying out the project also includes the Silesian University of Technology; the National Mining Academy of Ukraine; the Delft University of Technology in Delft, the Netherlands; the University of Stuttgart, Germany; the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals in the Czech Republic; and the Scientific Institute of Public Service (ISSeP) in Belgium. The project is scheduled to be completed by mid-2010, with the European Union setting aside more than 3.1 million euros for it.


Gastrointestinal Compression Clips

A team of doctors at the Alimentary Surgery Clinic of the Central Research Hospital in Katowice have performed a pioneering surgical procedure-the first such procedure in Europe-whereby they joined together two parts of an intestine by means of a compression clip. Thanks to the device, which has been developed in cooperation with the Silesian University of Technology, surgeons no longer need to use sutures and expensive surgical staples to hold intestine parts together. Additionally, the compression clip prevents complications associated with such procedures, like the leakage of intestinal contents during surgery or rupture of the suture after surgery. "The method is simple, cheap and ensures clean surgery," says Prof. Paweł Lampe, director of the Alimentary Surgery Clinic, who is in charge of the clinical tests on the new method.

The compression clip uses the shape memory effect of the nickel-titanium alloy of which it is made. First, the clip is deformed at a low temperature to resemble an elliptically shaped key ring. It is brought to the operating theater in a container with ice-cold physiological saline. The surgeons bring the two sections of the alimentary canal together, make two small incisions in them and insert the clip. Then, they warm up the area with a gauze pad saturated with boiling physiological saline. At this temperature, the clip returns to its original, "remembered" shape, and joins the two parts of the intestine together. After a period ranging from five to 16 days, depending on the part of the intestine where the clip has been inserted, the device is excreted from the body in a natural way.


Fertilizers from Rocket Fuel

A team of researchers at the Wrocław University of Technology headed by Prof. Stanisław Witek have developed a technology for recycling melange rocket fuel oxidizer with the use of a mobile installation. The research project, conducted in cooperation with the Chemical Rescue Unit in the southern city of Tarnów, lasted around 18 months and has just finished.

Melange oxidizer was once widely used by the armies of the Warsaw Pact in rocket engines powered by liquid fuel. Today more than 20,000 metric tons of the oxidizer are still stored in the arsenals of former Warsaw Pact members. While Poland has only 1,000 tons, Ukraine, for example, has 16,500. The liquid has strong caustic, corrosive and toxic properties, dangerous to both people and the environment.

The melange is stored in military training grounds in containers made of high-purity aluminum. The containers were built to last for 15 years. As this period has already expired, the progressive corrosion of the containers carries the risk of an accident and poses a threat to the lives of local residents. Experts from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) say that, in the event of failure, the "death zone" radius for a container of 100 cubic meters would be approximately 2.5 kilometers, while the "danger zone" radius would be 25 kilometers.

Witek and his team have managed to develop two variants of the technology in which the oxidizer is processed in a mobile installation on the military training ground. This guarantees safe recycling of the oxidizer on the spot, without the need to transport it, which could be risky. It also makes it possible to avoid emissions of toxic substances such as nitric oxides.

The method is simple, effective and the end product can be used to manufacture nitrogen fertilizers in a process that has been successfully tested at the fertilizer research center of Tarnów's Zakłady Azotowe chemical plant.


Electronics for Medicine

Researchers at the Industrial Institute of Electronics (PIE) in Warsaw have developed a device to diagnose and monitor obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a breathing dysfunction during sleep. The disorder affects around 1 percent of the population in highly developed countries. An apneic event is defined as a pause in breathing of at least 10 seconds accompanied by a decrease of oxygen saturation in arterial blood.

Dr. Witold Kornacki of the Industrial Institute of Electronics says the disorder mostly affects men. Characteristic symptoms include snoring, increased urine excretion and heavy sweating at night, restless sleep, a sense of breathlessness, accelerated weight gain, morning tiredness and headaches, drowsiness during the day, reduced libido and sexual potency disorders, reduced mental function, and concentration and memory problems.

Clinically significant apneic events occur at least five times per hour of sleep. If left untreated, the condition may lead to a heart attack, cerebral stroke or arrhythmia, in addition to accidents caused by falling asleep while performing everyday tasks.

Engineers at the Industrial Institute of Electronics, in cooperation with the Otolaryngology Clinic of the Medical University of Warsaw, have developed two systems to register sleep parameters: a stationary system to be used in clinics and a portable one for domestic use. Both systems include appropriate software. The collected data is automatically analyzed to identify and classify apneic events and prepare graphic reports. In the future, it may be possible to introduce screening tests with the aid of a device that collects a series of signals from the body.


Polish Students Meet Astronauts

As part of worldwide activities to celebrate 50 years of space exploration, Polish schoolchildren and college students had the chance to meet European and American astronauts in Warsaw in early October-to hear first-hand about living and working in space.

The conference, entitled "Space for Humans: The Past 50 Years and Beyond," was organized by the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and the Warsaw University of Technology in association with the European Space Agency (ESA), to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the start of the space age.

The first day, Oct. 2, was school- and university-oriented. ESA, Russian, NASA and United Nations officials gave lectures on space exploration, international cooperation and the solar system. On the second day, Polish schoolchildren and young college students were invited to join a competition to show their vision of the next 50 years of space exploration. The winners received telescopes, school atlases and other prizes from U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid and European astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré. Children and students had the chance to talk with the astronauts and had many questions about the experience of living in space and how to become an astronaut.

Poland has a long-standing tradition of space research and has participated in many ESA projects. On April 27 this year, it became what is known as a European Cooperating State (ECS), joining Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania. Poland is currently selecting specific areas and projects for cooperation with the agency.

In a recent ESA project, students from the Warsaw University of Technology helped make components for a Soyuz rocket with a YES2 satellite (Young Engineers' Satellite 2) that was launched from the Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan and reached a geostationary orbit in September. The project involved 100 students from 25 universities based in European countries, including Poland, as well as Canada and Japan. The satellite was launched to test an innovative technology designed to transport payloads from the international space station to Earth.


Vegetables, Fruit, Wine Protect the Brain

A team of researchers at the Bromatology Faculty of the Medical University of Białystok in eastern Poland are conducting research to find ways to stop the spread of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Neurodegenerative diseases affect a growing number of people these days. Disorders affecting memory and cognitive functions are also becoming increasingly widespread. Until recently these were mainly found in elderly people, but now individuals aged between 40 and 50 are increasingly at risk as well. Some researchers say one of the main causes of neurodegenerative disorders is oxidative stress.

Prof. Maria Borawska of the Medical University of Białystok says active forms of oxygen and nitrogen play a key role in disturbing the work of the brain and nervous cells, thus accelerating the aging process in the body. Free radicals damage DNA, RNA and proteins in human cells, which start to malfunction and die. Fortunately, the human body is equipped with special antioxidant defense systems. The researchers in Białystok are looking for ways to boost these systems. One of the methods is to take dietary supplements such as coenzyme Q. The researchers believe that the best way is to change one's diet and eat food rich in antioxidants, which means mainly vegetables, fruit, eggs, dairy products and meat.

Fruit and vegetable juices have a beneficial affect on antioxidant defense mechanisms. A research project conducted in the United States for more than 10 years on a sample of 3,000 people has revealed that juices reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. French scientists have proved that fruit beverages as well as wine, if drunk in moderation, considerably reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.

Tadeusz Belerski