• Energy Research
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The main focus of this paper lies with the national laws of three European countries (Germany, Austria and Hungary), as well as the EU law, relating to liability for damage caused by nuclear plant. The aforesaid European countries have enacted legislation prescribing stringent rules on liability of the operators of nuclear plants, meaning that for some forms of legally recognized harm (death, injury, damage to health) the operator incurs liability, even if damage was caused by force major. This type of strict liability, whereby force major is not reason for exculpation, provided that the damage could be related to functioning of the plant, is named absolute liability. In addition, some regimes introduce presumption of causality, when it is more likely than not that damage resulted from the effects of nuclear plants (or ionizing radiation, or secondary nuclear waste materials). The author also analyzes national and European rules on prevention of nuclear and other environmental damage, which includes the creation of the registry of nuclear plants with relevant data on domestic and European operators, the mechanisms of control of the operators, the requirement of preliminary ecological analysis in the construction of new plants, etc. In addition, the author observes differences between nuclear damage in broad and in narrow sense. The former is, in principle, redressed generally, to the extent possible. The latter is commonly redressed individually, to the extent prescribed by statutes.

The protection of wood elements in the exterior use, such as window frames and doors, can be performed with various type of coatings. The most diffused in use are conventional coatings – solvent-based (alkyd, modified alkyds etc.). Last years, because of the restrictive normative regarding the solvent emission, the trend of coatings development leads to the reduction of volatile organic components. Organic solvents are reduced or substituted by environmentally safer solvents such as water or aliphatic solvents. Water based coatings are in constant development. Besides the reduced solvent emission, water based coatings have many other advantages, as well as some disadvantages in comparison with classic, solvent type of coatings. In this paper, the characteristics of water based (acrylic dispersions) and urethan modified alkyd coatings are analyzed and compared.

In this paper, we presented an approach to simulation of magnetic levitation system using nonlinear autoregressive neural network. First, the model of this highly nonlinear system is described and after that the NARX model of neural network is given. Also, numerical optimization techniques for improved network training are described and obtained experimental results from NARX network trainings are shown. It is verified that NARX neural network can be successfully used to simulate real magnetic levitation system. In future works, it can be useful for design of different control algorithms.

Sektor zgradarstva je jedan od najznačajnijih potrošača energije. Smatra se da se oko 50% ukupno proizvedene energije potroši u zgradama, prvenstveno na grejanje i hlađenje prostora. Poslednjih desetak godina, veliku ekspanziju doživljava upotreba klima uređaja, koji se koriste ne samo za rashlađivanje prostorija u kućama i stanovima u toku letnjih meseci, već i za grejanje odnosno za dopunu grejanja u predgrejnoj sezoni (toplotne pumpe). Dok u procesu rashlađivanja skoro da nema alternative, korišćenju rashladnih uređaja kao toplotnih pumpi mora se prići na jedan suptilniji način ako se želi ostati u okviru principa energetske efikasnosti. Masovna upotreba klima uređaja za posledicu ima i povećanu potrošnju energije, posebno u letnjim mesecima. Estetske posledice predstavljaju drugi značajni problem, budući da je postavljanje klima uređaja u postojećim objektima zakonski neregulisano, i samim tim ostavljeno volji građana. Ovakvo stanje stvari najčešće dovodi do samoinicijativnog i pogrešnog postavljanja klima uređaja na spoljne fasade zgrada, što za posledicu ima narušavanje estetskih vrednosti, često izuzetno značajnih arhitektonskih objekata. Poseban problem predstavlja činjenica da se klima uređaji postavljaju i na zaštićene objekte (sakralni objekti objekti pod zaštitom), čime se neposredno uništava ne samo njihova estetska već i istorijska vrednost. S druge strane, mnogi novoprojektovani objekti predstavljaju pozitivne primere, jer se već u fazi projektovanja ovom problemu poklanja pažnja i klima uređaji se zaklanjaju adekvatnim ar hitektonskim rešenjima. Tema ovog rada biće pozitivni i negativni primeri iz Srbije, Crne Gore, ali i nekih zemalja Balkana i zapadne Evrope. Pored toga biće date preporuke za rešavanje negativnih energetskih i estetskih posledica ovog problema. Nekontrolisana upotreba klima uređaja odražava se i na zdravlje ljudi. Velike razlike u spoljnoj i unutrašnjoj temperaturi dovode do niza zdravstvenih problema na koje upozoravaju i ukazuju lekarski izveštaji. Nepravilno održavanje sistema za klimatizaciju može da pogoduje razvoju bakterija koje izazivaju teške zdravstvene posledice. Buildings are among the top of energy consumers. It is estimated that over 50% of the overall produced energy is consumed in buildings, mainly on heating and cooling. Application of air conditioning systems saw an important expansion in the past decade. These systems are used, not only for cooling but for heating, or supplemental heating, as well (as heat pumps). While there is virtually no alternative to their usage as cooling systems, heating applications should be reconsidered in a more subtle manner to maintain the principles of energy efficiency. Mass consumption of air conditioners has as an effect a significant rise in consumption of energy, mainly during the summer. Aesthetic consequences are another important problem. Since the placement of these appliances is not regulated by law, and left to the citizens they are commonly self-initiated and misaligned which undermines aesthetic values. Additional problem is placement of air conditioning systems on protected objects (religious institutions, object under protection) which undermines not only aesthetic, but historical value as well. On the other hand, many new buildings represent a positive example, since this problem is adhered from the very start of conceptual design, and these appliances are covered with adequate architectural solutions. This paper will try to cover positive and negative examples of Serbia, Montenegro, and some other Balkan and Western Europe's countries. It will also give recommendations in solving the negative energy and aesthetic consequences of these problems. Non-controlled application of air conditioning systems is becoming a health problem. Large differences between the interior and exterior temperature leads to an array of health problems registered by many medical reports. Improper maintenance of air conditioning systems could lead to bacterial propagation which could seriously damage health.

Biodiesel, an alternative to fossil fuels, consists of alkyl, usually methyl, esters of fatty acids (FAME). Conventionally, it is mostly obtained by homogeneous base catalyzed methanolysis of edible oils. Despite the significant advantages, the main drawbacks of this process are the high requirements in terms of the quality of the raw materials and environmentally unfavorable processes of catalyst separation and products purification. For these reasons, the researches of biodiesel synthesis are aimed at developing new processes that are economically and environmentally acceptable. In this paper processes of FAME synthesis, their advantages, disadvantages and opportunities for improving are analyzed, in order to develop processes suitable for industrial applications. The main aim was to present an overview of the researches in developing biodiesel synthesis providing a high FAME yield, which are environmentally-friendly and economically acceptable. Heterogeneously catalyzed process has most often studied, aiming at developing catalytic active, stable and cheap catalysts as well as at process improvement. The developments of enzyme and noncatalytic processes are mainly aimed at reducing production costs and increasing the FAME yield under mild reaction conditions, respectively. Generally, the perspectives of biodiesel synthesis include the use of continuous processes and suitable reactor systems.

Application of metalworking fluids (MWF) in metalworking processes generates MWF aerosol/mist. Chronic exposure to this aerosol can cause serious health problems to workers such as asthma, lipoid pneumonia, dermatitis, cancer. In this paper behavior of MWF aerosol was investigated. The investigation was done in the pipe, which simulates ventilation system. The aerosol generated from 6 % O/W emulsion was investigated, as well as aerosol generated from water. SHP and water aerosol were generated by laboratory aerosol generator. Behavior of aerosol under four different air velocities was investigated. The aerosol properties were measured by optical particle size analyzer. The obtained results should be of great help for designing filters for mist separation in order to protect workers and the environment.

The paper presents the results of in vitro studies of the possibility of using waste plant materials: biomass of aquatic weed Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian watermilfoil or spiked watermilfoil) and fruit stones (peach and sour cherry) in a natural and chemicaly modified form, as a potential biosorbents of different mycotoxins. Biosorption indexes were examined at pH 3.0, 6.9 or 7.0, respectively in electrolite 0.1 M K2HPO4. The highest biosorption indexes of aflatoxin B1 (AFL B1) were determined by algae M. spicatum (94.70 and 96.00%, respectively). Unmodified peach stones binded less quantities of AFL B1 (73.30 and 80.00%, respectively) while sour cherry stones adsorbed the smallest quantity af applied AFL B1 (58.82 and 41.18 %, respectively). The values of biosorption for ochratoxin A (OTA) varied a grait deal, dipending on the biosorbent type and pH values (20.00­76.20%). The best affinity to vomitoxin (DON-in), was observed by unmodifiedpeache stones (50%), at pH 6.9, and for zearalenone (ZON) by M. spicatum (70 and 75%, respectively). Binding of diacetoxyscirp enol (DAS), although much weaker, was recorded at both pH values of applied electrolite by modified peache stones (16.67 and 33.33%, respectively) and modified sour cherry stones (16.67%). Equally good affinity for T-2 toxin was found in modified peache stones, and unmodified and modified form of sour cherriy stones (50.00 and 40.00%, respectively); at lower pH value (3.0) adsorption of this mycotoxin was more pronaunced. Presented results indicate that the tested waste biomasses, in the natural or modified form, were effective biosorbents of different mycotoxins with the highest affinity for AFL B1.