Publisher: IRMO
Year: 2007
ISBN 978-953-6096-38-1
This publication is available only in Croatian.
The book Natural Zeolite Tuff from Croatia in Environmental Protection, edited by Tugomir Filipan, Sanja Tišma and Anamarija Farkaš, summarized the most important scientific results gathered from 1991 – 2007 on economic and ecological justifications of the use of natural zeolites in environmental protection. The researches where proven by the interdisciplinary team of scientists working in the Department for Resource Economics, Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Institute for Development and International Relations in Zagreb in cooperation with the Faculty of Agronomy, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Faculty of Forestry and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb, Chemical-Technology Faculty in Split and Institut fur Mikrobiologie,Innsbruck, Austria.
The researches, as well as this book published by IRMO, have been financed by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia. Furthermore, the book presents the results of the project “Investigation of Effectiveness of Special Natural Substrates Agrarvital- SPS for Improvement of Degraded Forest Soils in Tyrol, Austria” financed by the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry, Republic of Austria.
The book consists of 270 pages covering 15 scientific papers which deal with the natural zeolites from different aspects: chemical composition, geological characteristics, existing pits, technological procedures of preparation and treatment, the use of zeolites in agronomy, veterinary medicine, civil and mechanical engineering. Furthermore, economical aspects were also considered.
In the introductory chapter the authors, Tibljaš and Šćavničar from Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology of the University of Zagreb, described the findings of zeolite tuff in Croatia in Donje Jesenje (Krapina area). Apart from physical-chemical characteristics of the mineral described by the author Cerjan Stefanović from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology of the University of Zagreb, also described are the production possibilities at the pit in Donje Jesenje and the results of the research on possible application of natural zeolites as soil conditioners (Filipan, Farkaš, Tišma, Butorac, Cerjan Stefanović). Three researchers from Chemical-Technology Faculty in Split (Medvidović, Trgo, Perić) presented the results of the research on reduction of heavy metals contaminating the environment. Different teams from various institutions presented the possibility of ammonia removal in agriculture, in the removal of superfluous soil acidity instead of liming as an expensive and massive measure (Farkaš, Cerjan-Stefanović, Filipan, Rožić, Pisarović, Tišma). The potential applications of zeolites as soil conditioners are presented in the work of the team of experts from the Faculty of Agronomy (Bašić, Kisić, mesić, Vađić). Several articles in the book have shown possible application of zeolite tuff in agriculture (the research of an interdisciplinary team of experts headed by Prof. dr. Butorac) and in forestry (the research of an interdisciplinary team of experts headed by Prof. dr. Prpić) when added to forest trees, the results are better growth of young coniferous trees. The team from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (Rružinski, Anić, Vućinić) in the paper “Waste–water treatment with natural zeolite” presented the findings of the research and the possibilities for the implementation of natural zeolites in the biological phosphorus removal from waste waters. The research on the purification of waste waters with natural zeolites performed at Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology of the University of Zagreb is presented by Jasna Hrenović. The application of zeolite for reduced nitrogen leaching with drainpipe water is the topic of the team from the Faculty of Agronomy (Mesić at al). Cement composites with natural zeolites in environmental protection function and their application in civil engineering is the finding of a group of scientist from Chemical-Technology Faculty in Split (Krolo, Dabić, Lisica). The use of natural zeolites in veterinary practice is researched at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and is presented by Prof. Tofant. The results of recent research and experiments with natural zeolites from Donje Jesenje in pig breeding are presented in the paper “Application of natural zeolites in pig breeding” (Uremović, at al).
Methodological application of the cost-benefit analysis in natural resources economic evaluation are the rest of scientific projects are the topic of the last article in the book (the group of authors from IRMO (Tišma, Pisarović, Farkaš)). The findings of this research confirm the use natural zeolite as bedding for domestic animals, corrective agent in agriculture, as well as in construction industry. However, special significance is given to economic effectiveness of the use of suggested technological solutions in relation to some other products available on the market.
The team of 27 authors participated in the preparation of the book, each of whom attributed in their field of expertise under the mutual topic of natural zeolites. The book will certainly encourage new generations of young scientists to carry on with the research and work in the field of natural zeolites and contribute to the increase of interests in the use of natural zeolite in economic sector.
