Department of Energy and Fuels

The Orava-Nowy Targ Basin (ONT): (1) straddles across junction of major tectonic units of the Western Carpathians and, (2) is located at the NE termination of the Mur-Žilina Fault Zone of prominent historical seismic activity which was the NW boundary of the block shifted eastward due to lateral extrusion of the Eastern Alps. The NE segment of the fault zone was the locus of sinistral strike-slip movement during Neogene and Quaternary times. The activity of the Mur-Žilina Fault Zone has been essential for structural development of the Western Carpathians and Carpathian Foredeep during these times. It follows that the ONT is one of the key-areas for unraveling the neotectonic evolution of the Western Carpathians. The basin is filled by poorly indurated terrestrial and fresh water sequence, up to 1300 m thick. The age of the sequence is considered to be Miocene or Miocene to Pliocene in age. We studied minor tectonic structures affecting the ONT Neogene sequence. The study comprised: ...

Raman spectroscopy and vitrinite reflectance measurements of dispersed organic matter from Carboniferous shales in boreholes in the northern part of the Intra-Sudetic Basin were used for thermal history reconstruction. Microscopic investigations have shown that the organic matter is dominated by the vitrinite maceral group. In analysed samples, organic matter shows a varied degree of thermal alteration determined by the mean random vitrinite reflectance (VRo) ranging from 0.72% to 3.80%. Mean apparent maximum vitrinite reflectance (R’max) values reached 4.98%. The full width at half maximum of D1 and G bands in Raman spectra are well-correlated with mean VRo and R’max. Thermal maturity in the boreholes shows a regular increase with depth. Geological data combined with Raman spectroscopy and mean vitrinite reflectance results indicate that the analysed Carboniferous strata reached maximum paleotemperatures from c. 110 to c. 265°C. The regional paleogeothermal gradient in the late Pal...

In this study, optical microscopic analyses were applied to evaluate the thermal maturity, characteristics of solid bitumen, and other organic matter finely dispersed in Oligocene shales of the Menilite Formation in the Iwonicz-Zdrój–Rudawka Rymanowska Fold (IRF) and Bóbrka–Rogi Fold (BRF) of the Central Carpathian Synclinorium of the Silesian Nappe, Outer Carpathians, Poland. The investigation was carried out at two-unit depths of the shallow and deeper D-1 sections (430 m – IRF and 4,300 m – BRF) and outcrop samples (BRF). The mean random huminite reflectance values indicate immature conditions with respect to hydrocarbon generation in samples from the D-1 shallow section (VRo≈0.40%) and in the outcrop samples (VRo=0.36%). The degree of thermal maturity of the organic matter from a depth of about 4,300 m – BRF based on random vitrinite (VRo≈0.80%) and solid bitumen (BRo≈0.65%) reflectance measurements is associated with the “oil window” for petroleum generation. The organic compon...

The Baltic Syneclise is one of the Paleozoic basins along the western margin of the East European Craton. Commercial amounts of hydrocarbons have been found onshore and offshore in the Middle Cambrian sandstones and Upper Ordovician limestone reefs. The Middle-Upper Cambrian and Tremadocian bituminous shales have been identified as good quality effective source rocks. The existence of good quality source rocks in the Ordovician and Silurian profiles provides an impetus for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon explorations in this region. Geochemical analyses revealed that the rocks of the Middle–Late Ordovician and Early Silurian horizons exhibit overall good to very good source rock quality. Within the Ordovician strata, the Sasino and Prabuty formations exhibit the highest amounts of organic carbon with the median total organic carbon (TOC) values of 1.96 and 1.23 wt. %, respectively. The Pasłęk and Pelplin formations in the lowest parts of the Lower Silurian stand out clea...

Previous analyses of the PV market (and the impact of the pandemic on it) have focused on the market as a whole. The literature does not contain analyses of selected services sectors (e.g., catering, hotel services) in terms of the use of photovoltaics. There are no studies that would show in which segments the demand profile for electricity most closely matches the production from photovoltaic installations (not to mention the impact of the pandemic). The authors analyzed selected service sectors (catering and hotel) in terms of the use of photovoltaics before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper proposes a comparative methodology for the use of photovoltaics for self-consumption, including statistical analyses and calculations of the self-consumption index for representatives of various selected services sectors. The highest value of the self-consumption ratio at the level of 52% was shown for cafes and restaurants (during the pandemic). Surprisingly, in the pandemic, the s...

Increasing energy consumption in residential and public buildings requires development of new technologies for thermal energy production and storage. One of possibilities for the second listed need is the use of phase change materials (PCMs). This work is focused on solutions in this area and consists of two parts. First one is focused on different designs of thermal energy storage (TES) tanks based on the phase change materials. The second part is the analysis of tests results for TES tank containing shelf and tube heat exchanger and filled with phase change material. Thermal energy storage tank is analyzed in order to use it in domestic heating and hot utility water installations. The aim of this research was to check the applicability of phase change material for mentioned purpose. Results show that using phase change materials for thermal energy storage can increase amount of stored heat. The use of properly selected PCM and heat exchanger enables the process of thermal energy s...