Agoston Restas | University of Public Service (original) (raw)

Papers by Agoston Restas

Bioresources, Feb 4, 2022

Water is the most widely used fire extinguishing agent. It is used to eliminate a wide range of f... more Water is the most widely used fire extinguishing agent. It is used to eliminate a wide range of fires, often occurring in ecologically sensitive areas. There is little information on the toxicity of the fire-fighting substances in connection with aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Toxic substances often present in fire waters slow down life processes. As a result, some organisms die. This study deals with the extinguishing of burning solids (fiberboard, cannabis, straw, cork) with extinguishing water and assessment of its effects on the aquatic and terrestrial environment. The following test organisms were selected to test the effects of the extinguishing water: Daphnia magnaconsumer; and Sinapis alba and Lemna minorproducers. A preliminary test was carried out on all the samples to evaluate the (positive / negative) effects of the fire water on the test organisms. Specific conductivity, pH, and chemical oxygen demand were also determined. The results of this study call attention to negative impacts of extinguishing water on the environment. It is necessary to pay attention to prevention and thus eliminate potential risks. If environmental contamination can no longer be prevented, the spread of contaminated water must at least be reduced.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra eBooks, Nov 12, 2018

A navegação consulta e descarregamento dos títulos inseridos nas Bibliotecas Digitais UC Digitali... more A navegação consulta e descarregamento dos títulos inseridos nas Bibliotecas Digitais UC Digitalis, UC Pombalina e UC Impactum, pressupõem a aceitação plena e sem reservas dos Termos e Condições de Uso destas Bibliotecas Digitais, disponíveis em https://digitalis.uc.pt/pt-pt/termos. Conforme exposto nos referidos Termos e Condições de Uso, o descarregamento de títulos de acesso restrito requer uma licença válida de autorização devendo o utilizador aceder ao(s) documento(s) a partir de um endereço de IP da instituição detentora da supramencionada licença. Ao utilizador é apenas permitido o descarregamento para uso pessoal, pelo que o emprego do(s) título(s) descarregado(s) para outro fim, designadamente comercial, carece de autorização do respetivo autor ou editor da obra. Na medida em que todas as obras da UC Digitalis se encontram protegidas pelo Código do Direito de Autor e Direitos Conexos e demais legislação aplicável, toda a cópia, parcial ou total, deste documento, nos casos em que é legalmente admitida, deverá conter ou fazer-se acompanhar por este aviso. Examination of the forest fires detection: the relationship between the fire and the detection

Procedia Engineering, 2018

Introduction: Due to the extreme climatic events caused by global climate change, the number of f... more Introduction: Due to the extreme climatic events caused by global climate change, the number of firefighting interventions is increasing. The increasing of the extremes affects not only the circumstances of the interventions, but also to the interveners themselves and the firefighters. In order to maintain or increase the effectiveness of interventions, it is also appropriate to address the latter's investigation. Methods: The author reviewed the human body's heat-tolerant studies and utilized his many years of practical experience as an intervening firefighter. Results: The author provides an overview of the effects of positive temperature extremes on the human body, with particular regard to factors that significantly influence the work of the firefighters and because of this, their health is at higher risk. The author makes a proposal of reducing the effects of climate change both from the personal and organizational point of view.

Drones, Jul 8, 2021

Science of The Total Environment

Assessment of the ability of ZnO coated wood to withstand radiative heat. • Various coating thick... more Assessment of the ability of ZnO coated wood to withstand radiative heat. • Various coating thicknesses and heat fluxes from cone calorimeter were tested. • ZnO can delay the time to ignition and it is proportional to the coating thickness.

Biomass and Bioenergy

Abstract The effect of pyrolysis reactors on the properties of biochars (with a focus on flammabi... more Abstract The effect of pyrolysis reactors on the properties of biochars (with a focus on flammability and mechanical characteristics) were investigated by keeping factors such as feedstock, carbonisation temperature, heating rate and residence time constant. The reactors employed were hydrothermal, fixed-bed batch vertical and fixed-bed batch horizontal-tube reactors. The vertical and tube reactors, at the same temperature, produced biochars having comparable elemental carbon content, surface functionalities, thermal degradation pattern and peak heat release rates. The hydrothermal reactor, although, a low-temperature process, produced biochar with high fire resistance because the formed tarry volatiles sealed water inside the pores, which hindered combustion. However, the biochar from hydrothermal reactor had the lowest nanoindentation properties whereas the tube reactor-produced biochar at 300 °C had the highest nanoindentation-hardness (290 Megapascal) and modulus (ca. 4 Gigapascal) amongst the other tested samples. Based on the inherent flammability and mechanical properties of biochars, polymeric composites’ properties can be predicted that can include them as constituents.

Academic and Applied Research in Military and Public, 2016

It is commonly known that firefighting is very expensive solution; therefore it isn’t useless to ... more It is commonly known that firefighting is very expensive solution; therefore it isn’t useless to study it by the criteria of efficiency. But the meaning of efficiency for fire managers can be different from the meaning of efficiency for economists. From an economic viewpoint, it is stricter than from a technical view. Method: this research used geometric aspects of the fire spread created rectangular and concentric circles models and used basic mathematic calculations and logical conclusions. Results and discussion: The rectangular model shows the criteria of economic efficiency of firefighting. Moreover, the results from rectangular model can be transferred also to the section of concentric circles model. Based on the concentric circle model we can define both the economic efficiency of fighting forest fire and minimal criteria of successful suppression expressed by the elementary information we have regarding the actual fire.

In many cases the firefighters face that the behavior of people affected by an accident is differ... more In many cases the firefighters face that the behavior of people affected by an accident is different from the usual . On one hand, it is a natural phenomenon, but on the other it can mean obviously both hazards and risks for the affected people. The author wishes to point out these anomalies. In addition to studying relevant literature, the author built his opinion mainly on his own firefighting practice, as well as teaching experience acquired during his carrier. Author presented some detailed unusual behavior patterns of the affected people in case of emergency and gave a systematic summary. Moreover some simple procedures, which are usually used during the practice, were described.

Polymers, 2020

Carbon based fillers have attracted a great deal of interest in polymer composites because of the... more Carbon based fillers have attracted a great deal of interest in polymer composites because of their ability to beneficially alter properties at low filler concentration, good interfacial bonding with polymer, availability in different forms, etc. The property alteration of polymer composites makes them versatile for applications in various fields, such as constructions, microelectronics, biomedical, and so on. Devastations due to building fire stress the importance of flame-retardant polymer composites, since they are directly related to human life conservation and safety. Thus, in this review, the significance of carbon-based flame-retardants for polymers is introduced. The effects of a wide variety of carbon-based material addition (such as fullerene, CNTs, graphene, graphite, and so on) on reaction-to-fire of the polymer composites are reviewed and the focus is dedicated to biochar-based reinforcements for use in flame retardant polymer composites. Additionally, the most widely u...

Composites Part C: Open Access, 2021

Biocomposites being environmentally-friendly alternative to synthetic composites are gaining incr... more Biocomposites being environmentally-friendly alternative to synthetic composites are gaining increasing demand for various applications. Hence, biocomposite development should be integrated within a circular economy (CE) model to ensure a sustainable production that is simultaneously innocuous towards the environment. This review presents an overview of the state-of-the-art technologies for the adoption of the CE concept in biocomposite development. The study outlined the properties, environmental and economic impacts of biocomposites. A critical review of the life-cycle assessment of biocomposite for evaluating greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints was conducted. In addition, the opportunities and challenges pertaining to the implementation of CE have been discussed in detail. Recycling and utilisation of bio-based constituents were identified as the critical factors in embracing CE. Therefore, the development of innovative recycling technologies and an enhanced use of novel biocomposite constituents could lead to a reduction in material waste and environmental footprints. This article is one of the first studies to review the circularity of biocomposites in detail that will stimulate further research in enhancing the sustainability of these polymeric materials.

Industrial Crops and Products, 2021

Abstract Phytic acid (PA) is one of the widely used flame retardants (FRs) to treat a variety of ... more Abstract Phytic acid (PA) is one of the widely used flame retardants (FRs) to treat a variety of fabrics owing to its high phosphorus content of ca. 28 wt% (with respect to its molecular weight), abundance, non-toxicity, and biocompatibility. The current review discusses the state-of-the-art of PA-based FRs for natural fabrics such as cotton and wool. The possibilities of making PA and FR-based multi-functional cotton fabrics having antimicrobial, conductive, hydrophobic properties are reported by virtue of the synergistic benefits associated with chitosan, silicon, nitrogen, and boron-based molecules. The factors influencing the FR behaviour as well as the durability of PA-based cotton and wool fabrics are discussed with respect to the concentration of PA, pH of the coating solution, temperature, and preparation methods. Holistically, PA has been proved to be a potential alternative to halogenated FRs to confer fire retardant property to cotton and wool fabrics.

Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, 2020

Purpose During the building designing, it is very important to deal with the fire resistance of t... more Purpose During the building designing, it is very important to deal with the fire resistance of the structures. The designed materials for escape routes should be selected to ensure the usability of the structures until the time of escape. Planning affects the glass structures similarly, so these can also be partition walls and load bearing structures, although the latter is less applied on escape routes. The heat protection of the glasses can be improved with heat-protective foils, while fire protection is provided by gel intumescent material. Design/methodology/approach To research the topic of fire resistance, laboratory experiments were carried out on small-scaled glass elements with thermal protection foil at Budapest University of Technology and Economics at the Department of Construction Materials and Technologies. Findings Fire protection of small model specimens was tested with blowtorch fire and furnace heat load. During the experiments, six foils were tested. Single pane ...

Topics in Intelligent Engineering and Informatics, 2016

In Hungary Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) studies have a new momentum from a research project on C... more In Hungary Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) studies have a new momentum from a research project on Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). A Hungarian research team from the National University of Public Service made an attempt to address the UAV’s human factor related safety issues, as selection, training and licensing. In UAV operations the achievement of an operational task is highly dependent on the operators’ proper physical and mental performance, sensomotoric skills and abilities, so a medical screening shall be incorporated into the general selection process. The medical requirements naturally can differ from the physiological parameters of the pilot performing real flight because the weighted importance of aeromedical stressors and the level of flight safety risk are different. The evaluation of mental and physical performance and assessment of stress tolerance might be crucial from flight safety and operational aspects. The importance of simultaneous evaluation of cognitive performance, accompanying psychic stress and vegetative stress indicators is also emphasized.

AES Bioflux, 2015

There are different aspects of disaster management however in a limited scale accidents are usual... more There are different aspects of disaster management however in a limited scale accidents are usually responded immediately by firefighters even if the event can escalate to disaster in time. Firefighters can barely influence the initial conditions of the interventions. The differences in the environment and complexity result in volatility, uncertainty and ambiguity of information available. Thus, the effectiveness and safety of the intervention is a vital task, which can be achieved by improving the components such as the fire prevention, the quality of the operational work, the level of firefighter’s safety and the quickness of making decision. The present paper concluding that fire prevention means strategic level achievement, quickness of making decision, and tactical level of managing crisis situation. Authors give an overview of the complexity of the situations of the firefighters work in emergency from the level of strategy to tactics.

Journal of building engineering, Sep 1, 2018

Improper construction of chimneys can lead to dwelling-house fires, smoke poisoning or death [1].... more Improper construction of chimneys can lead to dwelling-house fires, smoke poisoning or death [1]. Due to the constantly increasing demands, new and more advanced chimney linings are being produced and used. In the case of reinforced concrete and brick chimneys, modern chimney technology applies linings. It is well known that the stainless steel and aluminum linings already in use can eventually become victim to corrosion. Due to the emerging corrosion defects, the development of a newer, more advanced material providing the same level of air tightness in the long term, has been proposed. The new composite lining material is expected to withstand aggressive corrosive substances produced in the chimney shaft and to meet the flammability requirements specified in the regulations. It is well-known, however, that high temperatures or fire are generally unfavorable for plastics. In our experiments, a newly developed composite material was tested according to the standards (non-flammability A1, A2, flame spread) for chimney linings. In addition to the relevant standard requirements, a more rigorous flammability test was performed, i.e. the flammability of the composite material was tested with different oxygen contents, which in our opinion perfectly and realistically reveals the flammability of a material and also replaces other traditional tests. The main goal of our experiments was to observe the built-in sizes not the standard ones and to classify accordingly. This is not only the direction of safety, but also gives a more realistic approach to the behavior of composite inline exposed to heat and fire. Fire classification and requirements do not keep up with the development of plastics and composites, so we make a proposal for a realistic classification. Accompanied by the results of the oxygen index test, we have given the parameter that expresses the best the non-flammability of composites. Incineration in an oxygen-rich environment reveals potentially hidden flammability characteristics, which standard tests cannot detect. The requirements of fire standards mandatory for building materials [2] do not change even if the composites are tested in their actual size.