Milica V. Vasić

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Verified

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• Doctor of Engineering
• Principal Research Fellow at Institut za ispitivanje materijala IMS a.d. Beograd

Global awareness of the harmful effects of heavy metal contamination in soil has increased significantly. Understanding the vertical distribution of oxides and elements is vital for tracing the history of potential contamination. Thus, this study focuses on deep sediment cores primarily composed of quartz and clay minerals from a small village in t...

Biomass ash is currently attracting the attention of science and industry as an inexhaustible eco-friendly alternative to pozzolans traditionally used in commercial cement manufacture (fly ash, silica fume, natural/calcined pozzolan). This paper explores a new line of research into Marabou weed ash (MA), an alternative to better-known conventional...

he traditional ceramics industry uses large amounts of raw materials and energy while significantly contributing to the CO2 footprint. The improvements, primarily in the first two areas, will contribute to sustainable development and answer the emerging questions of decreasing a gas-release footprint. These are topics of high importance considering...

The study analysed 93 samples from four Serbian clay deposits to determine their suitability for ceramics production. The samples were mainly composed of illite and kaolinite. Ternary diagrams were used to classify the samples and evaluate their applicability. Winkler's diagrams, ternary graphs and mineralogical compositions were analysed. The resu...

The traditional ceramics industry uses large amounts of primary mineral raw materials. Improvements in the production of building materials based on non-metallic minerals can contribute to sustainable development in many ways, such as saving natural resources, using waste materials, reducing energy consumption, decreasing emissions hazardous to the...

The paper discusses the usage of additives that are protected by the European patent to enhance the features of ceramic tiles. Under laboratory conditions, various types of additives in different concentrations (0.15, 0.30 and 0.50%) were added to the ceramic mass, and changes in shrinkage, modulus of rupture and water absorption were observed. Aft...

The shaping and drying of ceramics are a critical yet complex process that directly influences ceramic materials’ final properties and performance. Predicting key parameters such as the coefficient of plasticity, mass loss during drying in the air at the critical point, and shaping moisture is essential for optimizing these processes. This study an...

Recently, Machine Learning has become a crucial tool in enhancing process quality control in manufacturing plants. However, real-time assessment is often challenging. Soft sensors, which can predict process quality indicators using machine learning, have gained significant attention since 2000 due to their advantages such as process stability, redu...

The aim of this study is to investigate the fire resistance of alkali-activated mortar with crushed brick, both as a precursor and as an aggregate. A screening test identified a combination of KOH and Na2SiO3 as the optimal alkaline activator, with curing for 3 days at 70 °C. Two series of mortars with different workability were produced: cement mo...

Groundwater is a vital resource for drinking water supply; however, its sustainable use is increasingly threatened by industrialization and urbanization. To assess suitability for drinking and other purposes, this study analyzes the quality of groundwater samples obtained from a hydrogeological borehole reaching depths > 400 m. In addition to the k...

The use of European patent-protected inorganic additives to improve the characteristics of ceramic tiles is covered in this study. Modifications in shrinkage, modulus of rupture, and water absorption were noted when different kinds of additives consisting of phosphoric acid and hydrated sodium silicate were applied to the ceramic mass at varying pe...

Raw clay samples from Serbia, mainly of kaolinitic, illitic and mixed nature, were tested for their possible application in the production of ceramics. Using various triaxial diagrams, the samples were sorted according to their chemical and bulk mineralogical makeup, and also particle size distribution to determine whether they could be employed in...

This study illustrates the utilization of roof tile waste as a resource in the manufacturing of fired bricks. Although commonly referred to as demolition waste, it is technically classified as construction and demolition waste (C&D). This demolition waste was used as a partial replacement of two soils (alluvial and laterite soil) at three firing te...

On March 15, 2020, the Serbian government introduced a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The enforcement of lockdown measures led to changes in the daily lives of dog owners, which, in turn, affected the routines of their dogs. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of Serbian lockdown measures enforced for the...

The technical features of the issues caused by the brick industry's usage of petroleum coke as a fuel were identified in this study. The effects were evaluated in terms of the concentration of hazardous materials in petroleum coke, the CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions in the flue gases, the corrosion of refractory materials in the furnace, the corrosion...

The chemical compositions of refractory materials, such as high-alumina concrete, bricks, and putty, were analyzed using an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDXRF). An improved methodology for investigating the effect of particle size on the outcomes of EDXRF chemical analysis is presented. Eight independent refractory samples (refractory conc...

Even though the specific COVID-19 consequences for sales have been extensively discussed, no academic research has been done on how the pandemic has affected consumer choice and purchases of construction and building products by private individuals. This research was conducted to fill in the gaps in the body of knowledge and advance understanding o...

Due to the enormous global need for solid waste recovery and usage, the European Green Deal was created to emphasize waste recycling and zero-waste economies in construction and building materials. This comprehensive study investigates the effect of using mixed construction and demolition waste (CDW) in clay bricks. The mixed CDW waste was combined...

Over the past few decades, the fired clay brick industry has searched for industrial wastes to substitute raw clay deposits and lessen their impact on the environment. Despite several investigations showing positive results, industrial applicability is still scarce, mainly due to differences between industrial and laboratory procedures and the usag...

Finding a solution to the problem of the large buildup of coal ashes is a vital necessity. Although the use of coal ashes in fired clay bricks has been thoroughly investigated, there is insufficient information on their industrial utilization and researchers do not agree on whether or not this addition improves the quality of the final products. Th...

The study makes a unique effort to characterize all the necessary characteristics of refractory clays and products fired at temperatures between 1100 and 1300 °C on a laboratory level. For 19 composite samples from the recently opened reservoir, thorough instrumental and ceramic-technological data are presented. The potential for using Serbian raw...

Five complex indices (PLI, RI, mERMq, TRI, CSI) were determined for each of the 40 sites during the study period (2005, 2007, 2013, 2019) considering eight heavy metals. A spatiotemporal comparison of sediment quality was performed using cluster (CA) and principal component (PCA) analysis on the considered pollution indices. Statistical analysis sh...

The present study analyses the usage possibility of the 7 raw kaolinitic clays from Serbia. The characterization of raw materials is done by using instrumental techniques to deter¬mine chemical and mineralogical compositions, particle size distribution and behavior during firing (changes in mass, temperature of the system and dimensions). Additiona...

Phyllosilicate mineral pyrophyllite is predominantly used in the ceramic industry because it exhibits high refractoriness. Due to its thermal transformation into mullite, pyrophyllite is stable at elevated temperatures, making it a suitable mineral additive for refractory non-shaped materials and various ceramic shaped products. In this study, pyro...

The usage possibility of 19 composites of raw refractory clays from Serbia containing approximately 53.29% of SiO2 and 26.73% of Al2O3 is presented. The sum of fluxing oxides was 57.74%, while these materials contained 32% of quartz, 29% of kaolinite and 26% of illite-mica. Dilatometry tests revealed a sudden shrinkage with the peak at approximatel...

The main idea of the present study was to investigate the impact of the ongoing world crisis on the socio-economic issues in Serbia concerning building materials usage and purchase. This research fills in the gaps in the literature and contributes to the comprehension of how the crisis has affected salaries, market pricing, and materials consumptio...

A biphasic [Mn(dipya)(H2O)4](tpht)/{[Zn(dipya)(tpht)]?H2O}n complex material, I, (dipya = 2,2?-dipyridylamine, tpht2- = dianion of terephthalatic acid) was synthesized by ligand exchange reaction and characterized by XRPD and FTIR spectroscopy. A ZnO/ZnMn2O4 composite, II, has been prepared via thermal decomposition of precursor I in an air atmosph...

In this paper, the main subject concerns comparing different techniques to prepare raw clay samples for energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF). Three kinds of sample preparation procedures are examined, such as loose powder, pressed pellet, and fired pressed pellet. The fired pressed pellet approach was observed as a part of univ...

The technical features of the issues caused by the brick industry's usage of petroleum coke as a fuel were identified in this study. The effects were evaluated in terms of the concentration of hazardous materials in petroleum coke, the CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions in the flue gases, the corrosion of refractory materials in the furnace, the corrosion...

The European Green Deal, which emphasizes zero-waste economies, and waste recycling in construction and building materials, has arisen due to significant worldwide needs for solid waste recovery and usage. This ambitious study focuses on recycling mixed construction and demolition (C&D) waste into burnt bricks and investigating the influence of fir...

The industrial raw material compositions in brick or tile production are normally adapting from time to time with novel clays. The proper raw material change must be based on the reliable raw material characterization tests. Regardless to the fact that commonly used (Bigot, Muller-Biehl, Ratzenberger, Piltz, Hermansons, etc.) drying sensitivity cri...

This study presents the 51 mixtures of ceramic clays characterized by using XRF, XRD, granulometry, and dilatometry analyses. After firing in a 1000–1250 °C range, water absorption (WA) according to EN standards by boiling in water, under vacuum, and by 24 h soaking is determined. The results indicated that there was a high and statistically signif...

One of the significant problems in the production of ceramic tiles is the very high consumption of natural resources such as clay, feldspar, and quartz. The possibility of replacing part of the formulation of ceramic batches is of great importance. In this research, the possibility of using aplitic granite waste from dimensional stone production wa...

Geopolymerization was investigated as an alternative to traditional ceramic products by developing a more sustainable approach that avoids thermal treatment. The study presents the first known alkali-activation of the raw clay and waste clay brick mixture using the solid to liquid ratios of 2.33 and 2.78. Several experimental sets were prepared to...

Drying has an enormous impact on the quality of final masonry clay elements. The accumulated knowledge about modeling the drying process, as well as the registered progress in computing the coupling between the heat and mass transfer during the last decade has reached the applicative industrial level. The available novel commercial drying solutions...

The chemical composition of the tobacco samples was compared, and a significantly increased content of sulfur is detected in the Iqos, compared to Lucky strike. Further analysis is needed to obtain which chemicals are inhaled when heating and firing the cigarettes/cartridges.

Surface sediments collected from twelve stations in the Boka Kotorska Bay were analyzed for the level and distribution of twenty-six elements and ten oxides, grain sizes, organic matter, and carbonate content. Potentially toxic elements (Al, Fe, Mn, Cr, Zn, Ni, Cu, Pb, As, Co, U) were determined to assess the contamination status and potential envi...

This paper presents the optimization of clay sample preparation using microwave digestion for the determination of Fe using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). The optimization of the method was performed using following factors: mass of the investigated sample, volume of acids - nitric (HNO3), hydrofluoric (HF), and...

In an attempt to conduct the geopolimerization of raw clay and waste clay brick mixture, several experimental sets are conducted. Commercialwater glass and 10 M KOH in a mass ratio of 2.5:1 was used as an activator. Samples are made in the form of 5×5×5 cm3cubes and 12×2.5 cm2tiles. The important results characterizing non-activated and activated s...

In this study, an optimal mixture of loess brick clays and waste coal dust in laboratory hollow blocks production is determined with the aim of promoting sustainable development in terms of saving resources and energy. The novelty of the work lies in the first-time utilization of waste coal dust in combination with loess soil brick-making thus bols...

This study's focus was to develop a potential pathway for recycling of the paper mill sludge compost (PMSC) in brick making. Composting reduces the paper mill sludge (PMS) moisture content considerably and shredding becomes easier. The addition of PMSC leads to an increase of porosities in bricks and makes them lighter, besides delivering energy to...

This study analyzed the last 20 years` data available on power plant coal ashes used in clay brick production. The statistical analysis has been carried out for a total of 302 cases based on the relevant parameters reported in the literature. The chemical composition of the clays and coal ashes, percentage incorporation and maximum particle size of...

This research studies the effects of composition and granulometry analysis of 139 heavy clays on the important characteristics of wet and adobe clay bricks. ANN models were obtained with high prediction accuracy in training cycles (r2): 0.580–0.907. Standard score analysis (SS) is performed to evaluate the optimal content of raw materials to gain a...

The assessment of the possible applications of the tertiary clays from Serbia as raw materials in ceramic tiles production was performed based on the mineralogical, chemical, thermal, and physical properties. The characterization was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF), Thermogravimetric, and Differ...

This research describes a study of 11 selected samples of brick clays applied in roofing tile production, by using simultaneous thermal analysis. Additionally, the laboratory-sized samples were prepared and fired (850-950 °C) and technological properties were determined. Mathematical analysis was applied to sum all the experimental results and help...

The main idea of this research was to evaluate rice and sunflower hulls, sawdust and their ashes, as additives in clay brick production using mathematical analysis. All available papers, containing the parameters of interest, were used in the study, which consisted of total 316 cases, obtained from the literature. The major oxide content of clays a...

The aim of this study was to test montmorillonite and hydromica type of brick clays by using simultaneous thermal analysis and dilatometry in an assessment of the suitability of brick clays to produce building elements. The plasticity coefficient and drying susceptibility were determined to discover the behavior of brick clays. Fired products’ char...

The goal of this study was the research on the usage capability of various industrial wastes in clay bricks. Changes in product's behavior were studied in terms of relative differences in ceramic-technological parameters compared to samples without waste materials addition. The effects of organic and inorganic wastes were investigated in terms of c...

Chemical composition and XRD qualitative analysis were used to calculate mineral contents of 139 brick clay raw materials using LPNORM. The second order polynomial models (SOP) for all the samples, which express the relation between mineral contents and the characteristics of fired laboratory products, did not fit to experimental data satisfactoril...

Kvalitet opekarskih sirovina značajno varira u pogledu hemijskih, mineraloških, granulometrijskih i keramičko-tehnoloških karakteristika. Da bi se utvrdile matematičke zakonitosti, analizirano je 139 uzoraka opekarskih sirovina iz Srbije. Utvrđeno je da je matematički model koji najbolje opisuje vezu između sadržaja makro oksida u sirovinama i osob...

The main idea of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of canine demodicosis conventional treatments using mathematical analyses. All available papers published between 1980 and 2014 were used in this study. One hundred six clinical trials enrolling 3414 cases of generalized demodicosis in dogs are studied. Dogs entered in the analysis were on...

Factors influencing final clay brick properties are numerous, since the raw materials are highly heterogeneous. The chemometric approach is rarely used in analysis in this field, although it could significantly improve understanding of the overall system behavior and the quality of products. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used on a group of...

Talc is broadly used in the ceramic materials industry, either as a basic raw material, or as filler, due to its chemical inertia, fragmentation proneness, thermal stability, and refractoriness. The mechanical activation is frequently employed in the direct enhancement of talc properties, and thereby in the design of talc based composites with adva...

The effects of organic and inorganic waste sludges, coal dust, fly and landfill ashes, soybean crust, sawdust, sunflower flakes and their ash addition to representative heavy clay were investigated. Changes introduced to shaping moist (SM), shrinkage (ΔSk) and weight loss (ΔGk) in Bigot’s curve critical point, and plasticity coefficient (PC) by Pfe...

The objective of this study was to investigate utilization potential of organic and inorganic industrial wastes in clay bricks. Mineral composition of starting heavy clay sample is tested using X-ray diffractometer. Chemical content and loss on ignition were determined in sludges, coal dust, fly and landfill ashes, soybean crust, sawdust, sunflower...

This research was conducted to identify the nature and the cause of non-typical defects which appeared on the visible surfaces of ceramic and roof tiles. Microstructural analysis was conducted via optical microscope and scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive spectrometer. Ceramic tiles contained black spots and dark brown clust...

The aim of this study was to define the influence of particle size distribution of heavy clay raw materials on the shaping process (shaping moist, coefficient of plasticity), drying in the air (sensitivity to drying and mass loss in critical point of Bigo’s curve) and properties of dry (green) clay products (compressive strength and drying shrinkag...

Representative clay, which belongs to the most plastic ones (NPL), were mixed with two moderately plastic raw materials (UP1 and UP2) in various proportions. The effects of different process parameters in the production of bricks, such as firing temperature (900-1100°C) and the amount of added brick raw materials (ranging from 0-10%), were compared...

The effects of firing temperature (800–1100°C), chemical composition (expressed in terms of the content of major oxides - SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, Na2O, K2O, MnO and TiO2), as well as several shape formats of laboratory brick samples on the final product quality were investigated. Prediction of the final laboratory products parameters was eval...

The effects of chemical composition, firing temperature (800–1100°C), and several shape formats of laboratory brick samples on the final product quality were investigated. Prediction of the final laboratory products parameters was evaluated by second order polynomial regression models (SOPs) and artificial neural networks (ANNs), and afterwards com...

Factors influencing final clay brick properties are numerous, since the raw materials are highly heterogeneous. The chemometric approach is rarely used in analysis in this field, although it could significantly improve understanding of the overall system behavior and the quality of products. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used on a group of...

Mineralogical composition of heavy clays is one of the most important properties when stadying raw materials in brick industry. Within this study, quantitative determination of minerals using LPNORM calculation was performed, using the first algorithm among the so-called norms that allows the introduction of a list of minerals and their configurati...

The loess heavy clay sample MI2, containing about 65 % of silt sized particles, was mixed with two heavy clays at neighboring locations (SU1 and SU3). Added materials contained less allevrolite fraction. The effect of process parameters on the bricks production, such as firing temperature (900–1000 °C), and concentration of 2 added clays (both in t...

Mixtures of starting loess heavy clay, containing about 65 % of silt sized particles, and two other from near locations which had less allevrolite fraction, are used to make bricks according to experimental plan. Firing temperature (900–1000 °C) and concentration of 2 added clays (both in the range of 0-10 wt.%) influenced mechanical and ceramic pr...

Surface sediments, mussels, seagrass, surface and bottom seawater samples were collected from the costal area of the southeastern Adriatic Sea and analyzed in order to determine the concentration and origin of the following elements: Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni, Cu, Ni, Co, As, Cd, Cr and Hg. The complexity of the obtained data was reduced by principal componen...

The quality of raw clay materials in Serbia varies due to their chemical, mineralogical, grain size and technological properties. The diversity of composition and heterogeneous nature of raw materials cause variations of fired products characteristics. In order to determine the mathematical principles of laboratory products behavior, 139 heavy clay...

This study is focused on the behavior of five new deposits of heavy clays from Serbia, with the aim to evaluate their potential su itability as raw materials in rough ceramic applications. The Pfefferkorn plasticity coeffi cient (PC) and drying susceptibility using Bigot’s curve were measured for each raw sample. Thermodilatometric analysis (TDA) s...

Compressive strength and water absorption of fired heavy clay products varies with firing temperatures, but not entirely according to linear function, as it is mostly reported in literature. Also, differential thermo-gravimetric curve shows many turnovers in all the samples tested, within observed temperature range (820–920 °C). The aim of this res...

Loess clays are commonly used to produce bricks. Heavy clays, taken at location near Zrenjanin, Serbia, are used as a representative raw material in this study. The sample, containing about 28% of clay sized particles, is enriched using two more plastic heavy clays from neighboring locations. Chemical and mineralogical content of clays is determine...

The need of testing the quality of brickclay arises in all brick factories, with the opening of new deposits. The analyses are both time and economically consuming, so the aim of this study was to shorten the procedure using the already known data. This study was focused on determining the usability of heavy clays, when only the raw material major...

Many factors influence final clay brick properties, since the raw materials used are highly heterogeneous. Statistical analysis is rarely used, according to literature, but it would improve understanding of the overall system behavior and the quality of products. In this study, analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the most important parameters...

In the last decade PCA method has become accepted in identifying quality of marine environment. In this study surface sediment samples have collected from the costal area of southeastern Adriatic Sea in two fall seasons and analyzed in order to determine the concentration and origin of trace metals: Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni, Cu, Ni, Co, As, Cd and Hg. The co...

Boka Kotorska Bay is situated in the southeastern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean), along the Montenegro coastline. The concentrations of 38 elements were determined in surface sediments in the Boka Kotorska Bay by ED-XRF technique. Results showed that the sediment contains major, minor and some rare earth elements: Ca Si Al Fe Mg Cl K S Ti P Cr Mn V C...

The optimal samples content of major oxides (SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, Na2O, K2O, MnO and TiO2), firing temperature (800–1100 °C) and final properties of tiles, hollow blocks and solid cubes were chosen depending on a final usage of the raw material in heavy clay brick industry. Optimization procedure was performed using Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluat...

The aim of this study was to test utilization possibilities of industrial sludge in masonry industry, as well as risk of toxic elements leaching potential. Sludge is generated in a hot-dip galvanizing process after waste water neutralization. This waste is considered to be hazardous due to the presence of toxic elements, which can be fixed within h...

Heavy clay samples collected in close vicinity of Toplička Mala Plana, Serbia, were surveyed to examine their possible use in heavy clay industry. The representative raw material, which contained the lowest content of clay minerals and the highest content of carbonates, was enriched with two more plastic clays. Chemical and mineralogical compositio...

The purpose of this study was to test utilization possibilities of fly ash as raw material for building products. Research was done on raw and fired samples made of landfill fly ash by dry pressing process. The samples were subjected to ceramic-technological tests, and analytical techniques are also used: SEM, XRD, DTA/TGA, XRF, AAS. Raw and fired...

Heavy clay samples used in this research were collected at 84 locations in Serbia. The effects of chemical composition, various firing temperatures, and several shape formats of laboratory samples on the compressive strength and water absorption were investigated in this paper. Prediction of compressive strength and water absorption was done by non...

The purpose of this study is to utilize industrial sludges as additives in the production of clay bricks. Incorporation of several industrial wastes in ceramic masses is used as a method for solving hazardous waste problem and reducing the production costs. The effect of sludges with different replacing ratios on firing parameters and properties of...

Heavy metals are one of the most harmful substances to the environment. Industry revolution caused uncontrolled emission of metals to the atmosphere and hydrosphere with later accumulation in sediments and soil. The aim of this research was to determine heavy metals total content in laboratory samples with the addition of secondary raw materials as...

The equation for drying kinetics is obtained, basedI on the analytical solution of the differential equation with a\boundary condition in the form of the flux. This equation was initially developed by G. Efremov. In this paper a modification of the Efremov drying equation will be presented. Shrinkage correction will be included in that equation for...

The purpose of this study was to test utilization possibilities of fly ash as raw material for building products. Research was done on samples made of landfill fly ash by dry pressing process. The samples were subjected to ceramic-technological tests, and analytical techniques used are SEM, XRD, DTA/TGA, along with heavy metal leaching experiments....

Taking into account the sustainable development requirements in the production of heavy clay bricks, the possibility of using waste in composites based on clay has been recently increasingly explored. Traditional building materials on the basis of clay raw materials allow combining with different wastes or secondary materials without significant mo...