Estudo de caso: minimização e reúso de água em shopping center da região sul do Brasil

The main issues related to water conservation in urban centers are the increase in water supply cost, demand growth, pollution and differences in the distribution of water resources. Water conservation, the controlled and efficient use of water, includes both measures as reasonable means of water reuse. Thus, conservation practices are an effective way to meet demand and supply water to new activities and users without jeopardizing the supplying water bodies and preserving the natural environment. This study aims to examine the water management of a shopping mall and the use of rainwater harvesting combined with greywater reuse. For buildings in general, water loss is common due to leaks in the hydraulic and restroom equipment. These losses, which are caused by a high volume of water used and wasted in the system, are often the result of design errors, incorrect maintenance procedures and users' bad habits In southern Brazil, where there is rainfall almost all year long, water shortages occasionally occur, particularly in some winter mouths. One difficulty that appears on rainwater studies is the proper determination of rainwater volume that can be used to address water supply systems. In this work, the simulation method was used to determine this volume. Thus, simulations with the following variables: rainfall, catchment area and water consumption were performed. For mall's hydraulic systems, segmented alternatives are adopted. That is, focusing on the use of rainwater or greywater reuse. Other alternatives of effluent reuse have been slightly discussed due to sanitary issues, those are effluents from toilets and kitchen sinks. The adoption of greywater may be feasible if there is a significant flow of greywater to comply water demand for toilet flushing. The inspections made in this study found that the quantity of sinks was insufficient to supply an adequate amount of water to toilets and urinals. The greywater reuse system was found to be infeasible in terms of demand and supply of water. Conversely, the rainwater harvesting system was entirely feasible and easily supplied water to all restrooms and contributed to the cooling of the air conditioning system with a short payback period. One of the challenges of this work was the need to compare the actual water consumption with a water consumption parameter used in buildings. Thus, a method that addresses the generation of specific consumption indexes for specific activity (like a mall) was used. The water consumption indices showed that this mall has a satisfactory water management program.

Ensino dos números racionais comparando medidas de unidade

This research aimed to investigate the possibility to develop the process of teaching and learning of the division of rational numbers with guided tasks in interpretation of measure. Adopted as methodology the Didactic Engineering and a didactic sequence in order to develop the work with students of High School. Participated of training sessions twelve students of one state school of Porto Barreiro city - Paran´a. The results of application of the didactic engineering suggest the importance of utilization of guided tasks in interpretation of measure, since strengthened the understanding, on the part of students, the concept of division of fractional rational numbers and contributed for them develop the comprehension of others questions associated to the concept of rational numbers, such as order, equivalence and density.

Medidas de concentração de radônio proveniente de argamassas de cimento portland, gesso e fosfogesso

Portland cement being very common construction material has in its composition the natural gypsum. To decrease the costs of manufacturing, the cement industry is substituting the gypsum in its composition by small quantities of phosphogypsum, which is the residue generated by the production of fertilizers and consists essentially of calcium dihydrate and some impurities, such as fluoride, metals in general, and radionuclides. Currently, tons of phosphogypsum are stored in the open air near the fertilizer industries, causing contamination of the environment. The 226 Ra present in these materials, when undergoes radioactive decay, produces the 222Rn gas. This radioactive gas, when inhaled together with its decay products deposited in the lungs, produces the exposure to radiation and can be a potential cause of lung cancer. Thus, the objective of this study was to measure the concentration levels of 222Rn from cylindrical samples of Portland cement, gypsum and phosphogypsum mortar from the state of Paraná, as well as characterizer the material and estimate the radon concentration in an environment of hypothetical dwelling with walls covered by such materials. Experimental setup of 222Rn activity measurements was based on AlphaGUARD detector (Saphymo GmbH). The qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed by gamma spectrometry and EDXRF with Au and Ag targets tubes (AMPTEK), and Mo target (ARTAX) and mechanical testing with x- ray equipment (Gilardoni) and the mechanical press (EMIC). Obtained average values of radon activity from studied materials in the air of containers were of 854 ± 23 Bq/m3, 60,0 ± 7,2 Bq/m3 e 52,9 ± 5,4 Bq/m3 for Portland cement, gypsum and phosphogypsum mortar, respectively. These results extrapolated into the volume of hypothetical dwelling of 36 m3 with the walls covered by such materials were of 3366 ± 91 Bq/m3, 237 ± 28 Bq/m3 e 208 ± 21 Bq/m3for Portland cement, gypsum and phosphogypsum mortar, respectively. Considering the limit of 300 Bq/m3 established by the ICRP, it could be concluded that the use of Portland cement plaster in dwellings is not secure and requires some specific mitigation procedure. Using the results of gamma spectrometry there were calculated the values of radium equivalent activity concentrations (Raeq) for Portland cement, gypsum and phosphogypsum mortar, which were obtained equal to 78,2 ± 0,9 Bq/kg; 58,2 ± 0,9 Bq/kg e 68,2 ± 0,9 Bq/kg, respectively. All values of radium equivalent activity concentrations for studied samples are below the maximum level of 370 Bq/kg. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of EDXRF spectra obtained with studied mortar samples allowed to evaluate quantitate and the elements that constitute the material such as Ca, S, Fe, and others.