Pozolanicidade dos resíduos industriais, lã de vidro e lã cerâmica

As fibras cerâmicas se caracterizam por ser um material leve, com alto grau de pureza, baixo armazenamento de calor, baixa condutividade térmica, resistência a choque térmico e alta resistência à corrosão em altas temperaturas. Essas características levam a uma grande procura das indústrias mínero-metalúrgicas e de outros setores para revestimentos de distribuidores, muflas, fornos de aquecimentos, entre outros. Após utilização no processo, por perderem sua capacidade de isolamento, os resíduos gerados precisam de destinação. Esse trabalho enfoca, especificamente, resíduos de lã cerâmica e lã de vidro. Pelo fato de a composição das fibras cerâmicas ser rica em sílica e alumina, efetuou-se uma investigação acerca da atividade pozolânica das mesmas com a cal e o cimento, especificamente CPV ARI, CPII E32 e CPIII 32RS, para avaliação da perspectiva de reciclagem em possível incorporação no concreto.

Caracterização de resíduos industriais visando a seu aproveitamento na fabricação de aço

Esse trabalho consiste na caracterização do resíduo de mármore, lama fina de aciaria e borra de alumínio, para averiguar a viabilidade técnica da utilização de tais resíduos na dessulfuração e desfosforação de ferro-gusa líquido. A caracterização desses resíduos foi feita através de análises químicas, granulométricas, difração de raios X e microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) com micro análise por Espectroscopia por Energia Dispersiva de Raios X (EDS). A lama fina de aciaria apresenta um teor de FeO de 84,90%, o resíduo de mármore apresentou um teor de 61,5% de CaO e 33,9% de MgO e a borra de alumínio apresentou 36,5% de Al metálico e 62% de Al2O3. A granulometria do resíduo de mármore apresentou um tamanho de grão médio igual 42,810 µm. Já, na borra de alumínio, o tamanho médio foi de 101,803 µm. A lama fina de aciaria LD apresentou, em torno de 54,7% de sua granulometria, entre 0,15 e 0,075mm. Esses resultados apontam para a viabilidade técnica da utilização desses materiais na dessulfuração e desfosforação do ferro-gusa.

Production and action of an Aspergillus phoenicis enzymatic pool using different carbon sources

Aspergillus phoenicis is an interesting heat tolerant fungus that can synthesize enzymes with several applications in the food industry due to its great hydrolytic potential. In this work, the fungus produced high enzymatic levels when cultivated on inexpensive culture media consisting of flakes from different origins such as cassava flour, wheat fibre, crushed soybean, agro-industrial wastes, starch, glucose or maltose. Several enzymatic systems were produced from these carbon sources, but amylase was the most evident, followed by pectinase and xylanase. Traces of CMCases, avicelase, lipase, β-xylosidase, β-glucosidase and α-glucosidase activities were also detected. Amylases were produced on rye flakes, starch, oat flakes, corn flakes, cassava flour and wheat fibre. Significant amylolytic levels were produced in the culture medium with glucose or when this sugar was exhausted, suggesting an enzyme in the constitutive form. Cassava flour, rye, oats, barley and corn flakes were also used as substrates in the hydrolytic reactions, aiming to verify the liberation potential of reducing sugars. Corn flakes induced greater liberation of reducing sugars as compared to the others. Thin layer chromatography of the reaction end products showed that the hydrolysis of cassava flour liberated maltooligosaccharides, but cassava flour and corn, rye, oats and barley flakes were hydrolyzed to glucose. These results suggested the presence of glucoamylase and α-amylase as part of the enzymatic pool of A. phoencis.

Sugars metabolism and ethanol production by different yeast strains from coffee industry wastes hydrolysates

Significant amounts of wastes are generated by the coffee industry, among of which, coffee silverskin (CS) and spent coffee grounds (SCG) are the most abundantly generated during the beans roasting and instant coffee preparation, respectively. This study evaluated the sugars metabolism and production of ethanol by three different yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia stipitis and Kluyveromyces fragilis) when cultivated in sugar rich hydrolysates produced by acid hydrolysis of CS and SCG. S. cerevisiae provided the best ethanol production from SCG hydrolysate (11.7 g/l, 50.2% efficiency). On the other hand, insignificant (<= 1.0 g/l) ethanol production was obtained from CS hydrolysate, for all the evaluated yeast strains, probably due to the low sugars concentration present in this medium (approx. 22 g/l). It was concluded that it is possible to reuse SCG as raw material for ethanol production, which is of great interest for the production of this biofuel, as well as to add value to this agro-industrial waste. CS hydrolysate, in the way that is produced, was not a suitable fermentation medium for ethanol production; however, the hydrolysate concentration for the sugars content increase previous the use as fermentation medium could be an alternative to overcome this problem. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of Carbon Nanomaterials through Up-Cycling Agricultural and Municipal Solid Wastes

This work addresses the synthesis of carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) by up-cycling common solid wastes. These feedstocks could supersede the use of costly and often toxic or highly flammable chemicals, such as hydrocarbon gases, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen, which are commonly used as feedstocks in current nanomanufacturing processes for CNMs. Agricultural sugar cane bagasse and corn residues, scrap tire chips, and postconsumer polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle shreddings were either thermally treated by sole pyrolysis or by sequential pyrolysis and partial oxidation. The resulting gaseous carbon-bearing effluents were then channeled into a heated reactor. CNMs, including carbon nanotubes, were catalytically synthesized therein on stainless steel meshes. This work revealed that the structure of the resulting CNMs is determined by the feedstock type, through the disparate mixtures of carbon-bearing gases generated when different feedstocks are pyrolyzed. CNM characterization was conducted by scanning and transmission electron microscopy as well as by Raman spectroscopy and by thermogravimetric analysis. Gas chromatography was used to characterize the gases in the synthesis chamber. This work demonstrated an alternative method for efficient manufacturing of CNMs using both biodegradable and nonbiodegradable agricultural and municipal carbonaceous wastes.