Recuperação e aplicação do dicromato de potássio proveniente do resíduo de sulfocrômica

A simple procedure for recovering potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7 ) from treatment of residual sulphochromic solution was proposed in the present work by means of cooling crystallization. The decrease of temperature favored the crystallization of K2Cr2O7 due to the decrease of solubility. 5.0 L of sulphochromic wastes containing 48.08 g L-1 of Cr(VI) were treated and the process of crystallization was performed in three steps until crystals were not formed anymore. On each step the content of Crtotal was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and Cr(VI) by colorimetric method with 1,5- diphenylcarbazide, resulting in the removal of 91% and 92% of Crtotal and Cr(VI), respectively. After the last step, the remaining Cr(VI) in the solution was reduced to Cr(III) from the addition of NaHSO3 , recovering via precipitation in pH 8 approximately 36.13 g of Cr(OH)3 . The final supernatant was discarded since chromium content was below the maximum limit established by the Brazilian legislation for effluents discharge, which corresponds to 0.10 and 1.0 mg L-1 of Cr(VI) and Cr(III), respectively. 628.4 g of K2Cr2O7 were recovered and the salt was characterized by X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis. Its applicability was compared to the standard K2Cr2O7 when determining the soil organic matter, in which there was no significant difference, thus inferring that the recovered compound may be incorporated on routine analyses. This recovering process allowed the reuse of K2Cr2O7 , thus reducing costs with the acquisition of new reagents and environmental impacts caused by the inadequate discard of sulphochromic solutions.

Kinetic study of pyrolysis of castor beans (Ricinuscommunis L) presscake: an alternative use for solid waste arising from the biodiesel production

This work investigated the effects of temperature and of rate of heating on the kinetic parameters of pyrolysis of castor beans presscake, a byproduct generated in the biodiesel production process. Pyrolysis process was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, and parameters were obtained from nonisothermal experiments. The results obtained from the process of thermal decomposition indicated the elimination of humidity and the decomposition of organic components of the biomass. DTG curves showed that the heating rate affects the temperature of maximum decomposition of the material. Kinetic parameters such as activation energy and pre-exponential factor were obtained by model-free methods proposed by Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS), and Kissinger. Experimental results showed that the kinetic parameters values of the FWO and KAS methods display good agreement and can be used to understand the mechanism of degradation of the cake. In a generalized way, the results contribute to better understanding of the processes of biomass pyrolysis.