Efeito da velocidade de aquecimento nas propriedades de produtos da cerâmica estrutural

Heating rate is one of the main variables that determine a fire cycle. In industrial processes that use high temperatures, greater fire great can reduce the cost of production and increase productivity. The use of faster and more efficient fire cycles has been little investigated by the structural ceramic industry in Brazil. However, one of the possibilities that aims at modernizing the sector is the use of roller kilns and the inclusion of natural gas as fuel. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of heating rate on the technological properties of structural ceramic products. Clay raw materials from the main ceramic industries in the state of Rio Grande do Norte were characterized. Some of the raw materials characterized were formulated to obtain the best physical and mechanical properties. Next, raw materials and formulations were selected to study the influence of heating rate on the final properties of the ceramic materials. The samples were shaped by pressing and extrusion and submitted to rates of 1 °C/min, 10 °C/min and 20 °C/min, with final temperatures of 850 °C, 950 °C and 1050 °C. Discontinuous cycles with rates of 10 °C/min or 15 °C/min up to 600 °C and a rate of 20 °C/min up to final temperature were also investigated. Technological properties were determined for all the samples and microstructural analysis was carried out under a number of fire conditions. Results indicate that faster and more efficient fire cycles than those currently in practice could be used, limiting only some clay doughs to certain fire conditions. The best results were obtained for the samples submitted to slow cycles up to 600 °C and fast fire sinterization up to 950 °C. This paper presents for the first time the use of a fast fire rate for raw materials and clay formulations and seeks to determine ideal dough and processing conditions for using shorter fire times, thus enabling the use of roller kilns and natural gas in structural ceramic industries

Aplicação da metodologia de planejamento de experimentos para formulação de massas cerâmicas para telhas

Rio Grande do Norte State stands out as one great producer of structural clay of the brazilian northeastern. The Valley Assu ceramic tiles production stands out obtained from ilitics ball clays that abound in the region under study. Ceramics formulation and the design of experiments with mixture approach, has been applied for researchers, come as an important aid to decrease the number of experiments necessary to the optimization. In this context, the objective of this work is to evaluate the effects of the formulation, temperature and heating rate in the physical-mechanical properties of the red ceramic body used for roofing tile fabrication of the Valley Assu, using design of mixture experiments. Four clays samples used in two ceramics industry of the region were use as raw material and characterized by X-ray diffraction, chemical composition, differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), particle size distribution analysis and plasticity techniques. Afterwards, they were defined initial molded bodies and made specimens were then prepared by uniaxial pressing at 25 MPa before firing at 850, 950 and 1050 ºC in a laboratory furnace, with heating rate in the proportions of 5, 10 e 15 ºC/min. The following tecnologicals properties were evaluated: linear firing shrinkage, water absorption and flexural strength. Results show that the temperature 1050 ºC and heating rate of 5 ºC/min was the best condition, therefore presented significance in all physical-mechanical properties. The model was accepted as valid based of the production of three new formulations with fractions mass diferents of the initial molded bodies and heated with temperature at 1050 ºC and heating rate of 5 ºC/min. Considering the formulation, temperature and heating rate as variables of the equations, another model was suggested, where from the aplication of design of experiments with mixtures was possible to get a best formulation, whose experimental error is the minor in relation to the too much formulations

Aproveitamento de resíduo de beneficiamento do caulim na produção de porcelanato cerâmico

Nowadays, industries from all sectors have great concerns over the disposition of the residues generated along the productive process. This is not different in the mineral sector, as this generates great volumes of residues. It was verified that the kaolin improvement industry generates great volumes of residue basically constituted of kaolinite, muscovite mica and quartz, which are basic constitution elements to formularisations of ceramics masses to the production of covering of stoneware tiles type. This happens because the methodology applied to the improvement process is still very rudimentary, what causes a very low yield, only ¼ from all the material volume that enters the improvement process, in the end, is marketable. The disposal of this residue, in a general way, causes a very big negative environmental impact, what has justified the researches efforts aiming to find a rational solution to this problem. In this way, the intention of this present work is the utilization of this residue in the manufacture of products to high quality ceramics covering, stoneware tiles in an industrial scale. For this purpose, the influence of the addition of the residue to a standard ceramics mass used by a ceramics sector company, already established in the market, with the intention of verifying the possibility of use of this residue as the mass complementary raw material and even the possible partial or total substitution of one of the components of the mass for the raw material in evidence will be studied. To the accomplishment of this work, the kaolin improvement residue generated by an industry of exploitation and improvement of kaolin, located in the region of Equador-RN, in the levels 1,2,4,8, 16 and 32% will be added to the standard mass already used for the production of stoneware tiles. The raw materials used, kaolin residue and the standard mass, were characterized through DRX, FRX, DTA, TGA and dilatometry. After the sintering of the bodies of test, tests of water absorption, apparent porosity, post burning linear retraction, apparent specific mass and flexural strength (3 point bending) were realized to determinate the technological properties of these materials. The results show the studied residue can be considered raw material of great potential to the industry of floor and ceramics covering of the stoneware tiles type

Contribuição ao desenvolvimento de ontologias para processos petroquímicos : estudo de caso em uma planta DEA

In the last decades, the oil, gas and petrochemical industries have registered a series of huge accidents. Influenced by this context, companies have felt the necessity of engaging themselves in processes to protect the external environment, which can be understood as an ecological concern. In the particular case of the nuclear industry, sustainable education and training, which depend too much on the quality and applicability of the knowledge base, have been considered key points on the safely application of this energy source. As a consequence, this research was motivated by the use of the ontology concept as a tool to improve the knowledge management in a refinery, through the representation of a fuel gas sweetening plant, mixing many pieces of information associated with its normal operation mode. In terms of methodology, this research can be classified as an applied and descriptive research, where many pieces of information were analysed, classified and interpreted to create the ontology of a real plant. The DEA plant modeling was performed according to its process flow diagram, piping and instrumentation diagrams, descriptive documents of its normal operation mode, and the list of all the alarms associated to the instruments, which were complemented by a non-structured interview with a specialist in that plant operation. The ontology was verified by comparing its descriptive diagrams with the original plant documents and discussing with other members of the researchers group. All the concepts applied in this research can be expanded to represent other plants in the same refinery or even in other kind of industry. An ontology can be considered a knowledge base that, because of its formal representation nature, can be applied as one of the elements to develop tools to navigate through the plant, simulate its behavior, diagnose faults, among other possibilities

Extração de boro de água produzida sintética por sistema microemulsionado

Boron is a semi-metal present in certain types of soils and natural waters. It is essential to the healthy development of plants and non-toxic to humans, depending on its concentration. It is used in various industries and it s present in water production coming from oil production. More specifically in Rio Grande do Norte, one of the largest oil producers on shore of Brazil, the relationship water/oil in some fields becomes more than 90%. The most common destination of this produced water is disposal in open sea after processing to meet the legal specification. In this context, this research proposes to study the extraction of boron in water produced by microemulsion systems for industrial utilization. It was taken into account the efficiency of extraction of boron related to surfactant (DDA and OCS, both characterized by FT-IR), cosurfactant (butanol and isoamyl alcohol), organic phase (kerosene and heptanes) and aqueous phase (solution of boron 3.6 ppm in alkaline pH). The ratio cosurfactant/ surfactant used was four and the percentage of organic phases for all points of study was set at 5%. It was chosen points with the highest percentage of aqueous phase. Each system was designed for three points of different compositions in relation to the constituents of a pseudoternary diagram. These points were chosen according to studies of phase behavior in pseudoternary diagrams made in previous studies. For this research, points were chosen in the Winsor II region. The excess aqueous solution obtained in these systems was separated and analyzed by ICP OES. For the data set obtained, the better efficiency in the extraction of boron was obtained using the system with DAC, isoamyl alcohol and heptanes, which extracted 49% in a single step. OCS was not viable to the extraction of boron by microemulsion system in the conditions defined in this study

Análise de Sustentabilidade em Projetos de Instalações de Produção de Petróleo

A proposal for a global analysis of sustainability in projects related in oil facilities is presented. By considering economic, environmental and social aspects in the early stages of design, the suggested method is more comprehensive and can be used to complement the analysis commonly applied in the petroleum industry, such as: Study of Technical and Economic Feasibility; Environmental Impact Assessment and Risk Analysis. Several authors, associations, certification bodies and oil companies suggest different approaches to study sustainability in some specific activities (or industries). In this study, a checklist of significant sustainability aspects for the oil industry (surface facilities) was assembled. In addition, a matrix was developed to assess the sustainability items relevant to these projects. In this work, the checklist interacts with the matrix to perform a "Preliminary Analysis of Sustainability of the Enterprise" (APSE). This method allows the identification of aspects that contribute significantly to global sustainability. From this analysis, which includes economic, social and environmental aspects, is built a report that is used to analyze qualitatively and quantitatively the impact of the sustainability aspects of the project. In this analysis are identified items that strongly influence the economic, social or environmental aspects and evaluated alternatives that can increase the overall sustainability of the project. Finally, the alternatives that can be used to indicate the most sustainable option are identified. This method was applied in a project (design) of a small offshore platform. This case study shows how the APSE can contribute to the identification of sustainability initiatives for the enterprise. The results showed that relevant aspects can contribute decisively to global sustainability. Finally, it was observed that the proposed method can contribute to increased rates of sustainability, even after application of analysis commonly used in these projects

Biodegradação de hidrocarbonetos aromáticos policíclicos: prospecção metagenômica e modelagem computacional 3-D de proteínas

Knowledge of the native prokaryotes in hazardous locations favors the application of biotechnology for bioremediation. Independent strategies for cultivation and metagenomics contribute to further microbiological knowledge, enabling studies with non-cultivable about the "native microbiological status and its potential role in bioremediation, for example, of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HPA's). Considering the biome mangrove interface fragile and critical bordering the ocean, this study characterizes the native microbiota mangrove potential biodegradability of HPA's using a biomarker for molecular detection and assessment of bacterial diversity by PCR in areas under the influence of oil companies in the Basin Petroleum Geology Potiguar (BPP). We chose PcaF, a metabolic enzyme, to be the molecular biomarker in a PCR-DGGE detection of prokaryotes that degrade HPA s. The PCR-DGGE fingerprints obtained from Paracuru-CE, Fortim-CE and Areia Branca-RN samples revealed the occurrence of fluctuations of microbial communities according to the sampling periods and in response to the impact of oil. In the analysis of microbial communities interference of the oil industry, in Areia Branca-RN and Paracuru-CE was observed that oil is a determinant of microbial diversity. Fortim-CE probably has no direct influence with the oil activity. In order to obtain data for better understanding the transport and biodegradation of HPA's, there were conducted in silico studies with modeling and simulation from obtaining 3-D models of proteins involved in the degradation of phenanthrene in the transport of HPA's and also getting the 3-D model of the enzyme PcaF used as molecular marker in this study. Were realized docking studies with substrates and products to a better understanding about the transport mechanism and catalysis of HPA s

Emulsões de óleo de copaíba: determinação do equilíbrio hidrófilo-lipófilo crítico (EHLC), propriedades e estabilidade físico-químicas

Durante as últimas décadas, as indústrias farmacêuticas têm despertado grande interesse em óleos vegetais e vários extratos de planta por causa da sua baixa toxicidade e alta biodegrabilidade. O óleo de copaíba (Cop) é usado in natura na medicina popular como anti-inflamatório e antimicrobiano para tratar várias doenças, tais como inflamação da garganta, úlceras e infecções urinárias e pulmonares. Emulsões são sistemas dispersos termodinamicamente instáveis que consistem em dispersões de gotículas microscópicas em outro líquido imiscível. O objetivo deste trabalho foi preparar diferentes emulsões de Cop, determinar o EHL crítico deste óleo e avaliar a sua estabilidade, além de realizar estudos comparativos entre diferentes métodos de construção de diagramas de fases. As emulsões foram preparadas pelo método de inversão de fases variando as proporções de EHL de 4,7 a 16,7. A estabilidade foi determinada por vários métodos e os diagramas de fases foram produzidos pelo método de titulação usando diferentes procedimentos de agitação. As emulsões a base de Cop com EHL entre 12,7 e 15,7 foram as mais estáveis. As emulsões apresentaram boa estabilidade em curto e longo prazo, aspecto leitoso e baixos valores de índice de cremagem. Diferentes sistemas coloidais foram produzidos a partir dos diagramas de fases dependendo do processo de agitação. Baseado nesses métodos, o valor determinado de EHL do Cop foi 14,8, as emulsões permaneceram estáveis por mais de um ano e estes resultados indicam que o estudo das emulsões de Cop pode ser um promissor veículo de liberação tópica de fármacos e ativos cosméticos

Desenvolvimento de emulsões contendo óleos vegetais para uso cosmético

The fat acid esters and tocopherolic derivatives are of great economic interest in many industries. The sunflower oil, which had its rich constitution in these composites, is a very interesting raw material source for the job in some sectors as bio-carburants, bio-lubrificants, bio-surfactants, dispersing agents, food industries, medicines and cosmetics. A system emulsified steady from this oil can wide be used in the therapeutical one, therefore it is of easy acceptance for the patient, for being pharmaceutical forms that allow a better medicine administration. The chemical composition characteristics, rich in unsaturad fat acid and tocopherolic derivatives, the sunflower oil, make of the emulsified systems contend this oil a proposal promising for formularizations of pharmaceutical and cosmetic use with antirust and photoprotection. The general objective of this work was to apply the HLB beddings to determine the sunflower oil critical HLB and, from this, to be able to evaluate the ideal mixture of the constituent of this system through the study of the ternary diagrams for the determination of the ratio of constituent that will generate the emulsion most steady

O licenciamento ambiental como instrumento de um desenvolvimento verdadeiramente sustentável

Since the second half of the 20th century, mankind concerns about life quality and environment preservation began to grow. In Brazil, the edition of the Law nº 6.938/81, that instituted the National Policy of the Environment (Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente PNMA), contributing significantly to the singular treatment towards the environment by the Federal Constitution of 1988 (Constituição Federal de 1988), can be appointed as a landmark of this awareness. The Law nº 6.938/81, following the line observed on the legislation of some Brazilian States, predicted on its 9th article the instruments of PNMA, among which the environmental licensing can be highlighted. This instrument presents itself as indispensable to the construction, installation, extension and operation of enterprises and activities that utilize environmental resources, seen as effective and potentially polluter industries, or even to those that can cause environment degradation. On a parallel way and as a consequence of this awareness, the concept of development begins to acquire a new shape. The development of a country or a region begins to consider not only economical factors, but also environmental, political, cultural and social aspects. Ecodevelopment, or sustainable development, then, arises. In this way, through research on legislation and on theme related doctrine, this work has the intention of analyzing environmental licensing as a PNMA instrument responsible for uniting economical development and the right to an ecologically balanced environment, that is, by the consecution of a truly sustainable development

Estratégias de intervenção utilizadas por enfermeiros da ESF do município de Natal/RN no controle do câncer do colo de útero

Cancer of the cervix (cervical cancer) is the second most prevalent cancer among Brazilian women. The high rates of cervical cancer in Brazil justify the implementation of effective strategies to control this, which include actions to promote health, primary prevention, early detection, screening, treatment and palliative care. Despite the existence of the National Programme for Control of the CCU there was no reduction in the incidence and mortality of this disease in Brazil. The Family Health Strategy (FHS) has the potential to facilitate such control and, in this context, one should consider that nurses play a central role. The study aimed to know the general intervention strategies used by nurses FHS of Natal / RN in CCU control, and how specific: analyzing the knowledge of these nurses on the CCU, the actions developed in the ESF for the control of CCU and identify the difficulties faced by them to perform it. This is a descriptive exploratory quantitative developed through a structured interview guide with 106 nurses who have experience in controlling the CCU in FHS teams of Natal / RN. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistic s. The results pointed to actions taken in the FHS to control the CCU, collection of cervical cancer screening, health education activities, nursing consultation, referral of suspected cases for medical monitoring and active women with abnormal test result . The actions that were not mentioned by the nurses included: forming groups of prevention and health promotion; expand coverage of exams and office hours of consultations, establishment of alternatives to end the pent-up demand in the health units, participation in treatment or rehabilitation process users with the CCU; interventions for pain management, alliances and partnerships with schools, in dustry and the use of protocols. This study can be seen that the practice nurses partially shares to the CCU in Natal / RN. The participants of this study, when asked about the CCU, specifically for signs and symptoms of disease and risk factors in general showed important gaps. Difficulties such as lack of materials for collection of Pap smear; inadequate physical space in the Health Units; pent-up demand in the service, delay in arrival of the test results; obstacles in the actions of referral and counter-referral and cultural factors make the CCU control is compromised. It is believed in this research contributed to a reflection on the importance of the role of nurses in the development of the ESF control actions CCU, pointing out the factors that affect these. It is important to involve all nurses who comprise the ESF as knowledgeable of the risk factors, signs and symptoms, and existing tools for the early detection of cervical cancer in the pursuit of quality improvement actions to promote women`s health, contributing in planning future interventions that may reduce mortality from this disease in Natal / RN.

Desenvolvimento de protótipo de cadeira de banho para indivíduos com paralisia cerebral tetraparética espástica

This study proposes to develop an equipment that attends the demands of tetraplegic people due to cerebral palsy and that promotes an adequate caregivers postural biomechanics during the shower activity of daily living. First, a bibliographic review was performed to define the terms refering to cerebral palsy, activity of daily living (specifically shower), and assistive technology, besides listing the wheelchairs made on the mainly national assistive technology companies. Therefore, this is a descriptive-exploratory study based on a literature review and on a based-field exploration research. On the field research a survey was adopted as a methodological procedure as it is related to a direct investigation related to a phenomenon, on the case, represented by the current shower situation of the people investigated in this study. Data were collected with the application of a form to the caregivers and consumers of the medical-therapeutic treatment and place used by the participants. Such form, which was made up of open and close questions, tried to identify, besides the personal data of evaluated users and consumers, the characteristics of the current shower activity, such as the place where it takes place in the house, the used equipmentS, in the case there is any, and how often it occurs. The form also was used to identify the caregivers and consumers desires and perceptions in relation to the present characteristics of the new dispositive besides the users and consumers anthropometric data. The evaluation of the results obtained through the form, together with the practice and clinical experience of the researchers and engineers involved in this study, made it possible to develop and make up a real shower chair prototype with the specific adjusts destined to adequate the equipment to be used according to the needs of each user and consumer

Participação pública em programas ambientais :um estudo em área suscetível à desertificação no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte

The natural resources degradation and its consequences to the society life have provided several discussions about the evaluation methods and environmental management, and the available means to minimize the effects of man s actions over the environment. Amongst these actions is the encouragement to the community participation in the process of carrying out the environmental programs, considering government and enterprises representatives or residents of certain places as social actors. Within these context, this paper had as a goal the investigation of the public participation in the environmental programs in areas that are susceptible to desertification, specificly in Parelhas/RN. The choice for this town was due to its insertion in an area considered as a desetification nucleous, which is, a region that suffers land degradation as a consequence of climate variations or human activities. Therefore, the research in question, of a descriptive and exploratory type, had as an instrument a structured questionnaire, applied to a sample of 223 people out of an 11,068 over 20 years of age residents population. The data have been tabled from Statistics for Windows Program and later interpreted based on the theoretical reference over the subject. As a result, corroborating to the literature of the area, it was found that the community participation in any type of action or debate about environmental questions is associated to the perception and knowledge about the problems. Although the people who were interviewed believe in the responsibility of the ceramic industry in causing environmental problems, they also believe that the benefits brought by the sector overcome such problems

Modelo de desdobramento da função qualidade adequado a produção da cerâmica vermelha

A presente dissertação representa uma contribuição na resolução dos problemas que se apresentam no setor das indústrias de cerâmica vermelha, apresentamos um modelo, baseado na estratégia do QFD (Desdobramento da Função Qualidade), na qual associa os requisitos dos consumidores na elaboração dos projetos do produto e dos processos de produção. A qualidade do produto é avaliada tanto no aspecto interno(especificações técnicas) quanto no aspecto externo (qualidades exigidas pelos clientes). A pesquisa mostra, além da realidade que vive o setor das indústrias de cerâmica, a importância e os atributos da qualidade definidos pelos consumidores relativo aos tijolos cerâmicos de vedação. O trabalho também mostra os resultados da aplicação do modelo numa das empresas do setor, através de desdobramentos da qualidade exigida, se estabelece a qualidade planejada, mostra ainda a posição da empresa em relação aos concorrentes em função do desempenho do produto. Procura-se ainda, através de sugestões de melhorias, atacar os problemas das falhas na qual geram o desperdício

Estratégias de avaliação de desempenho dos propagandistas de medicamentos utilizados pela indústria farmacêutica no nordeste do Brasil

A Indústria Farmacêutica é uma das mais competitivas indústrias do mundo contemporâneo, e um dos seus principais desafios está na comercialização de seus medicamentos, que na sua maioria depende da prescrição médica. O objetivo deste estudo é identificar as estratégias de avaliação de desempenho utilizadas pela Indústria Farmacêutica de origem multinacional que atua no nordeste Brasileiro e o papel dos seus gerentes, para avaliar os propagandistas vendedores de medicamentos. Para tanto, buscouse reunir elementos para uma abordagem satisfatória que contemple a complexidade da temática pesquisada: Avaliação de Desempenho, Estratégias da Indústria Farmacêutica, Propaganda Médica e Competências dos Propagandistas de Medicamentos. A temática justifica-se em razão da importância estratégica dos propagandistas de medicamentos para a indústria farmacêutica, que é uma das indústrias que mais investe em pesquisa na atualidade, e contribui para melhorar a qualidade de vida e a saúde humana. A metodologia é caracterizada como um survey, de natureza quali-quantitativa. O objeto de estudo é composto pelas empresas farmacêuticas multinacionais de origem Americanas, Europeias e Asiáticas, associadas à INTERFARMA que atuam no Nordeste do Brasil. A coleta de dados foi realizada através de um questionário fechado (instrumento de pesquisa), composto por 5 perguntas fechadas que abordam a temática central dessa dissertação, 27 afirmativas para medir a concordância(escala likert) e 1 tabela contendo 46 competências, aplicado junto a gerentes da indústria farmacêutica. A análise dos dados foi feita por meio das técnicas de estatística descritiva e uma análise quantitativa para estabelecer o Ranking Médio (RM) para a parte do questionário que utilizou escala tipo Likert de 5 pontos para mensurar o grau de concordância dos respondestes. Através dos resultados desta pesquisa foi possível identificar as estratégias de avaliação de desempenho, utilizadas pelas empresas farmacêuticas, que atuam no Nordeste do Brasil, na gestão dos propagandistas vendedores de medicamentos, e identificar as competências essenciais dos propagandistas de medicamentos, na percepção dos gestores. Os resultados demonstraram que a Indústria Farmacêutica desenvolve e utiliza várias estratégias para medir e avaliar o desempenho dos propagandistas de medicamentos no Brasil, assim como em outros países, e que na percepção dos gerentes da Indústria Farmacêutica existem competências consideradas essenciais ao bom desempenho profissional dos propagandistas de medicamentos da indústria farmacêutica, contribuindo de para avanço do conhecimento deste tema