Estudos de adsorção de tetraciclina em partículas de quitosana

Due to its physico-chemical and biological properties, related to the abundance and low cost of raw material, chitosan has been recognized as a material of wide application in various fields, such as in drug delivery systems. Many of these properties are associated with the presence of amino groups in its polymer chain. A proper determination of these amino groups is very important, in order to properly specify if a given chitosan sample can be used in a particular application. Thus, in this work, initially, a comparison between the determination of the deacetylation degree by conductometry and elemental analysis was carried out using a detailed analysis of error propagation. It was shown that the conductometric analysis resulted in a simple and safe method for the determining the degree of deacetylation of chitosan. Subsequently, experiments were performed to monitor and characterize the adsorption of tetracycline on chitosan particles through kinetic and equilibrium studies. The main models of kinetics and adsorption isotherms, widely used to describe the adsorption on wastewater treatment systems and the drug loading, were used to treat the experimental data. Firstly, it was shown that an apparent linear t/q(t) × t relationship did not imply in a pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetics, differently of what has been repeatedly reported in the literature. It was found that this misinterpretation can be avoided by using non-linear regression. Finally, the adsorption of tetracycline on chitosan particles was analyzed using insights obtained from theoretical analysis, and the parameters generated were used to analyze the kinetics of adsorption, the isotherm of adsorption and to ropose a mechanism of adsorption

Utilização de uma coluna de flotação para remoção de compostos orgânicos da água de produção

Innovative technologies using surfactant materials have applicability in several industrial fields, including petroleum and gas areas. This study seeks to investigate the use of a surfactant derived from coconut oil (SCO saponified coconut oil) in the recovery process of organic compounds that are present in oily effluents from petroleum industry. For this end, experiments were accomplished in a column of small dimension objectifying to verify the influence of the surfactant SCO in the efficiency of oil removal. This way, they were prepared emulsions with amount it fastens of oil (50, 100, 200 and 400 ppm), being determined the great concentrations of surfactant for each one of them. Some rehearsals were still accomplished with produced water of the industry of the petroleum to compare the result with the one of the emulsions. According to the experiments, it was verified that an increase of the surfactant concentration does not implicate in a greater oil removal. The separation process use gaseous bubbles formed when a gas stream pass a liquid column, when low surfactant concentrations are used, it occurs the coalescence of the dispersed oil droplets and their transport to the top of the column, forming a new continuous phase. Such surfactants lead to a gas-liquid interface saturation, depending on the used surfactant concentration, affecting the flotation process and influencing in the removal capacity of the oily dispersed phase. A porous plate filter, with pore size varying from 40 to 250 mm, was placed at the base of the column to allow a hydrodynamic stable operation. During the experimental procedures, the operating volume of phase liquid was held constant and the rate of air flow varied in each experiment. The resulting experimental of the study hydrodynamic demonstrated what the capturing of the oil was influenced by diameter of the bubbles and air flow. With the increase flow of 300 about to 900 cm3.min-1, occurred an increase in the removal of oil phase of 44% about to 66% and the removal kinetic of oil was defined as a reaction of 1° order.

Avaliação da poatencialidade da perlita natural e expandida na adsorção de metais

The contamination by metal ions has been occurring for decades through the introduction of liquid effluent not treated, mainly from industrial activities, rivers and lakes, affecting water quality. For that the effluent can be disposed in water bodies, environmental standards require that they be adequately addressed, so that the concentration of metals does not exceed the limits of standard conditions of release in the receptor. Several methods for wastewater treatment have been reported in the literature, but many of them are high cost and low efficiency. The adsorption process has been used as effective for removal of metal ions. This paper presents studies to evaluate the potential of perlite as an adsorbent for removing metals in model solution. Perlite, in its natural form (NP) and expanded (EP), was characterized by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, surface area analysis using nitrogen adsorption (BET method), scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The physical characteristic and chemical composition of the material presented were appropriate for the study of adsorption. Adsorption experiments by the method of finite bath for model solutions of metal ions Cr3+, Cu2+, Mn2+ and Ni2+ were carried out in order to study the effect of pH, mass of the adsorbent and the contact time on removal of ions in solution. The results showed that perlite has good adsorption capacity. The NP has higher adsorption capacity (mg g-1) than the EP. According to the values of the constant of Langmuir qm (mg g-1), the maximum capacity of the monolayer was obtained and in terms of proportion of mass, we found the following order experimental adsorption: Cr3+ (2.194 mg g- 1) > Ni2+ (0.585 mg g-1) > Mn2+ (0.515 mg g-1) > Cu2+ (0.513 mg g-1) and Cr3+ (1.934 mg g-1)> Ni2+ (0.514 mg g-1) > Cu2+ (0.421 mg g-1) > Mn2+ (0.364 mg g-1) on the NP and EP, respectively. The experimental data were best fitted the Langmuir model compared to Freundlich for Cu2+, Mn2+ and Ni2+. However, for the Cr3+, both models fit the experimental data

Caracterização e aplicação de vermicultura natural e quimicamente modificada na adsorção de azul de metileno

Chemical modification of clays has been extremely studied in the search for improvements of their properties for use in various areas, such as in combating pollution by industrial effluents and dyes. In this work, the vermiculite was chemically modified in two ways, characterized and evaluated the adsorption of methylene blue dye. First was changed with the addition of a surfactant (hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, BHTA) making it an organophilic clay and then by adding an acid (HCl) by acid activation. Some analyzes were performed as X-ray fluorescence (FRX), X-ray diffraction (DRX), adsorption isotherms of methylene blue dye, infrared (FTIR) , scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis and spectroscopy energy dispersive (EDS). Analysis by FRX of natural vermiculite indicates that addition of silicon and aluminum, clay presents in its structure the magnesium, calcium and potassium with 16 % organic matter cations. The DRX analyzes indicated that the organic vermiculite was an insertion of the surfactant in the space between the lamellae, vermiculite and acid partial destruction of the structure with loss of crystallinity. The adsorption isotherms of methylene blue showed that there was a significant improvement in the removal of dye to the vermiculite with the addition of cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and treatment with acid using HCl 2 mol/L. In acid vermiculites subsequently treated with surfactant, the adsorption capacity increased with respect to natural vermiculite, however was much lower compared vermiculite modified with acid and surfactant separately. Only the acidic vermiculite treated with surfactant adjusted to the Langmuir model. As in the infrared spectrometry proved the characteristics of natural vermiculite. In the organic vermiculite was observed the appearance of characteristic bands of CH3, CH2, and (CH3)4N. Already on acid vermiculite, it was realized a partial destruction with decreasing intensity of the characteristic band of vermiculite that is between 1074 and 952 cm-1. In the SEM analysis, it was observed that there was partial destruction to the acid treatment and a cluster is noted between the blades caused by the presence of the surfactant. The TG shows that the higher mass loss occurs at the beginning of the heating caused by the elimination of water absorbed on the surface between layers. In the organic vermiculite also observed a loss of mass between 150 and 300 °C caused decomposition of the alkylammonium molecules (surfactants)

Encapsulação de nanopartículas de magnetita em matriz de poli(metacrilato de metilacoácido metacrílico) por processo de polimerização em miniemulsão

Magnetic particles are systems with potential use in drug delivery systems, ferrofluids, and effluent treatment. In many situations, such as in biomedical applications, it is necessary to cover magnetic particles with an organic material, as polymers. In this work, magnetic particles were obtained through covering magnetite particles with poly(methyl methacrylate‐comethacrylic acid) via miniemulsion polymerization process. The resultant materials were characterized X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), zeta potential (��) measurements and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). XRD results showed magnetite as the predominant cristalline phase in all samples and that cristallites had nanometric dimensions. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed an increase in polymer thermal stability as a result of magnetite encapsulation. TGA results showed also that the encapsulation efficiency was directly related to nanoparticles s hidrofobicity degree. VSM measurements showed that magnetic polymeric particles were superparamagnetic, so that they may be potentially used for magnetic (bio)separation

Eficiência de extração de cobre e níquel utilizando sistemas microemulsionados bifásicos e trifásicos

The environmental impact due to the improper disposal of metal-bearing industrial effluents imposes the need of wastewater treatment, since heavy metals are nonbiodegradable and hazardous substances that may cause undesirable effects to humans and the environment. The use of microemulsion systems for the extraction of metal ions from wastewaters is effective when it occurs in a Winsor II (WII) domain, where a microemulsion phase is in equilibrium with an aqueous phase in excess. However, the microemulsion phase formed in this system has a higher amount of active matter when compared to a WIII system (microemulsion in equilibrium with aqueous and oil phases both in excess). This was the reason to develop a comparative study to evaluate the efficiency of two-phases and three-phases microemulsion systems (WII and WIII) in the extraction of Cu+2 and Ni+2 from aqueous solutions. The systems were composed by: saponified coconut oil (SCO) as surfactant, n-Butanol as cosurfactant, kerosene as oil phase, and synthetic solutions of CuSO4.5H2O and NiSO4.6H2O, with 2 wt.% NaCl, as aqueous phase. Pseudoternary phase diagrams were obtained and the systems were characterized by using surface tension measurements, particle size determination and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The concentrations of metal ions before and after extraction were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The extraction study of Cu+2 and Ni+2 in the WIII domain contributed to a better understanding of microemulsion extraction, elucidating the various behaviors presented in the literature for these systems. Furthermore, since WIII systems presented high extraction efficiencies, similar to the ones presented by Winsor II systems, they represented an economic and technological advantage in heavy metal extraction due to a small amount of surfactant and cosurfactant used in the process and also due to the formation of a reduced volume of aqueous phase, with high concentration of metal. Considering the reextraction process, it was observed that WIII system is more effective because it is performed in the oil phase, unlike reextraction in WII, which is performed in the aqueous phase. The presence of the metalsurfactant complex in the oil phase makes possible to regenerate only the surfactant present in the organic phase, and not all the surfactant in the process, as in WII system. This fact allows the reuse of the microemulsion phase in a new extraction process, reducing the costs with surfactant regeneration

Caracterização química e toxicológica da água produzida descartada em plataformas de óleo e gás na costa brasileira e seu comportamento dispersivo no mar

The production of oil and gas is usually accompanied by the production of water, also known as produced water. Studies were conducted in platforms that discharge produced water in the Atlantic Ocean due to oil and gas production by Petrobras from 1996 to 2006 in the following basins: Santos (Brazilian south region), Campos (Brazilian southeast region) and Ceara (Brazilian northeast region). This study encompasses chemical composition, toxicological effects, discharge volumes, and produced water behavior after releasing in the ocean, including dispersion plumes modeling and monitoring data of the marine environment. The concentration medians for a sampling of 50 samples were: ammonia (70 mg L-1), boron (1.3 mg L1), iron (7.4 mg L-1), BTEX (4.6 mg L-1), PAH (0.53 mg L-1), TPH (28 mg L-1); phenols (1.3 mg L-1) and radioisotopes (0.15 Bq L-1 for 226Ra and 0.09 Bq L-1 for 228Ra). The concentrations of the organic and inorganic parameters observed for the Brazilian platforms were similar to the international reference data for the produced water in the North Sea and in other regions of the world. It was found significant differences in concentrations of the following parameters: BTEX (p<0.0001), phenols (p=0.0212), boron (p<0.0001), iron (p<0.0001) and toxicological response in sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus (p<0.0001) when considering two distinguished groups, platforms from southeast and northeast Region (PCR-1). Significant differences were not observed among the other parameters. In platforms with large gas production, the monoaromatic concentrations (BTEX from 15.8 to 21.6 mg L-1) and phenols (from 2 to 83 mg L-1) were higher than in oil plataforms (median concentrations of BTEX were 4.6 mg L-1 for n=53, and of phenols were 1.3 mg L-1 for n=46). It was also conducted a study about the influence of dispersion plumes of produced water in the vicinity of six platforms of oil and gas production (P-26, PPG-1, PCR-1, P-32, SS-06), and in a hypothetical critical scenario using the chemical characteristics of each effluent. Through this study, using CORMIX and CHEMMAP models for dispersion plumes simulation of the produced water discharges, it was possible to obtain the dilution dimension in the ocean after those discharges. The dispersion plumes of the produced water modelling in field vicinity showed dilutions of 700 to 900 times for the first 30-40 meters from the platform PCR-1 discharge point; 100 times for the platform P-32, with 30 meters of distance; 150 times for the platform P-26, with 40 meters of distance; 100 times for the platform PPG-1, with 130 meters of distance; 280 to 350 times for the platform SS-06, with 130 meters of distance, 100 times for the hypothetical critical scenario, with the 130 meters of distance. The dilutions continue in the far field, and with the results of the simulations, it was possible to verify that all the parameters presented concentrations bellow the maximum values established by Brazilian legislation for seawater (CONAMA 357/05 - Class 1), before the 500 meters distance of the discharge point. These results were in agreement with the field measurements. Although, in general results for the Brazilian produced water presented toxicological effects for marine organisms, it was verified that dilutions of 100 times were sufficient for not causing toxicological responses. Field monitoring data of the seawater around the Pargo, Pampo and PCR-1 platforms did not demonstrate toxicity in the seawater close to these platforms. The results of environmental monitoring in seawater and sediments proved that alterations were not detected for environmental quality in areas under direct influence of the oil production activities in the Campos and Ceara Basin, as according to results obtained in the dispersion plume modelling for the produced water discharge

Hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos no meio ambiente: diferenciação de fontes em sedimentos e metabólitos em bile de peixes

Many studies on environmental ecosystems quality related to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have been carried out routinely due to their ubiquotus presence worldwide and to their potential toxicity after its biotransformation. PAH may be introduced into the environmet by natural and anthropogenic processes from direct runoff and discharges and indirect atmospheric deposition. Sources of naturally occurring PAHs include natural fires, natural oil seepage and recent biological or diagenetic processes. Anthropogenic sources of PAHs, acute or chronic, are combustion of organic matter (petroleum, coal, wood), waste and releases/spills of petroleum and derivatives (river runoff, sewage outfalls, maritime transport, pipelines). Besides the co-existence of multiples sources of PAH in the environmental samples, these compounds are subject to many processes that lead to geochemical fates (physical-chemical transformation, biodegradation and photo-oxidation), which leads to an alteration of their composition. All these facts make the identification of the hydrocarbons sources, if petrogenic, pyrolytic or natural, a challenge. One of the objectives of this study is to establish tools to identify the origin of hydrocarbons in environmental samples. PAH diagnostic ratios and PAH principal component analysis were tested on a critical area: Guanabara Bay sediments. Guanabara Bay is located in a complex urban area of Rio de Janeiro with a high anthropogenic influence, being an endpoint of chronic pollution from the Greater Rio and it was the scenario of an acute event of oil release in January 2000. It were quantified 38 compounds, parental and alkylated PAH, in 21 sediment samples collected in two surveys: 2000 and 2003. The PAH levels varied from 400 to 58439 ng g-1. Both tested techniques for origin identification of hydrocarbons have shown their applicability, being able to discriminate the PAH sources for the majority of the samples analysed. The bay sediments were separated into two big clusters: sediments with a clear pattern of petrogenic introduction of hydrocarbons (from intertidal area) and sediments with combustion characteristics (from subtidal region). Only a minority of the samples could not display a clear contribution of petrogenic or pyrolytic input. The diagnostic ratios that have exhibited high ability to distinguish combustion- and petroleum-derived PAH inputs for Guanabara Bay sediments were Phenanthrene+Anthracene/(Phenanthrene+Anthracene+C1Phenanthrene); Fluorantene/(Fluorantene+Pyrene); Σ (other 3-6 ring PAHs)/ Σ (5 alkylated PAH series). The PCA results prooved to be a useful tool for PAH source identification in the environment, corroborating the diagnostic indexes. In relation to the temporal evaluation carried out in this study, it was not verified significant changes on the class of predominant source of the samples. This result indicates that the hydrocarbons present in the Guanabara Bay sediments are mainly related to the long-term anthropogenic input and not directly related to acute events such as the oil spill of January 2000. This findings were similar to various international estuarine sites. Finally, this work had a complementary objective of evaluating the level of hydrocarbons exposure of the aquatic organisms of Guanabara Bay. It was a preliminary study in which a quantification of 12 individual biliar metabolites of PAH was performed in four demersal fish representing three different families. The analysed metabolites were 1-hydroxynaphtalene, 2-hidroxinaphtalene, 1hydroxyphenanthrene, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, 2-hydroxyphenanthrene, 1hydroxypyrene, 3-hidroxibiphenil, 3- hydroxyphenanthrene, 1-hydroxychrysene, 9hydroxyfluorene, 4-hydroxyphenanthrene, 3-hydroxybenz(a)pyrene. The metabolites concentrations were found to be high, ranging from 13 to 177 µg g-1, however they were similar to worldwide regions under high anthropogenic input. Besides the metabolites established by the used protocol, it was possible to verified high concentrations of three other compounds not yet reported in the literature. They were related to pyrolytic PAH contribution to Guanabara Bay aquatic biota: 1-hydroxypyrine and 3-hydroxybenz(a)pyrine isomers

Caracterização química e toxicológica da água produzida descartada em plataformas de óleo e gás na costa brasileira e seu comportamento dispersivo no mar

The production of oil and gas is usually accompanied by the production of water, also known as produced water. Studies were conducted in platforms that discharge produced water in the Atlantic Ocean due to oil and gas production by Petrobras from 1996 to 2006 in the following basins: Santos (Brazilian south region), Campos (Brazilian southeast region) and Ceara (Brazilian northeast region). This study encompasses chemical composition, toxicological effects, discharge volumes, and produced water behavior after releasing in the ocean, including dispersion plumes modeling and monitoring data of the marine environment. The concentration medians for a sampling of 50 samples were: ammonia (70 mg L-1), boron (1.3 mg L1), iron (7.4 mg L-1), BTEX (4.6 mg L-1), PAH (0.53 mg L-1), TPH (28 mg L-1); phenols (1.3 mg L-1) and radioisotopes (0.15 Bq L-1 for 226Ra and 0.09 Bq L-1 for 228Ra). The concentrations of the organic and inorganic parameters observed for the Brazilian platforms were similar to the international reference data for the produced water in the North Sea and in other regions of the world. It was found significant differences in concentrations of the following parameters: BTEX (p<0.0001), phenols (p=0.0212), boron (p<0.0001), iron (p<0.0001) and toxicological response in sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus (p<0.0001) when considering two distinguished groups, platforms from southeast and northeast Region (PCR-1). Significant differences were not observed among the other parameters. In platforms with large gas production, the monoaromatic concentrations (BTEX from 15.8 to 21.6 mg L-1) and phenols (from 2 to 83 mg L-1) were higher than in oil plataforms (median concentrations of BTEX were 4.6 mg L-1 for n=53, and of phenols were 1.3 mg L-1 for n=46). It was also conducted a study about the influence of dispersion plumes of produced water in the vicinity of six platforms of oil and gas production (P-26, PPG-1, PCR-1, P-32, SS-06), and in a hypothetical critical scenario using the chemical characteristics of each effluent. Through this study, using CORMIX and CHEMMAP models for dispersion plumes simulation of the produced water discharges, it was possible to obtain the dilution dimension in the ocean after those discharges. The dispersion plumes of the produced water modelling in field vicinity showed dilutions of 700 to 900 times for the first 30-40 meters from the platform PCR-1 discharge point; 100 times for the platform P-32, with 30 meters of distance; 150 times for the platform P-26, with 40 meters of distance; 100 times for the platform PPG-1, with 130 meters of distance; 280 to 350 times for the platform SS-06, with 130 meters of distance, 100 times for the hypothetical critical scenario, with the 130 meters of distance. The dilutions continue in the far field, and with the results of the simulations, it was possible to verify that all the parameters presented concentrations bellow the maximum values established by Brazilian legislation for seawater (CONAMA 357/05 - Class 1), before the 500 meters distance of the discharge point. These results were in agreement with the field measurements. Although, in general results for the Brazilian produced water presented toxicological effects for marine organisms, it was verified that dilutions of 100 times were sufficient for not causing toxicological responses. Field monitoring data of the seawater around the Pargo, Pampo and PCR-1 platforms did not demonstrate toxicity in the seawater close to these platforms. The results of environmental monitoring in seawater and sediments proved that alterations were not detected for environmental quality in areas under direct influence of the oil production activities in the Campos and Ceara Basin, as according to results obtained in the dispersion plume modelling for the produced water discharge

Variação espacial e sazonal de elementos maiores e traços no estuários do Rio Curimataú (RN), através de dados geoquímicos e de sensoriamento remoto

The Curimataú estuary is located in the oriental coast of Rio Grande do Norte State in Brazil. Its importance resides in the fact that this region possesses one of the last portions of preserved mangrove in the Rio Grande do Norte State. Nevertheless, it has been severely affected by many anthropogenic activities, as sugarcane monoculture and shrimp farming. Former works demonstrated that an accumulation of heavy metals is occurring in oysters in this estuary, and perhaps it could be explained by the input of metals in this ecosystem deriving from the shrimp farming. To better understanding the origin of these metals, bottom sediment samples, cores and suspended particulate matter were collected for a characterization of metal concentrations (Al, Ba, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) and to determine the potentially bioavailable metals. Additionally, the enrichment ratio for each element analyzed was calculated. The mineralogical composition of sediment samples and cores were obtained by X-ray diffraction. Moreover, data of orbital remote sensing were used in order to detect and quantify suspended matter by applying a logarithmic algorithm. Geochemical data of bottom sediments and cores revealed that, excepting Ba and Pb, the elements analyzed presented concentrations characteristic of an unpolluted ecosystem (Al: 0,25 - 8,76 %; Ba: 3,03 - 870 µg.g-1; Cd: < 0,25 µg.g-1; Cr: 1,72 - 82,4 µg.g-1; Cu: 0,12 -25,3 µg.g-1; Pb: 0,38 - 23,7 µg.g-1; Fe: 0,10 - 5,82 %; Mn: 15,1 - 815 µg.g-1; Ni: 0,14 - 36,1 µg.g-1; Zn: 1,37 - 113 µg.g-1). During the dry season a distribution pattern was observed, with higher metal concentrations in the margins, decreasing toward the central portion of the channel. These metal concentrations were well correlated with mineralogical compositions, with clay minerals prevailing at the margins, and quartz and feldspar in the center. However, this pattern was not observed during the wet season, probably because of the high water flux that disturbed bottom sediments. But, as observed for the dry season, a good correlation between metal concentrations and mineralogical composition was also observed for the wet season, with high metal concentrations where there were high quantities of clay minerals. Low enrichment ratios were obtained for the majority of elements analyzed, excepting for Mn, Ba and Pb. Manganese presented the higher ratios downstream for both seasons, and it can be an evidence of anthropogenic impact by shrimp farming. As barium and lead concentrations in sediment samples presented analytical problems during the total sample digestion, one cannot be sure that the ratios obtained correspond to the reality. The highest metal concentrations in particulate matter were obtained in the portion dominated by fluvial transport for all metals analyzed, excepting for copper. Barium and zinc were the only elements that presented elevated concentrations that are not common of unpolluted ecosystems (Ba: 5730 - 8355 µg.g-1; Zn: 3899 - 4348 µg.g-1). However, these high concentrations could not be related to the shrimp farming and waste waters from the town of Canguaretama, once they were obtained from the fluvial particulate matter, that is upstream from the activities above mentioned. The application of the logarithmic algorithm to the processed LANDSAT image was well succeeded, although the acquired image does not correspond exactly to the field campaigns. The IKONOS image provided very detailed views of the suspended sediment concentration at the estuary, as the mixture of distinct water flows at the confluence of Cunhaú and Curimataú rivers, with more turbid waters from Cunhaú river, that is directly affected by effluents from shrimp farming and urban waste waters deriving from the town of Canguaretama

Análise de uso e cobertura do solo no município de Parelhas/RN

The human interference in the semiarid region of Seridó Potiguar has promoted the increase of degraded areas. The economic dynamic that was established in the Seridó territory, especially after the fall of the trinomial cattle-cotton-mining in the 70s and 80s of the 20th century as pillars of the regional economy, resulted in an accelerated process of erosion of natural resources. The municipalities of the Seridó region have been spatially reordered by this new economic dynamic, marked by the growth of existing enterprises, and the development of new agricultural practices. One of the municipalities in the region that restructured its territorial space with the emergence of new agro-industrial activities was the town of Parelhas. With the demise of the trinomial cattle-cotton-mining in the 1980s, other productive activities were intensified from the 1990s, amongst them, pottery, responsible for the vegetal extraction for use as energy source. This recent economic and spatial restructuring in the region, reflected in the Parelhense municipal territory, required new productive ingredients responsible for the modification of past production relations that were based on cattle, cotton and mining. By that a process of exploring the environment was unleashed, especially the native vegetation, in an uncontrolled manner. In this context, the objective of this study was to survey and detect deforestation in the areas of Caatinga vegetation, used indiscriminately as energy supply for new agricultural practices, using remote sensing techniques based on the quantification of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index / NDVI, Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index / SAVI, surface temperature and rainfall data in the years 1990 and 2010. The results indicated that SAVI values above 0.2 in 1990 and 2010 represent the areas with the highest density of vegetation that occur exclusively along the major drainages in the town and areas of higher elevations. The areas between the ranges of values from 0.5 to 0.15 SAVI are areas with poor vegetation. On the other hand the highest values of temperature are distributed in the western and southeastern parts of the township, usually in places where the soil is exposed or there is sparse vegetation. The areas of bare soil decreased in extension in 2010 at 11, 6% when related to 1990, this was caused by a higher rainfall intensity in the first half of 2010, but no regeneration of vegetation occurred in some places in the western and southeastern areas of the municipality today, due to the extraction of firewood to fuel the furnaces of industries in town

Faixas de proteção ambiental do Rio Pitimbu/RN: uma análise como subsídio ao planejamento e ordenamento do território

The Environmental Protection area sof Pitimbu river are important tools for planning and territorial land management. The Pitimbu river protection is aided in laws, so much of Federal stamp, as the Brazilian s Forest Code (Law No. 4771/1965), and in State s and City s Resolutions. So, this research begins in the State s Law No. 8426/2003interpretations, for being the most restrictive in the river's margin occupation and management. The objective is to analyze the applicability of the Environmental Protection areas of Pitimbu river, localized at the State of Rio Grande do Norte, considering environmental legislation and how to use this space by the man. Having specific goals for the discussion of the legislation s scope to this river; the identification of the types of soil s covering and evaluation the effectiveness of Law Nº.8426/2003, as protection instrument and land management. The river is characterized by its ecological importance and for feeding the Jiqui pond, an important reservoir that supplies 30% of drinking water to the east, west and south population sof the capital of the State. Pitimbu river is passing by a process of environmental degradation, originating from actions as deforestations of its ciliary forests by intensive agricultural practices; introduction of urban and industrial effluents leading to its contamination; increase of the pluvial drainage; erosion, sedimentation and discharge of urban waste , along with pressure for urban settlements along its banks. Under the methodological point of view is part of theoretical planning and land management research, and from a vision of social and environmental spaces. It was produced a survey map of the soil s covering, with 16 classes. Divided into coverage and disturbed natural covering. Using the 300 meters spatial limits of the Environmental Protection Strip, according to the State Law. The survey highlighted a higher percentage of classes disturbed, indicating man s interference in the balance of that system, as well as the lack of environmental actions. Leading to the degradation of riparian areas, and lack of conservation of water resources. Finally, it was considered that the strips of environmental protection are not effective as the preservation and territorial ordination

Estudo da participação das espécies fortemente oxidantes produzidas durante a oxidação eletroquímica de corantes usando eletrodo de diamante dopado com boro: função das propriedades eletroquímicas do eletrodo e condições experimentais

The textile industry is one of the most polluting in the world (AHMEDCHEKKAT et al. 2011), generating wastewater with high organic loading. Among the pollutants present in these effluents are dyes, substances with complex structures, toxic and carcinogenic characteristics, besides having a strong staining. Improper disposal of these substances to the environment, without performing a pre-treatment can cause major environmental impacts. The objective this thesis to use a technique of electrochemical oxidation of boron doped diamond anode, BDD, for the treatment of a synthetic dye and a textile real effluent. In addition to studying the behavior of different electrolytes (HClO4, H3PO4, NaCl and Na2SO4) and current densities (15, 60, 90 and 120 mA.cm-2 ), and compare the methods with Rhodamine B (RhB) photolysis, electrolysis and photoelectrocatalytic using H3PO4 and Na2SO4. Electrochemical oxidation studies were performed in different ratio sp3 /sp2 of BDD with solution of RhB. To achieve these objectives, analysis of pH, conductivity, UV-visible, TOC, HPLC and GC-MS were developed. Based on the results with the Rhodamine B, it was observed that in all cases occurred at mineralization, independent of electrolyte and current density, but these parameters affect the speed and efficiency of mineralization. The radiation of light was favorable during the electrolysis of RhB with phosphate and sulfate. Regarding the oxidation in BDD anode with different ratio sp3 /sp2 (165, 176, 206, 220, 262 e 329), with lower carbon-sp3 had a longer favoring the electrochemical conversion of RhB, instead of combustion. The greater the carbon content on the anodes BDD took the biggest favor of direct electrochemical oxidation

Avaliação de floculante natural à base de Moringa oleifera no tratamento de água produzida na indústria do petróleo: aplicação da técnica combinada floculação/flotação

The principal effluent in the oil industry is the produced water, which is commonly associated to the produced oil. It presents a pronounced volume of production and it can be reflected on the environment and society, if its discharge is unappropriated. Therefore, it is indispensable a valuable careful to establish and maintain its management. The traditional treatment of produced water, usualy includes both tecniques, flocculation and flotation. At flocculation processes, there are traditional floculant agents that aren’t well specified by tecnichal information tables and still expensive. As for the flotation process, it’s the step in which is possible to separate the suspended particles in the effluent. The dissolved air flotation (DAF) is a technique that has been consolidating economically and environmentally, presenting great reliability when compared with other processes. The DAF is presented as a process widely used in various fields of water and wastewater treatment around the globe. In this regard, this study was aimed to evaluate the potential of an alternative natural flocculant agent based on Moringa oleifera to reduce the amount of oil and grease (TOG) in produced water from the oil industry by the method of flocculation/DAF. the natural flocculant agent was evaluated by its efficacy, as well as its efficiency when compared with two commercial flocculant agents normally used by the petroleum industry. The experiments were conducted following an experimental design and the overall efficiencies for all flocculants were treated through statistical calculation based on the use of STATISTICA software version 10.0. Therefore, contour surfaces were obtained from the experimental design and were interpreted in terms of the response variable removal efficiency TOG (total oil and greases). The plan still allowed to obtain mathematical models for calculating the response variable in the studied conditions. Commercial flocculants showed similar behavior, with an average overall efficiency of 90% for oil removal, however it is the economical analysis the decisive factor to choose one of these flocculant agents to the process. The natural alternative flocculant agent based on Moringa oleifera showed lower separation efficiency than those of commercials one (average 70%), on the other hand this flocculant causes less environmental impacts and it´s less expensive

Otimização do sistema de supervisão e controle de uma planta de tratamento de resíduos utilizando plasma

A major and growing problems faced by modern society is the high production of waste and related effects they produce, such as environmental degradation and pollution of various ecosystems, with direct effects on quality of life. The thermal treatment technologies have been widely used in the treatment of these wastes and thermal plasma is gaining importance in processing blanketing. This work is focused on developing an optimized system of supervision and control applied to a processing plant and petrochemical waste effluents using thermal plasma. The system is basically composed of a inductive plasma torch reactors washing system / exhaust gases and RF power used to generate plasma. The process of supervision and control of the plant is of paramount importance in the development of the ultimate goal. For this reason, various subsidies were created in the search for greater efficiency in the process, generating events, graphics / distribution and storage of data for each subsystem of the plant, process execution, control and 3D visualization of each subsystem of the plant between others. A communication platform between the virtual 3D plant architecture and a real control structure (hardware) was created. The goal is to use the concepts of mixed reality and develop strategies for different types of controls that allow manipulating 3D plant without restrictions and schedules, optimize the actual process. Studies have shown that one of the best ways to implement the control of generation inductively coupled plasma techniques is to use intelligent control, both for their efficiency in the results is low for its implementation, without requiring a specific model. The control strategy using Fuzzy Logic (Fuzzy-PI) was developed and implemented, and the results showed satisfactory condition on response time and viability