Use of high-resolution thermogravimetric analysis (HRTG) technique in spent FCC catalyst/Portland cement pastes

Thermogravimetric analysis is one of the most common instrumental techniques used for the characterization of pastes, mortars and concretes based on both calcium hydroxide and Portland cement. Important information about pozzolanic materials can be assessed concerning calcium hydroxide consumption and the formation of new hydrated products. Nevertheless, in some cases, problems associated with the overlapped decomposition processes for hydrates make the analysis of obtained data difficult. In this paper, the use of high-resolution thermogravimetric analysis, a powerful technique that allows separating decomposition processes in analysis of hydrated binders, was performed for spent FCC catalyst-Portland cement pastes. These pastes were monitored for 1, 4, 8 h and 1, 2, 3, 7 and 28 curing days. In order to study the influence of the pozzolanic material (spent FCC catalyst), Portland cement replacements of 5, 15 and 30 % by mass were carried out. The presence of spent FCC catalyst in blended pastes modified the amount and the nature of the formed hydrates, mainly ettringite and stratlingite.

Cultivation and bromatological analysis of the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (Curt.: Fr.) P. Karst cultivated in agricultural waste

The objective of the study was to evaluate the production of two strains of Ganoderma lucidum on agricultural waste and carry out bromatological analyses of the basidiomata obtained from the cultivation. The experiment was carried out at the Mushroom Module at the School of Agronomic Sciences of the São Paulo State University (FCA/UNESP - Botucatu, SP, Brazil) and two strains were used (GLM-09/01 and GLM-10/02) which were cultivated on waste, oat straw, bean straw, brachiaria grass straw, Tifton grass straw and eucalyptus sawdust under two situations: with (20%) and without (0%) supplementation with wheat bran. All the waste was taken from dumps of agricultural activities in Botucatu-SP. Both treatments were carried out in 10 repetitions, totaling 200 packages. The mushrooms cultivation took 90 days. Next, the biological efficiency of the treatments and the bromatological analysis of the basidiomata were evaluated. The biological efficiency (BE) values (%) varied from 0.0 to 6.7%. In the mushroom bromatological analyses, the results ranged from 8.7 to 13.7%, from 2.0 to 6.7%, from 0.83 to 1.79% and from 38.8 to 54.5%, for total protein, ethereal extract, ash and crude fiber, respectively. Thus, we conclude that the substrates which presented the greater yield were the brachiaria straw, 20% in both strains tested (GLM-09/01 and GLM-10/02) and the bean straw, 20% in the strain GLM-10/02. The mushrooms showed high levels of ethereal extract, fibers and ashes and a low level of proteins.

Avaliação in vitro do crescimento micelial de cinco linhagens de Agaricus blazei em duas temperaturas

The objective of the work was to evaluate the in vitro mycelial growth of five A. blazei strains (ABL-05/53, ABL-04/49, ABL-03/44, ABL-99/30 and ABL-02/51) when submitted to the temperatures of 20 and 25 ºC. In a laminar flow chamber, discs of the strains were inoculated in the middle of Petri’s plates containing CA (compost-agar) medium and incubated in BOD. After 48 hours, measurements of the mycelial growth began, with the help of a ruler with scale in millimeters, by means of four equidistant measurements, until the moment when the fungal colony reached near the edges of the Petri’s plate in one of the treatments. The experimental design was totally randomized, in 5 x 2 factorial design. Each treatment consisted of seven repetitions, corresponding to one Petri’s plate, totalizing seventy experimental units. We verified that A. blazei growth is influenced by incubation temperature, being that the temperature of 25 ºC was more favorable for the mycelial growth of all A. blazei strains tested, with attention for ABL-04/49 and ABL-03/44 strains, which obtained the highest averages for mycelial growth under this temperature condition at the end of the cultivation cycle.