Estudo da influência de sistemas microemulsionados na molhabilidade de arenitos e na recuperação avançada de petróleo

Sandstone-type reservoir rocks are commonly responsible for oil accumulation. The wettability is an important parameter for the physical properties of the container, since it interferes in characteristics such as relative permeability to the aqueous phase, residual oil distribution in the reservoir, operating characteristics with waterflood and recovery of crude oil. This study applied different types of microemulsion systems - MES - in sandstone reservoirs and evaluated their influences on wettability and residual oil recovery. For this purpose, four microemulsion were prepared by changing the nature of ionic surfactants (ionic and nonionic). Microemulsions could then be characterized by surface tension analysis, density, particle diameter and viscosity in the temperature range 30° C to 70° C. The studied oil was described as light and the sandstone rock was derived from the Botucatu formation. The study of the influence of microemulsion systems on sandstone wettability was performed by contact angle measurements using as parameters the rock treatment time with the MES and the time after the brine surface contact by checking the angle variation behavior. In the study results, the rock was initially wettable to oil and had its wettability changed to mixed wettability after treatment with MES, obtaining preference for water. Regarding rock-MES contact time, it was observed that the rock wettability changed more when the contact time between the surface and the microemulsion systems was longer. It was also noted only a significant reduction for the first 5 minutes of interaction between the treated surface and brine. The synthesized anionic surfactant, commercial cationic, commercial anionic and commercial nonionic microemulsion systems presented the best results, respectively. With regard to enhanced oil recovery performance, all systems showed a significant percentage of recovered oil, with the anionic systems presenting the best results. A percentage of 80% recovery was reached, confirming the wettability study results, which pointed the influence of this property on the interaction of fluids and reservoir rock, and the ability of microemulsion systems to perform enhanced oil recovery in sandstone reservoirs.

Concentração do óleo de girassol em compostos insaturados utilizando destilação molecular

Vegetable oils are characterized as important raw materials in the supplying of natural substances of interest pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industry. Sunflower oil stands out for its important composition present in unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic (C18:2), responsible for many health benefits. The main objective of this study is obtain enriched fractions in unsaturated compounds from refined sunflower oil. The oil used in this study was characterized by the determination of some properties, like iodine number, acid number and viscosity. A transesterification was done to transform the triglycerides into their corresponding methyl esters of fatty acids. These was submitted the molecular distillation process, for present as an efficient alternative to separation and purification of these substances, using high vacuum and low temperatures. Of the esters fractions that was obtained, were analyzed by gas chromatography. The experimental design technique was used to evaluate the influence of the temperature variation of evaporation and condensation system on the percentage obtained residue. The evaporator temperature proved to be the most influential variable on the studied response. The optimized conditions for the answer was studied at 100 °C for evaporator temperature and 10 °C for the condenser temperature. The graph of "split ratio" showed that for the lowest flow feed (1 mL/min) and higher evaporator temperature (110 °C) was obtained in the largest fraction of distillate. It also used the study of the influence of evaporator temperature on the concentration of unsaturated compounds. The best operating conditions for temperature was 90 °C reached 82.21 % of unsaturated compounds. Elimination curves of the unsaturated compounds present in the distillate stream were obtained. The simulation results of the molecular distillation process of sunflower oil showed the concentration profiles for three different feed flow rates. The speed, temperature and thickness profiles of the liquid film were obtained. The speed of the film increases as the fluid flows through the walls of the evaporator, reaching a maximum on length of 0.075 m. The film thickness decreases on the route, since many compounds are volatilized. The result of the temperature profile had to be consistent with the literature reproduced, being constant after reaching the maximum operating temperature in the length of 0.15 m. This study allowed characterizing and focusing, through experimental analysis, unsaturated compounds and observing the sunflower oil´s behavior through process simulation.

Concentração do óleo de girassol em compostos insaturados utilizando destilação molecular

Vegetable oils are characterized as important raw materials in the supplying of natural substances of interest pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industry. Sunflower oil stands out for its important composition present in unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic (C18:2), responsible for many health benefits. The main objective of this study is obtain enriched fractions in unsaturated compounds from refined sunflower oil. The oil used in this study was characterized by the determination of some properties, like iodine number, acid number and viscosity. A transesterification was done to transform the triglycerides into their corresponding methyl esters of fatty acids. These was submitted the molecular distillation process, for present as an efficient alternative to separation and purification of these substances, using high vacuum and low temperatures. Of the esters fractions that was obtained, were analyzed by gas chromatography. The experimental design technique was used to evaluate the influence of the temperature variation of evaporation and condensation system on the percentage obtained residue. The evaporator temperature proved to be the most influential variable on the studied response. The optimized conditions for the answer was studied at 100 °C for evaporator temperature and 10 °C for the condenser temperature. The graph of "split ratio" showed that for the lowest flow feed (1 mL/min) and higher evaporator temperature (110 °C) was obtained in the largest fraction of distillate. It also used the study of the influence of evaporator temperature on the concentration of unsaturated compounds. The best operating conditions for temperature was 90 °C reached 82.21 % of unsaturated compounds. Elimination curves of the unsaturated compounds present in the distillate stream were obtained. The simulation results of the molecular distillation process of sunflower oil showed the concentration profiles for three different feed flow rates. The speed, temperature and thickness profiles of the liquid film were obtained. The speed of the film increases as the fluid flows through the walls of the evaporator, reaching a maximum on length of 0.075 m. The film thickness decreases on the route, since many compounds are volatilized. The result of the temperature profile had to be consistent with the literature reproduced, being constant after reaching the maximum operating temperature in the length of 0.15 m. This study allowed characterizing and focusing, through experimental analysis, unsaturated compounds and observing the sunflower oil´s behavior through process simulation.

Remoção de carbonatos para otimizar a biolixiviação de rejeito calcopirítico empregando consórcio de microrganismos

The bioleaching of chalcopyrite has not been applied on a commercial scale due to the low process efficiency, so this process has been extensively studied in recent years. The bioleaching of chalcopyrite tailings becomes even more difficult by the presence of higher amounts of impurities, among them are the carbonates. The presence of carbonates in the ore promotes the increase in pH of the solution and may inhibit the development of bioleaching. Therefore, this research aims to apply the acid treatment for optimization of bioleaching process, in order to recover the lost copper throughout the process besides reducing the content of this toxic metal in the tailings pond. The removal and recovery of toxic metals is very important in protecting the environment and human health. The bioleaching experiments were performed in two stages, the first made up using the pre-treated tailing with sulfuric acid in bioleaching, and the second was made using the tailing without treatment with sulfuric acid addition at the beginning of bioleaching. The acid treatment was carried out in bioreactors with three different volumes of H2SO4 96% and a control experiment. All bioleaching experiments were performed in triplicate over a control, without addition of inoculum. The results showed that acid treatment was effective in removal of carbonates and managed to promote a good performance in the bioleaching of chalcopyrite in both steps studied, it is demonstrated that circa 47% copper recovery can be achieved.

Remoção de carbonatos para otimizar a biolixiviação de rejeito calcopirítico empregando consórcio de microrganismos

The bioleaching of chalcopyrite has not been applied on a commercial scale due to the low process efficiency, so this process has been extensively studied in recent years. The bioleaching of chalcopyrite tailings becomes even more difficult by the presence of higher amounts of impurities, among them are the carbonates. The presence of carbonates in the ore promotes the increase in pH of the solution and may inhibit the development of bioleaching. Therefore, this research aims to apply the acid treatment for optimization of bioleaching process, in order to recover the lost copper throughout the process besides reducing the content of this toxic metal in the tailings pond. The removal and recovery of toxic metals is very important in protecting the environment and human health. The bioleaching experiments were performed in two stages, the first made up using the pre-treated tailing with sulfuric acid in bioleaching, and the second was made using the tailing without treatment with sulfuric acid addition at the beginning of bioleaching. The acid treatment was carried out in bioreactors with three different volumes of H2SO4 96% and a control experiment. All bioleaching experiments were performed in triplicate over a control, without addition of inoculum. The results showed that acid treatment was effective in removal of carbonates and managed to promote a good performance in the bioleaching of chalcopyrite in both steps studied, it is demonstrated that circa 47% copper recovery can be achieved.

Estudo da eficiência dos adsorventes de Al2O3 e Fe/Al2O3 para remoção de BTX presente em água contaminada com gasolina

Contamination of groundwater by BTX has been featured in recent decades. This type of contamination is due to small and continuous leaks at gas stations, causing serious problems to public health and the environment. Based on these antecedents, the search for new alternatives for treating contaminated water is shown to be essential. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of removal of BTX by adsorption processes employing commercial alumina (Al2O3) and alumina supported with iron (Fe/Al2O3) as adsorbents. It was prepared by a in a synthetic gasoline solution and distilled water to simulate an actual sample. Initially, the adsorbents were characterized by techniques XRD, TG / DTG, XRF, FTIR and SEM/EDS, several trials, where he was placed synthetic solution to react in the presence of Al2O3 and Fe/Al2O3 in a closed, mechanical stirring system were performed varying the catalyst concentration 2, 4 and 6 g.L-1 every 0, 10, 30 60, 90 and 120 min, aliquots were taken and brought to analysis by gas chromatography flame ionization with headspace extraction. The results indicated that the absorbent which has higher BTX removal capacity was the Fe/Al2O3 at a concentration of 6 g.L-1, pH = 4 and time of 90 minutes reaction, resulting in an efficiency, resulting in a 86,5% efficiency for benzene removal, for the 95,4% toluene, 90,8% for ɱ,ρ- xylene and 93.7% for the θ-xylenes. Subsequently, we performed a kinetic study of the reactions, the values of experimental adsorption capacity (qe) showed agreement with the values of the theoretical adsorption capacity (qc) to the pseudo-second-order model in the adsorption tests using 2 and 6 gL-1 of Al2O3 and assays using 2, 4 and 6 g.L-1 of Fe/Al2O3. A fact corroborated by the R2 values, thus indicating that the chemical interactions are present in the adsorption mechanisms of BTX.

Avaliação da influência de surfactantes químico e biológico na hidrólise enzimática de casca de coco verde após pré-tratamento ácido/alcalino e com peróxido de hidrogênio alcalino

In Brazil many types of bioproducts and agroindustrial waste are generated currently, such as cacashew apple bagasse and coconut husk, for example. The final disposal of these wastes causes serious environmental issues. In this sense, waste lignocellulosic content, as the shell of the coconut is a renewable and abundant raw material in which its use has an increased interest mainly for the 2nd generation ethanol production. The hydrolysis of cellulose to reducing sugars such as glucose and xylose is catalysed by a group of enzymes called cellulases. However, the main bottleneck in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose is the significant deactivation of the enzyme that shows irreversible adsorption mechanism leading to reduction of the cellulose adsorption onto cellulose. Studies have shown that the use of surfactants can modify the surface property of the cellulose therefore minimizing the irreversible binding. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of chemical and biological surfactants during the hydrolysis of coconut husk which was subjected to two pre-treatment in order to improve the accessibility of the enzymes to the cellulose, removing this way, part of the lignin and hemicellulose present in the structure of the material. The pre-treatments applied to coconut bagasse were: Acid/Alkaline using 0.6M H2SO4 followed by 1M NaOH, and the one with Alkaline Hydrogen Peroxide at a concentration of 7.35% (v/v) and pH 11.5. Both the material no treatment and pretreated were characterized using analysis of diffraction X-ray (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and methods established by NREL. The influence of both surfactants, chemical and biological, was used at concentrations below the critical micelle concentration (CMC), and the concentrations equal to the CMC. The application of pre-treatment with coconut residue was efficient for the conversion to glucose, as well as for the production of total reducing sugars, it was possible to observe that the pretreatment fragmented the structure as well as disordered the fibers. Regarding XRD analysis, a significant increase in crystallinity index was observed for pretreated bagasse acid/alkali (51.1%) compared to the no treatment (31.7%), while that for that treated with PHA, the crystallinity index was slightly lower, around 29%. In terms of total reducing sugars it was not possible to observe a significant difference between the hydrolysis carried out without the use of surfactant compared to the addition of Triton and rhamnolipid. However, by observing the conversions achieved during the hydrolysis, it was noted that the best conversion was using the rhamnolipíd for the husk pretreated with acid/alkali, reaching a value of 33%, whereas using Triton the higher conversion was 23.8%. The coconut husk is a residue which can present a high potential to the 2nd generation ethanol production, being the rhamonolipid a very efficient biosurfactant for use as an adjuvant in the enzymatic process in order to act on the material structure reducing its recalcitrance and therefore improving the conditions of access for enzymes to the substrate increasing thus the conversion of cellulose to glucose.

Avaliação da influência de surfactantes químico e biológico na hidrólise enzimática de casca de coco verde após pré-tratamento ácido/alcalino e com peróxido de hidrogênio alcalino

In Brazil many types of bioproducts and agroindustrial waste are generated currently, such as cacashew apple bagasse and coconut husk, for example. The final disposal of these wastes causes serious environmental issues. In this sense, waste lignocellulosic content, as the shell of the coconut is a renewable and abundant raw material in which its use has an increased interest mainly for the 2nd generation ethanol production. The hydrolysis of cellulose to reducing sugars such as glucose and xylose is catalysed by a group of enzymes called cellulases. However, the main bottleneck in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose is the significant deactivation of the enzyme that shows irreversible adsorption mechanism leading to reduction of the cellulose adsorption onto cellulose. Studies have shown that the use of surfactants can modify the surface property of the cellulose therefore minimizing the irreversible binding. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of chemical and biological surfactants during the hydrolysis of coconut husk which was subjected to two pre-treatment in order to improve the accessibility of the enzymes to the cellulose, removing this way, part of the lignin and hemicellulose present in the structure of the material. The pre-treatments applied to coconut bagasse were: Acid/Alkaline using 0.6M H2SO4 followed by 1M NaOH, and the one with Alkaline Hydrogen Peroxide at a concentration of 7.35% (v/v) and pH 11.5. Both the material no treatment and pretreated were characterized using analysis of diffraction X-ray (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and methods established by NREL. The influence of both surfactants, chemical and biological, was used at concentrations below the critical micelle concentration (CMC), and the concentrations equal to the CMC. The application of pre-treatment with coconut residue was efficient for the conversion to glucose, as well as for the production of total reducing sugars, it was possible to observe that the pretreatment fragmented the structure as well as disordered the fibers. Regarding XRD analysis, a significant increase in crystallinity index was observed for pretreated bagasse acid/alkali (51.1%) compared to the no treatment (31.7%), while that for that treated with PHA, the crystallinity index was slightly lower, around 29%. In terms of total reducing sugars it was not possible to observe a significant difference between the hydrolysis carried out without the use of surfactant compared to the addition of Triton and rhamnolipid. However, by observing the conversions achieved during the hydrolysis, it was noted that the best conversion was using the rhamnolipíd for the husk pretreated with acid/alkali, reaching a value of 33%, whereas using Triton the higher conversion was 23.8%. The coconut husk is a residue which can present a high potential to the 2nd generation ethanol production, being the rhamonolipid a very efficient biosurfactant for use as an adjuvant in the enzymatic process in order to act on the material structure reducing its recalcitrance and therefore improving the conditions of access for enzymes to the substrate increasing thus the conversion of cellulose to glucose.

Modelagem da degradação de fenol em efluentes aquosos através do processo de foto-fenton

Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) are techniques involving the formation of hydroxyl radical (HO•) with high organic matter oxidation rate. These processes application in industry have been increasing due to their capacity of degrading recalcitrant substances that cannot be completely removed by traditional processes of effluent treatment. In the present work, phenol degrading by photo-Fenton process based on addition of H2O2, Fe2+ and luminous radiation was studied. An experimental design was developed to analyze the effect of phenol, H2O2 and Fe2+ concentration on the fraction of total organic carbon (TOC) degraded. The experiments were performed in a batch photochemical parabolic reactor with 1.5 L of capacity. Samples of the reactional medium were collected at different reaction times and analyzed in a TOC measurement instrument from Shimadzu (TOC-VWP). The results showed a negative effect of phenol concentration and a positive effect of the two other variables in the TOC degraded fraction. A statistical analysis of the experimental design showed that the hydrogen peroxide concentration was the most influent variable in the TOC degraded fraction at 45 minutes and generated a model with R² = 0.82, which predicted the experimental data with low precision. The Visual Basic for Application (VBA) tool was used to generate a neural networks model and a photochemical database. The aforementioned model presented R² = 0.96 and precisely predicted the response data used for testing. The results found indicate the possible application of the developed tool for industry, mainly for its simplicity, low cost and easy access to the program.

Modelagem da degradação de fenol em efluentes aquosos através do processo de foto-fenton

Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) are techniques involving the formation of hydroxyl radical (HO•) with high organic matter oxidation rate. These processes application in industry have been increasing due to their capacity of degrading recalcitrant substances that cannot be completely removed by traditional processes of effluent treatment. In the present work, phenol degrading by photo-Fenton process based on addition of H2O2, Fe2+ and luminous radiation was studied. An experimental design was developed to analyze the effect of phenol, H2O2 and Fe2+ concentration on the fraction of total organic carbon (TOC) degraded. The experiments were performed in a batch photochemical parabolic reactor with 1.5 L of capacity. Samples of the reactional medium were collected at different reaction times and analyzed in a TOC measurement instrument from Shimadzu (TOC-VWP). The results showed a negative effect of phenol concentration and a positive effect of the two other variables in the TOC degraded fraction. A statistical analysis of the experimental design showed that the hydrogen peroxide concentration was the most influent variable in the TOC degraded fraction at 45 minutes and generated a model with R² = 0.82, which predicted the experimental data with low precision. The Visual Basic for Application (VBA) tool was used to generate a neural networks model and a photochemical database. The aforementioned model presented R² = 0.96 and precisely predicted the response data used for testing. The results found indicate the possible application of the developed tool for industry, mainly for its simplicity, low cost and easy access to the program.

Estudo da injeção de água e gás em um reservatório com características do pré-sal brasileiro

The pre-salt province is composed by large amounts of light oil and with good quality, a reality that puts Brazil in a strategic position facing the great demand for energy worldwide. In this province are the largest discoveries in the world in the last ten years; areas as Libra, Franco and Lula field, everyone containing volumes greater than 8 billion recoverable oil barrels. To develop and optimize the production of these fields, a study was done for choosing the improved oil recovery methods. The main motivations were the presence of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a contaminant and the strategic decision of do not discard it, combined with high GOR (gas-oil ratio) of the reservoir fluid. The method should take advantage of the unique abundant resources: seawater and produced gas. This way, the process of matching these resources in the water alterning gas injection (WAG) became a good option. In this master’s dissertation, it was developed a reservoir model with average characteristics of the Brazilian pre-salt, where was applied the improved oil recovery method of water alternating gas. The production of this reservoir was analyzed by parameters as: the first fluid injected in the injection process, position of the injection wells completion, injection water and gas rate and cycle time. The results showed a good performance of the method, with up to 26% of gains in the recovery factor regarding the primary recovery, since the application of water injection and gas, individually, was not able to overcome 10 % of gain. The most influential parameter found in the results was the cycle time, with higher recovery factor values obtained with the use of shorter times.

Estudo de tensoativos na organofilização de argila bentonítica para uso em fluido de perfuração à base de óleo

Due to the great challenges encountered in drilling wells, there is a need to develop fluids with appropriated properties and able to meet all the requirements of drilling operations. The physicochemical and rheological properties must be carefully controlled so that a fluid can exercise all its functions. In perforations sensitive to contact with water and "offshore", it becomes necessary the use of oil based drilling fluids, but the bentonite clay cannot be used without a previous surface modification so that their surfaces become hydrophobic. Lately, the oil companies in Brazil use imported organoclays in the preparation of oil-based drilling fluids. The study aimed to modify a calcium clay to increase the affinity of the same organic phase of oil-based drilling fluids, applying three surfactants (OCS, CTAB and UTM 150) at different concentrations. The results indicated that the surfactants UTM 150 and CTAB showed better results compared to OCS. Considering the type of surfactant and concentration as variables used in the statistical analysis, the results indicated that only the surface tension and concentration of calcium oxide in response to organophilization process showed statistically significant effects. The organophilizated clay has potential for application in oil-based drilling fluids.

Análise das principais variáveis na flotação industrial do complexo de mineração de Tapira - MG

Faced with an agribusiness expansion scenario and the increase in fertilizer consumption due to the exponential growth of the population, it is necessary to make better use of existing reserves, by obtaining products of better quality and in adequate quantities to meet demand national. In Tapira Mining Complex, Vale Fertilizantes, the phosphate concentrate is produced with content of 35.0% P2O5 from ore with content of about 8.0% P2O5, which are intended to supply Complex Industrial Uberaba and Araxá Minero Chemical Complex for the production of fertilizers. The industrial flotation step responsible for the recovery of P2O5 and hence the viability of the business is divided into the crumbly, grainy and ultrathin circuits, and, friable and granular concentrate comprise the conventional concentrated. Today only 14.7% of the mass which feeds the mill product becomes, the remainder being considered losses in the process, and the larger mass losses are located in the waste of flotation, representing 42.3%. From 2012 to 2014, the daily global mass recovery processing plants varied from 12.4 to 15.9% while the daily metallurgical recovery of P2O5 from 48.7 to 82.4%. By the degree of variability, it appears that the plant operated under different conditions. Seen this, this study aimed to analyze the influence of operational and process variables in P2O5 mass and metallurgical recoveries of industrial flotation circuits of grainy, crumbly and ultrathin. And besides was made an analysis of the effect of ore variables, as degrees, hardnesse and the ore front 02 percentage, in global recoveries of processing plant and the effect of dosages of reagents in the recoveries obtained from the bench flotation using the experimental design methodology. All work was performed using the historical database of Vale Fertilizantes of Tapira-MG, where all independent variables were dimensionless as the experimental range used. To make the statistical analysis it used the response surface technique and the values of the independent variables that maximize recoveries were found by canonical analysis. In the study of industrial flotation circuit crispy were obtained from 41.3% mass recovery and 91.3% metallurgical recovery P2O5, good values for the circuit, and the highest recoveries occur for solids concentration of the new flotation power between 45 and 50%, which values are assigned to the residence time of the pulp in cells and industrial flotation columns. The greater the number of ore heaps resumed on the higher the mass recovery, but in this scenario flotation becomes unstable because there is enormous weight variation in the feed. Higher recoveries are obtained for mass depressant dosage exceeding 120 g / t for synthetic collector dosage of 11.6%. In the study of industrial flotation circuit of the granulate were obtained 28.3% to 79.4% mass recovery and metallurgical recovery of P2O5 being considered good values for the circuit. Higher recoveries are obtained when the front ore 02 percentage is above 90%, because the ore of this front have more clear apatite. Likewise recoveries increase when the level of pulp rougher step is highest due to the high mass of circulating step receives loads. In the analysis of industrial flotation circuit of the ultrafine were obtained 23.95% of mass recovery, and the same is maximized to depressant dosage and the top collector 420 and 300 g / t, respectively. The analysis of the influence of variables ore, it was observed that higher recoveries are obtained for ores with P2O5 content above 8.0%, Fe2O3 content in the order of 28% forward and 02 of ore percentage of 83%. Hard ore percentage has strong influence on recoveries due to mass division in the circuit that is linked to this variable. However, the hard ore percentage that maximizes recoveries was very close to the design capacity of the processing plant, which is 20%. Finally, the study of the bench flotation, has noted that in friable and granular circuits the highest recoveries are achieved for a collector dosage exceeding 250 g / t and the simultaneous increase of collector dosage and synthetic collector percentage contributes to the increase recovery in the flotation, but this scenario is suitable to produce a concentrate poorer in terms of P2O5 content, showing that higher recovery is not always the ideal scenario. Thus, the results show the values of variables that provide higher recoveries in the flotation and hence lower losses in the waste.

Efeito da concentração de sólidos e de variáveis operacionais no desempenho de um hidrociclone concentrador

The hydrocycloning operation has a goal to separate solid-liquid suspensions and liquid-liquid emulsions through the centrifugal force action. Hydrocyclones are equipment with reduced size and used in both clarification and thickening. This device is used in many areas, like petrochemical and minerals process, and accumulate advantages like versatility and low cost of maintenance. However, the demand to improve the process and to reduce the costs has motivated several studies of equipment optimization. The filtering hydrocyclone is a non-conventional equipment developed at FEQUI/UFU with objective to improve the hydrocycloning separation efficiency. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the operating conditions of feed concentration and underflow diameter on the performance of a filtering geometry optimized to minimization of energy costs. The filtration effect was investigated through the comparison between the performance of the Optimized Filtering Hydrocyclone (HCOF) and the Optimized Concentrator Hydrocyclone (HCO). Because of the resemblance of hydrocyclones performance, the filtration did not represent significant effect on the performance of the HCOF. It was found that in this geometry the decrease of the variable underflow diameter was very favorable to thickening operation. The suspension concentration of quartzite at 1.0% of solids in volume was increased about 42 times when the 3 mm underflow diameter was used. The increase on the feed solid percentage was good for decreasing the energy spent, so that a minimum number of Euler of 730 was achieved at CVA = 10.0%v. However, a greater amount of solids in suspension leads to a lower efficiency of the equipment. Therefore, to minimize the underflow-to-throughput ratio and keep a high efficiency level, it is indicated to work with dilute suspension (CVA = 1.0%) and 3 mm underflow diameter (η = 67%). But if it is necessary to work with high feed concentration, the use of 5 mm underflow diameter provides a rise in the efficiency. The HCO hydrocyclone was compared to the traditional family of hydrocyclones Rietema and presented advantages like higher efficiency (34% higher in average) and lower energy costs (20% lower in average). Finally, the efficiency curves and project equation have been raised for the HCO hydrocyclone each with satisfactory adjust.

Espectroscopia no infravermelho e método quimiométrico para a pesquisa de antimicrobianos em leite da microrregião de Pato Branco - PR

Considering the social and economic importance that the milk has, the objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence and quantifying antimicrobial residues in the food. The samples were collected in dairy industry of southwestern Paraná state and thus they were able to cover all ten municipalities in the region of Pato Branco. The work focused on the development of appropriate models for the identification and quantification of analytes: tetracycline, sulfamethazine, sulfadimethoxine, chloramphenicol and ampicillin, all antimicrobials with health interest. For the calibration procedure and validation of the models was used the Infrared Spectroscopy Fourier Transform associated with chemometric method based on Partial Least Squares regression (PLS - Partial Least Squares). To prepare a work solution antimicrobials, the five analytes of interest were used in increasing doses, namely tetracycline from 0 to 0.60 ppm, sulfamethazine 0 to 0.12 ppm, sulfadimethoxine 0 to 2.40 ppm chloramphenicol 0 1.20 ppm and ampicillin 0 to 1.80 ppm to perform the work with the interest in multiresidues analysis. The performance of the models constructed was evaluated through the figures of merit: mean square error of calibration and cross-validation, correlation coefficients and offset performance ratio. For the purposes of applicability in this work, it is considered that the models generated for Tetracycline, Sulfadimethoxine and Chloramphenicol were considered viable, with the greatest predictive power and efficiency, then were employed to evaluate the quality of raw milk from the region of Pato Branco . Among the analyzed samples by NIR, 70% were in conformity with sanitary legislation, and 5% of these samples had concentrations below the Maximum Residue permitted, and is also satisfactory. However 30% of the sample set showed unsatisfactory results when evaluating the contamination with antimicrobials residues, which is non conformity related to the presence of antimicrobial unauthorized use or concentrations above the permitted limits. With the development of this work can be said that laboratory tests in the food area, using infrared spectroscopy with multivariate calibration was also good, fast in analysis, reduced costs and with minimum generation of laboratory waste. Thus, the alternative method proposed meets the quality concerns and desired efficiency by industrial sectors and society in general.