Desenvolvimento de um modelo termoeconômico que considera os impactos ambientais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Simulação da dispersão de poluentes atmosféricos e avaliação da qualidade do ar na área de abrangência do Distrito Industrial de Barcarena-PA

A poluição atmosférica é considerada atualmente um dos maiores problemas da sociedade contemporânea, por ameaçar sua qualidade de vida, pois gera impactos negativos no meio ambiente natural e antrópico. Dentre as formas de controle da poluição atmosférica de fontes fixas podem-se destacar a diluição das emissões na atmosfera devido aos efeitos de dispersão, a adoção de equipamentos de controle antes do lançamento dos gases ou a realocação de fonte, visto ser uma possibilidade a ser sugerida durante o procedimento de licenciamento ambiental de empreendimentos com potencial poluidor do ar. Atualmente modelos computacionais de dispersão de poluentes na atmosfera vêm sendo amplamente utilizados na simulação da concentração de poluentes, visando auxiliar órgãos ambientais no prognóstico da qualidade do ar ou suprir deficiências de monitoramento de emissões atmosféricas. O presente trabalho estudou a qualidade do ar e avaliou a dispersão de poluentes atmosféricos sobre Vila do Conde e áreas de influência do Distrito Industrial de Barcarena, no município de Barcarena, estado do Pará, com auxílio do modelo AERMOD View, visto a possibilidade de se estabelecer uma relação entre os níveis de emissões dos poluentes na fonte, com as concentrações dos mesmos no ar, bem como identificar pontos críticos de poluição. O Índice de Qualidade do Ar – IQA e as fragilidades das populações humanas das áreas afetadas pelos poluentes atmosféricos, também foram mensurados na pesquisa. A metodologia empregada permitiu mensurar a concentração média de poluentes atmosféricos durante um determinado tempo de modelagem, informações quanto ao alcance da pluma de poluentes foram alcançados também. São fornecidos ainda informações quanto à relação entre o valor de pico e o valor médio da concentração nas áreas receptoras, provocadas por empreendimentos com características operacionais similares ao modelado. Os resultados demostram que a influência de parâmetros meteorológicos, na dispersão de poluentes são indispensáveis e determinantes na previsão do impacto na qualidade do ar e no planejamento do uso e ocupação do solo de áreas que abrigam atividades poluidoras da atmosfera.

Desenvolvimento de biodiesel microemulsionado com reaproveitamento de resíduos de óleos vegetais

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

Estudo da concentração de material particulado em ambientes internos e externos de bibliotecas

Our twenty-first century society and the rhythm of life and work we have to face in our daily routine compel us to spend most of our lifetime in closed environments, in our houses, educational institutions, hospitals, airports, amongst as many others. The study of the air quality in internal environments (IAQ) is very important for monitoring people’s health effects and their environmental comfort in these locations. One essential parameter to analyze this measure is to evaluate the concentration of dispersed particulates in the air, specially focusing on those thinner particles (below the diameter of 2,5 μm), they can pose serious risks for human being because they can remain in the lungs, penetrate through the pores of our skin, amongst other harmful effects on human’s health. In this work the air quality inside the public library Profª Josina Vasques Ferrari and at Unesp public state library was evaluated, both located in Itapeva, as well as a third one, inside the Communitarian Library of the Federal University in Carlos (UFSCar) from march to may in 2012. In those environments it was analyzed if the concentration of particulates pose any real treat to the users. The equipment used for particle sampling in real time was DataRam 4 (Model DR 4000). The results given for those concentrations of particulates in both internal and external environments revealed figures within the safe standard established by the WHO (World Health Organization), from 25 to μg/m³, the only exception occurred on the fifth floor of the UFSCar library, where the average for concentration stayed at 25,30 of μg/m³

Estimativa das emissões de monóxido de carbono por veículos automotivos na cidade de Campinas/SP utilizando o modelo CAL3QHCR

Air pollution is an environmental issue worldwide and frequently cause negative effects on population health and ecosystems on cities. The relationship between climate and atmospheric pollution can be used as a surrogate to the intensity of air pollution. The present and quantity of some gases can be used as indicators to air quality: particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Among those gases, CO has its major source within the cities, where automobiles are the main emitter. But measure pollutant concentration are challenging, sometimes because the lack of good equipments due to high costs and of the large variability of models that varies in precision, way of measure and distribution of sellers. Modeling are useful when there are an intend to evaluate air pollution, its sources and evaluate scenarios. This work aims to use CAL3QHCR model developed by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to generate predictive surfaces of CO concentration distribution on a site within Campinas city, located in São Paulo state, Brazil. CAL3QHCR model use data urban automobile circulation to generate spatial results for CO distribution. We observed that the pollution concentration was lower on our modeling than the concentrations measured by Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (CETESB), the main environmental company on the São Paulo state. Also the correlation between average estimates of our model and the measure by CETESB was weak, indicating that the model used on this study need to be or better parameterized, or the scale we measured of CO emissions need to be rescaled. Although the model failed to correlate to CETESB data, maybe one that explore the estimated emissions distributed within the sites to understand spatial distributions of CO on the regions. Also, the generated information can also be used to other studies, and come to be useful to explain heat island

Atmospheric pollutants in São Paulo state, Brazil and effects on human health – a review

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Real-time Sampling of Particulate Matter Smaller than 2.5 µm from Amazon Forest Biomass Combustion

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Utilização de dados fornecidos por satélites para determinação de riscos ambientais

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

Geoquímica de radionuclídeos naturais e biomonitoramento em área de mineração de carvão no sul do Brasil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Diagnóstico e avaliação ambiental das nascentes da Serra dos Matões, município de Pedro II, Piauí

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

Modelagem fuzzy de dados climáticos estimados por modelo matemático - CCATT-BRAMS

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

Diagnóstico e avaliação ambiental das nascentes da Serra dos Matões, município de Pedro II, Piauí

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

Modelagem fuzzy de dados climáticos estimados por modelo matemático - CCATT-BRAMS

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

The sustainability of ethanol production from sugarcane

The rapid expansion of ethanol production from sugarcane in Brazil has raised a number of questions regarding its negative consequences and sustainability. Positive impacts are the elimination of lead compounds from gasoline and the reduction of noxious emissions. There is also the reduction of CO2 emissions, since sugarcane ethanol requires only a small amount of fossil fuels for its production, being thus a renewable fuel. These positive impacts are particularly noticeable in the air quality improvement of metropolitan areas but also in rural areas where mechanized harvesting of green cane is being introduced, eliminating the burning of sugarcane. Negative impacts such as future large-scale ethanol production from sugarcane might lead to the destruction or damage of high-biodiversity areas, deforestation, degradation or damaging of soils through the use of chemicals and soil decarbonization, water resources contamination or depletion, competition between food and fuel production decreasing food security and a worsening of labor conditions on the fields. These questions are discussed here, with the purpose of clarifying the sustainability aspects of ethanol production from sugarcane mainly in Sao Paulo State, where more than 60% of Brazil`s sugarcane plantations are located and are responsible for 62% of ethanol production. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Micronucleus frequency in children exposed to biomass burning in the Brazilian Legal Amazon region: a control case study

Background: The Amazon represents an area of 61% of Brazilian territory and is undergoing major changes resulting from disorderly economic development, especially the advance of agribusiness. Composition of the atmosphere is controlled by several natural and anthropogenic processes, and emission from biomass burning is one with the major impact on human health. The aim of this study was to evaluate genotoxic potential of air pollutants generated by biomass burning through micronucleus assay in exfoliated buccal cells of schoolchildren in the Brazilian Amazon region. Methods: The study was conducted during the dry seasons in two regions of the Brazilian Amazon. The assay was carried out on buccal epithelial cells of 574 schoolchildren between 6-16 years old. Results: The results show a significant difference between micronucleus frequencies in children exposed to biomass burning compared to those in a control area. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that in situ biomonitoring using a sensitive and low cost assay (buccal micronucleus assay) may be an important tool for monitoring air quality in remote regions. It is difficult to attribute the increase in micronuclei frequency observed in our study to any specific toxic element integrated in the particulate matters. However, the contribution of the present study lies in the evidence that increased exposure to fine particulate matter generates an increased micronuclei frequency in oral epithelial cells of schoolchildren.