Secagem do resíduo industrial da acerola em leito de jorro: estudos fluidodinâmicos e análise do desempenho do secador

In this research, the drying process of acerola waste was investigated by using a spouted bed drier. The process was conducted using high density polyethylene inert particles with the objective of producing an ascorbic acid-rich final product. The fruit waste was ground and used to prepare different water-maltodextrin suspensions. Initially, fluidynamical experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the feeding effect on the spouted bed drier fluidynamics behavior. The experimental planning 23 + 3 was used to investigate the effect of the following variables: solids concentration, drying air temperature, intermittence time, production efficiency, solids retention and product losses by elutriation of fine particles on drier walls. The effect of selected independent variables on the drier stability was also evaluated based on a parameter defined as the ratio between the feed suspension volume and the total inert particles volume. Finally, the powder quality was verified in experiments with fixed feed flow and varying air drying temperature, drying air velocity and intermittence time. It was observed that the suspension interferes in the spouted bed drier fluidynamics behavior, and higher air flow is necessary to stabilize the drier. The suspension also promotes the expansion of the spouted bed diameter, decreases the solid circulation and favors the air distribution at the flush area. All variables interfere in the spouted bed performance, and the solids concentration has a major effect on the material retention and losses. The intermittence time also has great effect on the stability and material retention. When it comes to production efficiency, the main effect observed was the drying air temperature. First order models were well adjusted to retention and losses data. The acerola powder presented ascorbic acid levels around 600 to 700 mg/100g. Similar moisture and ascorbic acid levels were obtained for powders obtained by spouted bed and spray drier. However, the powder production efficiency of the spray drier was lower when compared to spouted bed drier. When it comes to energetic analysis, the spray drier process was superior. The results obtained for spouted bed drier are promising and highly dependent on the operational parameters chosen, but in general, it is inferred that this drying process is adequate for paste and suspension drying

Remoção do cobre de efluente galvânico aplicando tensoativos derivado de óleos vegetais

Copper is one of the most used metals in platingprocesses of galvanic industries. The presence of copper, a heavy metal, in galvanic effluents is harmful to the environment.The main objective of this researchwas the removal ofcopperfromgalvanic effluents, using for this purpose anionic surfactants. The removal process is based on the interaction between the polar head group of the anionic surfactant and the divalent copper in solution. The surfactants used in this study were derived from soybean oil (OSS), coconut oil (OCS), and sunflower oil (OGS). It was used a copper synthetic solution (280 ppm Cu+2) simulating the rinse water from a copper acid bath of a galvanic industry. It were developed 23and 32 factorial designs to evaluate the parameters that have influence in theremoval process. For each surfactant (OSS, OCS, and OGS), the independent variables evaluated were: surfactant concentration (1.25 to 3.75 g/L), pH (5 to 9) and the presence of an anionic polymer (0 to 0.0125 g/L).From the results obtained in the 23 factorial design and in the calculus for estimatingthe stoichiometric relationship between surfactants and copper in solution, it were developed new experimental tests, varying surfactant concentration in the range of 1.25 to 6.8 g/L (32 factorial design).The results obtained in the experimental designs were subjected to statistical evaluations to obtain Pareto charts and mathematical modelsfor Copper removal efficiency (%). The statistical evaluation of the 23 and 32factorial designs, using saponifiedcoconut oil (OCS), presented the mathematical model that best described the copper removal process.It can be concluded that OCS was the most efficient anionic surfactant, removing 100% of the copper present in the synthetic galvanic solution

Extração enzimática de óleo e produção in situ de biodiesel a partir da Moringa oleífera Lam

With the growth and development of modern society, arises the need to search for new raw materials and new technologies which present the "clean" characteristic, and do not harm the environment, but can join the energy needs of industry and transportation. The Moringa oleifera Lam, plant originating from India, and currently present in the Brazilian Northeast, presents itself as a multi-purpose plant, can be used as a coagulant in water treatment, as a natural remedy and as a feedstock for biodiesel production. In this work, Moringa has been used as a raw material for studies on the extraction and subsequently in the synthesis of biodiesel. Studies have been conducted on various techniques of Moringa oil extraction (solvents, mechanical pressing and enzymatic), being specially developed an experimental design for the aqueous extraction with the aid of the enzyme Neutrase© 0.8 L, with the aim of analyzing the influence variable pH (5.5-7.5), temperature (45-55°C), time (16-24 hours) and amount of catalyst (2-5%) on the extraction yield. In relation to study of the synthesis of biodiesel was initially carried out a conventional transesterification (50°C, KOH as a catalyst, methanol and 60 minutes reaction). Next, a study was conducted using the technique of in situ transesterification by using an experimental design variables as temperature (30-60°C), catalyst amount (2-5%), and molar ratio oil / ethanol (1:420-1:600). The extraction technique that achieved the highest extraction yield (35%) was the one that used hexane as a solvent. The extraction using 32% ethanol obtained by mechanical pressing and extraction reached 25% yield. For the enzymatic extraction, the experimental design indicated that the extraction yield was most affected by the effect of the combination of temperature and time. The maximum yield obtained in this extraction was 16%. After the step of obtaining the oil was accomplished the synthesis of biodiesel by the conventional method and the in situ technique. The method of conventional transesterification was obtained a content of 100% and esters by in situ technique was also obtained in 100% in the experimental point 7, with a molar ratio oil / alcohol 1:420, Temperature 60°C in 5% weight KOH with the reaction time of 1.5 h. By the experimental design, it was found that the variable that most influenced the ester content was late the percentage of catalyst. By physico-chemical analysis it was observed that the biodiesel produced by the in situ method fell within the rules of the ANP, therefore this technique feasible, because does not require the preliminary stage of oil extraction and achieves high levels of esters

Obtenção de ferrita de cobalto através de dois métodos de síntese: método de complexação combinando EDTA/Citrato e método hidrotérmico

In this work it was synthesized and characterized the cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) by two methods: complexation combining EDTA/Citrate and hydrothermal investigating the influence of the synthesis conditions on phase formation and on the crystallite size. The powders were mainly characterized by x-ray diffraction. In specific cases, it was also used scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and isotherms of adsorption and desorption of nitrogen (BET method). The study of the crystallite size was based on the interpretation of x-ray diffractograms obtained and estimated by the method of Halder-Wagner-Scherrer and Langford. An experimental design was made in order to assist in quantifying the influence of synthesis conditions on the response variables. The synthesis parameters evaluated in this study were: pH of the reaction medium (8, 9 and 10), the calcination temperature (combined complexation method EDTA/Citrate 600°C, 800°C and 1000°C), synthesis temperature (hydrothermal method 120°C, 140°C and 160°C), calcination time (combined complexation method EDTA/Citrate - 2, 4 and 6 hours) and time of synthesis (hydrothermal method 6, 15 and 24 hours). By the hydrothermal method was possible to produce mesoporous powders with high purity, with an average crystallite size up to 7 nm, with a surface area of 113.44 m²/g in the form of pellets with irregular morphology. By using the method of combined complexation EDTA/Citrate, mesoporous powders were produced with greater purity, crystallite size up to 22nm and 27.95 m²/g of surface area in the form of pellets with a regular morphology of plaques. In the experimental design was found that the hydrothermal method to all the studied parameters (pH, temperature and time) have significant effect on the crystallite size, while to the combined complexation method EDTA/Citrate, only temperature and time were significant

Recuperação e purificação de quitosanases usando adsorção em leito expandido com streamline DEAE com modelagem e simulação usando redes neurais

Expanded Bed Adsorption (EBA) is an integrative process that combines concepts of chromatography and fluidization of solids. The many parameters involved and their synergistic effects complicate the optimization of the process. Fortunately, some mathematical tools have been developed in order to guide the investigation of the EBA system. In this work the application of experimental design, phenomenological modeling and artificial neural networks (ANN) in understanding chitosanases adsorption on ion exchange resin Streamline® DEAE have been investigated. The strain Paenibacillus ehimensis NRRL B-23118 was used for chitosanase production. EBA experiments were carried out using a column of 2.6 cm inner diameter with 30.0 cm in height that was coupled to a peristaltic pump. At the bottom of the column there was a distributor of glass beads having a height of 3.0 cm. Assays for residence time distribution (RTD) revelead a high degree of mixing, however, the Richardson-Zaki coefficients showed that the column was on the threshold of stability. Isotherm models fitted the adsorption equilibrium data in the presence of lyotropic salts. The results of experiment design indicated that the ionic strength and superficial velocity are important to the recovery and purity of chitosanases. The molecular mass of the two chitosanases were approximately 23 kDa and 52 kDa as estimated by SDS-PAGE. The phenomenological modeling was aimed to describe the operations in batch and column chromatography. The simulations were performed in Microsoft Visual Studio. The kinetic rate constant model set to kinetic curves efficiently under conditions of initial enzyme activity 0.232, 0.142 e 0.079 UA/mL. The simulated breakthrough curves showed some differences with experimental data, especially regarding the slope. Sensitivity tests of the model on the surface velocity, axial dispersion and initial concentration showed agreement with the literature. The neural network was constructed in MATLAB and Neural Network Toolbox. The cross-validation was used to improve the ability of generalization. The parameters of ANN were improved to obtain the settings 6-6 (enzyme activity) and 9-6 (total protein), as well as tansig transfer function and Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm. The neural Carlos Eduardo de Araújo Padilha dezembro/2013 9 networks simulations, including all the steps of cycle, showed good agreement with experimental data, with a correlation coefficient of approximately 0.974. The effects of input variables on profiles of the stages of loading, washing and elution were consistent with the literature

Secagem de grãos de girassol em leito fixo e em leito de jorro

This work studies two methods for drying sunflower grains grown in the western region of Rio Grande do Norte, in the premises of the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte - IFRN - Campus Apodi. This initiative was made because of the harvested grain during the harvest, being stored in sheds without any control of temperature, humidity etc. Therewith, many physical, chemical and physiological characteristics are compromised and grains lose much quality for oil production as their germination power. Taking into account that most of the stored grain is used for replanting, the studied methods include drying of grains in a thin layer using an oven with air circulation (fixed bed) and drying in a spouted bed. It was studied the drying of grains in natura, i.e., newly harvested. The fixed bed drying was carried out at temperatures of 40, 50, 60 and 70°C. Experiments in spouted bed were performed based on an experimental design, 2² + 3, with three replications at the central point, where the independent variables were grains load (1500, 2000 and 2500 g) and the temperature of the inlet air (70, 80, and 90 °C), obtaining the drying and desorption equilibrium isotherms. Previously, the characteristic curves of the bed were obtained. Both in the fixed bed as in the spouted bed, drying and desorption curves were obtained by weighing the grains throughout the experiments and measurements of water activity, respectively. The grains drying in the spouted bed showed good results with significant reduction of processing time. The models of FICK and PAGE were fitted to the experimental data, models which will represent the drying of grains both in the fixed bed as in the spouted bed. The desorption curves showed no influence of the processing temperature in the hygroscopic characteristics of the grains. The models of GAB, OSWIN and LUIKOV could well represent the desorption isotherms

Biossorção utilizando alga marinha (sargassum sp.) aplicada em meio orgânico

In this work, biosorption process was used to remove heavy metals from used automotive lubricating oils by a bus fleet from Natal-RN-Brazil. This oil was characterized to determine the physical-chemistry properties. It was also characterized the used oil with the aim of determining and quantifying the heavy metal concentration. Fe and Cu were the metals existent in large concentration and these metals were choused to be studied in solubilization process. For the biosorption process was used the seaweed Sargassum sp for the study of influencing of the metals presents separately and with other metals. It was also studied the effect of the protonation treatment of alga with the objective to know the best efficiency of heavy metals removal. The study of the solubilization showed that the presence of more than a metal favors the solubilization of the metals presents in the oil and consequently, it favors the biosorption process, what becomes interesting the perspective application in the heavy metals removal in lubricating oils used, because the presence of more than a heavy metal favors the solubility of all metals present. It was observed that the iron and copper metals, which are present in large concentration, the protonated biosorbtent was more effective. In this study we used as biomass the marine alga Sargassum sp to study the influence of agitation velocity, temperature and initial biomass concentration on the removal of iron and copper from used lubricant oils. We performed an experimental design and a kinetic study. The experiments were carried out with samples of used lubricant oil and predetermined amounts of algae, allowing sufficient time for the mixture to obtain equilibrium under controlled conditions. The results showed that, under the conditions studied, the larger the amount of biomass present, the lower the adsorption capacity of the iron and of the copper, likely due to a decrease in interface contact area. The experimental design led us to conclude that a function can be obtained that shows the degree of influence of each one of the system variables

Estudo da produção de pectinase por fermentação em estado sólido utilizando pedúnculo de caju como substrato

Pectinolytic enzymes, or simply pectinases, are complex enzymes that degrade pectic polymers. They have many uses, such as fruit juice extraction and purification, textile fiber treatment and vegetal oil extraction. The aim of this work was to study the kinetics of pectinases production by solid-state fermentation, using dry cashew apple residue as substrate and the microorganism Aspergillus niger CCT 0916. The influence of the initial medium moisture and medium supplementation with a source of nitrogen and phosphorus was evaluated using the factorial experimental planning and response surface methodology. Ammonia sulphate and potassium phosphate were used as nitrogen and phosphorus source, respectively. The variables time of contact (T) and ratio volume solvent/fermented medium (RZ), in systems with and without agitation, were evaluated in order to study the best extraction condition of the produced enzyme. Washed and unwashed cashew apple residues were tested as the growth medium. The unwashed residue was obtained by drying the residue after the extraction of the juice, while the washed residue was obtained by water washing 5 times using the proportion of 1 kg pulp/2 liters of water. Samples were taken every 12 hours for moisture content, pH, protein, reducing sugars, polygalacturonase activity (PG) and viscosity reduction. The physical-chemical composition of the residues had different sugar and pectin levels. For the unwashed residue, the peak activity was reached with 40% of initial moisture content, 1% of nitrogen supplementation without phosphorus addition after 30 hours of process. These conditions led to 16 U/g of PG activity and 82% of viscosity reduction. The calculated models reached similar values to the experimental ones in the same process conditions: 15.55 U/g of PG and 79.57% of viscosity eduction. Similarly, the greatest enzyme production for washed residue was reached with 40% initial moisture content, 1% nitrogen supplementation without phosphorus addition after 22 hours of cultivation. In this condition it was obtained polygalacturonase activity of 9.84 U/g and viscosity reduction of 81.36%. These values are close to experimental values that were of 10.1 U/g and 81%, respectively. The conditions that led to the best PG activity results was the agitated one and the best extraction condition was obtained with 100 minutes of solvent/medium contact and RZ of 5 (mL/g)

Extração de metais pesados de efluentes da indústria do petróleo utilizando derivados de óleos vegetais como extratantes

The study of a promising alternative for the treatment of produced water from the oil industry envisaging its reuse was the focus of this work. Millions of liters of water are generated per day, containing heavy metals in low concentrations (< 0,15 mg/L for Pb, <0,04 mg/L for Cd, <0,04 mg/L for Ni). The technology applied to extract these metals from aqueous phase was the solvent extraction and the extratants used were vegetable oils originated from coconut oil. They can be used in natural form or as derivatives, known as MAC - Mixture of Carboxílics Acids. The determination of the heavy metal con¬centrations in a complex matrix was made by using the atomic absorption spectrometry technique (AAS). On the bench tests using synthetics aqueous solutions containing metals, vegetable oils showed no power to extract the metals studied. The extractant MAC was selective for the Pb> Cd> Ni, in the concentration of 8% in the same organic phase. In this condition, the lower efficiency of extraction obtained was 92% for the Pb, 69% for the Cd, in the range of pH ranging from 6 to 8. An experimental planning was conducted for continuous tests. The device used was called MDIF Misturador-Decantador à Inversão de Fases and the aqueous phase was produced water from Pólo Indutrial de Guamaré/RN . No correlation between the studied variables (concentration of metal, concentration of extratant and agitation in the mixing chamer) could be obtained, because of possible factors which occurred as: variation in the composition of the studied sample, phenomena of precipitation and complexation of metals in the reservoir of feed, solubility of extratant

Secagem de misturas de polpa de frutas tropicais em leito de jorro

Drying of fruit pulps in spouted beds of inert particles has been indicated as a viable technique to produce fruit powders. Most of the processes employed to produce dried fruit pulps and juices, such as Foam Mat, encapsulation by co-crystallization and spray drying utilize adjuvant and additives (such as thickeners, coating materials, emulsifiers, acidulants, flavors and dyes), which is not always desirable. The fruit pulp composition exerts an important effect on the fruit powder production using a spouted bed. In the study by Medeiros (2001) it was concluded that lipids, starch and pectin contents play an important role on the process performance, enhancing the powder production; however, the drying of fruit pulps containing high content of reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) is practically unviable. This work has the objective of expanding the studies on drying of fruit pulps in spouted bed with aid of adjuvant (lipids, starch and pectin) aiming to enhance the dryer performance without jeopardizing the sensorial quality of the product. The optimum composition obtained by Medeiros (2001) was the basis for preparing the mixtures of pulps. The mixture formulations included pulps of mango (Mangifera indica), umbu (Spondias tuberosa) and red mombin (Spondia purpurea) with addition of cornstarch, pectin and lipids. Different products were used as lipids source: olive and Brazil nut oils, coconut milk, heavy milk, powder of palm fat and palm olein. First of all, experiments were conducted to define the best formulation of the fruit pulps mixture. This definition was based on the drying performance obtained for each mixture and on the sensorial characteristics of the dry powder. The mixture formulations were submitted to drying at fixed operating conditions of drying and atomizing air flow rate, load of inert particles, temperature and flow rate of the mixture. The best results were obtained with the compositions having powder of palm fat and palm olein in terms of the drying performance and sensorial analysis. Physical and physicochemical characteristics were determined for the dry powders obtained from the mixtures formulations. Solubility and reconstitution time as well as the properties of the product after reconstitution were also evaluated. According to these analyses, the powder from the mixtures formulations presented similar characteristics and compatible quality to those produced in other types of dryers. Considering that the palm olein is produced in Brazil and that it has been used in the food industry substituting the palm fat powder, further studies on drying performance were conducted with the composition that included the palm olein. A complete factorial design of experiments 23, with three repetitions at the central point was conducted to evaluate the effects of the air temperature, feeding flow rate and intermittence time on the responses related to the process performance (powder collection efficiency, material retained in the bed and angle of repose of the inert particles after the process) and to the product quality (mean moisture content, loss of vitamin C and solubility). Powder production was uniform for the majority of the experiments and the higher efficiency with lower retention in the bed (59.2% and 1.8g, respectively) were obtained for the air temperature of 80°C, mixture feed rate of 5ml/min in intervals of 10 min. The statistical analysis of the results showed that the process variables had individual or combined significant influences on the powder collection efficiency, material retention in the bed, powder moisture content and loss of vitamin C. At the experimental ranges of this work, the angle of repose and solubility were not influenced by the operating variables. From the results of the experimental design, statistical models were obtained for the powder moisture content and loss of vitamin C

Recuperação e purificação de ramnolipídeos produzidos por pseudomonas aeruginosa P029-GVIIA utilizando melaço de cana como substrato

Biosurfactants are molecules produced by microorganisms mainly bacteria as Pseudomonas and Bacillus. Among the biosurfactants, rhamnolipids play an important role due to their tensoactive as well as emulsifying properties. Besides can be produced in a well consolidated way the production costs of biosurfactants are quite expansive mainly if downstream processing is goning to be considered. Actually, attention has been given to identification of biosurfactants as well as optimization of its fermentative processes including downstream ones. This work deals with the development of strategies to recovery and purification of rhamnolipids produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa P029-GVIIA using sugar-cane molasses as substrate. Broth free of cells was used in order to investigate the best strategies to recovery and purification produced by this system. Between the studied acids (HCl and H2SO4) for the acid precipitation step, HCl was the best one as has been showed by the experimental design 24. Extraction has been carried out using petroleum ether and quantification has been done using the thioglycolic acid method. Adsorption studies were carried out with activated carbon in a batch mode using a 24 experimental design as well as combined with an hydrophobic resin Streamline Phenyl aiming to separate the produced biosurfactant. Biosurfactant partial identification was carried out using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Experiments in batch mode showed that adsorption has been controlled mainly by pH and temperature. It was observed a reduction of 41.4% for the liquid phase and the solid phase it was possible to adsorb up to 15 mg of rhamnolipd/g of activated carbon. The kinetics of adsorption has been well fitted to a pseudo-first order reaction with velocity constant (k1) of 1.93 x 10-2 min-1. Experiments in packed bed ranging concentration on eluent (acetone) has been shown the highest recovery factor of 98% when pure acetone has been used. The combined effect if using activated carbon with an hydrophobic resin Streamline Phenyl has been shown successful for the rhamnolipids purification. It has been possible to purify a fraction of the crude broth with 98% of purity when the eluted of activated carbon packed bed was used with pure acetone

Bio-óleo e biogás da degradação termoquímica de lodo de esgoto doméstico em cilindro rotativo

The objective of this study was to produce biofuels (bio-oil and gas) from the thermal treatment of sewage sludge in rotating cylinder, aiming industrial applications. The biomass was characterized by immediate and instrumental analysis (elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy - SEM, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and ICP-OES). A kinetic study on non-stationary regime was done to calculate the activation energy by Thermal Gravimetric Analysis evaluating thermochemical and thermocatalytic process of sludge, the latter being in the presence of USY zeolite. As expected, the activation energy evaluated by the mathematical model "Model-free kinetics" applying techniques isoconversionais was lowest for the catalytic tests (57.9 to 108.9 kJ/mol in the range of biomass conversion of 40 to 80%). The pyrolytic plant at a laboratory scale reactor consists of a rotating cylinder whose length is 100 cm with capable of processing up to 1 kg biomass/h. In the process of pyrolysis thermochemical were studied following parameters: temperature of reaction (500 to 600 ° C), flow rate of carrier gas (50 to 200 mL/min), frequency of rotation of centrifugation for condensation of bio-oil (20 to 30 Hz) and flow of biomass (4 and 22 g/min). Products obtained during the process (pyrolytic liquid, coal and gas) were characterized by classical and instrumental analytical techniques. The maximum yield of liquid pyrolytic was approximately 10.5% obtained in the conditions of temperature of 500 °C, centrifugation speed of 20 Hz, an inert gas flow of 200 mL/min and feeding of biomass 22 g/min. The highest yield obtained for the gas phase was 23.3% for the temperature of 600 °C, flow rate of 200 mL/min inert, frequency of rotation of the column of vapor condensation 30 Hz and flow of biomass of 22 g/min. The non-oxygenated aliphatic hydrocarbons were found in greater proportion in the bio-oil (55%) followed by aliphatic oxygenated (27%). The bio-oil had the following characteristics: pH 6.81, density between 1.05 and 1.09 g/mL, viscosity between 2.5 and 3.1 cSt and highest heating value between 16.91 and 17.85 MJ/ kg. The main components in the gas phase were: H2, CO, CO2 and CH4. Hydrogen was the main constituent of the gas mixture, with a yield of about 46.2% for a temperature of 600 ° C. Among the hydrocarbons formed, methane was found in higher yield (16.6%) for the temperature 520 oC. The solid phase obtained showed a high ash content (70%) due to the abundant presence of metals in coal, in particular iron, which was also present in bio-oil with a rate of 0.068% in the test performed at a temperature of 500 oC.

Aplicação de tensoativos não iônicos na recuperação de fluidos de perfuração poliméricos

The drilling fluid used to assist in the drilling operation of oil wells, accumulates solids inherent in the formation as it is circulated in the well, interfering in the fluid performance during operation. It is discarded after use. The disposal of these fluids causes one of the most difficult environmental problems in the world. This study aims to promote liquid phase separation of drilling fluids, which have circulated in oil wells, and enable this recovered liquid to formulate a new fluid. For this, non-ionic surfactants were used in order to select the best outcome in phase separation. Five real water-based drilling fluids were utilized, which were collected directly from the fields of drilling oil wells, classified as polymeric fluids. The methodology used consisted in combining the fluid with surfactant and then subjecting it to a process of centrifugation or decantation. The decantating tests were scheduled through experimental planning 23 and 32, using as variables the percentage (%) of surfactant utilized and the stirring time in minutes. The surfactants used were ethoxylated nonylphenol and lauryl alcohol ethoxylated with different degrees of ethoxylation. Phase separation was monitored first by tests of stability, and subsequently by the height of the interface in beakers of 100 mL. The results showed that from the surfactants studied, the lauryl alcohol ethoxylated with 3 ethoxylation units has been the most effective in the phase separation process of the drilling fluids tested. The statistical tool used was of great industrial value regarding the programming phase separation in drilling fluids. In conclusion, the liquid phase separated using surfactant can be reused for a new formulation of drilling fluid with similar properties of a new fluid, assuring its efficiency. And in the resulting analysis it is also suggested that the adsorption is the mechanism that leads the phase separation, with surfactant adsorbing in the active solids

Sistemas microemulsionados aplicados à remoção da cor de efluente têxtil

Effluent color resulting from textile dyeing processes has been one of the biggest environmental problems faced by the textile industry. In particular, reactive dyes are highly resistant to conventional wastewater treatment methods. New technologies have been contemplated, some of which have been applied in industrial treatment plants, but color removal has not been efficiently attained. Since microemulsion systems provide good results in heavy metals and proteins extraction processes, their use in dyes extraction has been suggested and investigated. In this work, a real textile wastewater from an exhaustion dyebath has been treated, which contains the following reactive dyes: Procion Yellow H-E4R (CI Reactive Yellow 84), Procion Blue H-ERD (CI Reactive Blue 160) and Procion Red H-E3B (CI Reactive Red 120), in addition to auxiliary compounds normally found in dyeing processes with reactive dyes. The dyes Remazol Blue RR and Remazol Turquoise Blue G (Reactive Blue 21) have also been examined in view of the presence of heavy metals in these molecules. The microemulsion system comprised dodecyl ammonium chloride (as a cationic surfactant), water or wastewater as aqueous phase, kerosene as oil phase, and one of the following alcohols as cosurfactant: isoamyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol and n-octyl alcohol. The pseudo-ternary diagrams were constructed in order to define Winsor s equilibrium regions. The influence of parameters such as pH, C/S (cosurfactant/surfactant) ratio, distribution coefficient, initial dye concentration, salinity, temperature, phases relative amounts, loading capacity of the microemulsion phase and dye reextraction rate has also been investigated. An experimental planning (Scheffé Net) was used to optimize the extraction process. The removal of color and metals reached levels as high as 99%

Estudo da influência de tensoativos em sistemas microemulsionados na extração de gálio e alumínio

Gallium is an important material used in the electronic industry whose demand in the world market is increasing in view of its potential applications. A selective technique is required to allow for the production of the metal, separated from aluminium. Due to the fact that microemulsions constitute an attractive alternative to metal extraction procedures, microemulsified systems have been employed as gallium-selective extraction agents. Two surfactants have been synthesized: sodium 12-N,N-diethylamino-9,10-dihydroxyestearate (AMINE) and saponified coconut oil (SCO), both produced from raw materials readily available in Northeastern Brazil. Also, the commercial extraction agent KELEX-100, conventionally used with the same purpose, has been used in this work for comparison. The optimization of the extraction process with microemulsions was carried out by investigating the influence of some parameters, namely the type of cosurfactant, the cosurfactant/surfactant (C/S) ratio, the pH and concentration of metals in the aqueous phase. Pseudoternary diagrams, which are representative of the microemulsified systems under study, have been constructed in order to establish the boundaries of the regions where the several Winsor systems are formed. An experimental planning methodology (Scheffé Net) has been used to optimize the extraction. The extraction percentage values were as high as 100% for gallium and 99.99% for aluminium for the system with KELEX-100; 96.6% for gallium and 98.8% for aluminium for the system containing AMINE; and 88% for gallium and 85% for aluminium for the system with SCO. The microemulsified system chosen for presenting the best results in gallium extraction was composed by SCO/isoamyl alcohol/kerosene/Bayer licquor with a C/S ratio of 28 and pH of the original aqueous phase of 6.0. The selectivity that has not been observed in the extraction stage was accomplished in the reextraction process using HCl. For the KELEX-100 system, gallium was reextracted at 100% with 6M HCl and aluminium was reextracted at 100% with 0.8M HCl. For the AMINE system, the reextraction percentages were also 100% for both metals, using 6M HCl for gallium and 0.5M HCl for aluminium. On the other hand, the reextraction percentages for the system with SCO were as high as 84% for gallium and 92% for aluminium, with HCl in the same concentrations as those used in the AMINE system. Finally, an optimized system was applied in the gallium extraction process employing a reciprocating perforated-plates extractor. As a result, the metal content was extracted at a recovery rate of 95% for gallium and 97% for aluminium