The destination of solid waste is a problem that affects all nations, and the increasing and indiscriminate disposal on land and in the waters of rivers and oceans has caused environmental problems that are difficult to solve. Plastic waste has the aggravating factor of taking hundreds of years to decompose, and microplastics have affected the entire food chain. While the non-generation of plastic waste is almost a utopia, the implementation of new technologies and the modernization of legislation aimed at the disposal and treatment of waste with less environmental impact are of major importance for global sustainability. In this context, the objective of this work was to evaluate advances in legislation in the Western world, using the European Union, the United States, and Brazil as models, and to analyze technologies for the treatment and disposal of solid and plastic waste, comparing the degree of sustainability maturity among the nations studied. To achieve this, extensive research was conducted in official databases on legislation in these countries and in global literature, compiling and critically analyzing the data. As a result, it was observed, through the chronological timelines of the traced legislations, that Europe has always been at the forefront of the issue of plastic waste, showing a high degree of recycling (34%) and energy recovery (26%) aiming to reduce the use of landfills, which remains the primary disposal method in the United States (79%). Brazil, although making significant advances in legislation, has not yet been able to efficiently implement the outlined action plans. The country has incipient results with open-air or buried landfills, referred to as "lixões" and "aterro controlado", representing 39% of the final disposal of solid waste. In the evaluation of plastic waste disposal and treatment technologies, it is evident that recycling is the most efficient way to reduce environmental impacts caused by plastic. Mechanical recycling is currently the most worldwide used practice, despite its limitations, enabling the emergence of new treatment technologies, such as pyrolysis, one of the chemical recycling processes, which has been the focus of research and innovations aiming for greater cost-effectiveness and sustainability of processes.

The increase in glycerol production, which is obtained during transesterification to produce biodiesel, has led to a devaluation of this by-product due to the supply on the global market. However, the use of glycerol as a feedstock to produce higher value-added products can improve the economic viability of the biofuels industry. Catalytic hydrogenolysis has emerged as a promising alternative for the synthesis of 1,3-propanediol, an alcohol commonly used in polymerization reactions, especially in the production of polytrimethylene terephthalate and polyurethane, and 1,2-propanediol, a molecule widely used in resins production. The aim of this work is therefore to convert glycerol into its derivatives 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) and 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO) in order to increase the value of the biodiesel chain. A montmorillonite clay (pillared with Zr and unpillared) was impregnated with Pt (2% m/m) and WO3 (0, 5, 10 and 15% m/m) and evaluated in the glycerol conversion reaction. The aim of the test was to evaluate the influence of the modification of the catalyst structure, the amount and the strength of the acidic sites on the catalytic activity and the selectivity for propanediols. The samples were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), N2-physisorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with pyridine (FTIR-Py). The catalytic evaluation was carried out in a stirred batch Parr reactor under a hydrogen pressure of 5 MPa at a temperature of 200°C for 6 h. The synthesized materials showed a micro- and mesoporous structure of plate-like aggregates and slit-like pores characteristic of clays with disaggregated layers. The addition of platinum and tungsten did not alter this structure, forming only platinum sites and a mixture of crystalline WO3 and amorphous mono- and polytungstate species. Although the structure remained unchanged, the acidity of the materials was modified, with a reduction in total acidic sites after impregnation, along with the alteration of the Brønsted/Lewis (B/L) ratio in all samples. Prior to treatment, they had more Brønsted sites, whereas after treatment, they showed more Lewis sites. Clay pillaring was not efficient, as the support used was already quite disorganized, hindering the entry of the pillaring agent into the interlayer spaces. Among the catalysts analyzed, Pt-10WO3/MMT exhibited 17% selectivity for 1,2-PDO and 17% for 1,3-PDO, the best result among the evaluated materials. Pt-MMT catalyst showed the highest selectivity for 1,2-PDO formation (53.5%). Considering the results of catalytic tests, the catalyst with 10% tungsten showed the most promising performance for glycerol hydrogenolysis reaction with a focus on 1,3-PDO formation, while the catalyst with platinum alone was efficient for 1,2-PDO formation.

This work aims to verify the influence of the biopolymeric coating made of arrowroot starch, plasticized with glycerin, enriched with beeswax, clove essential oil and sodium bicarbonate on the properties of kraft paper. Arrowroot has rhizomes with a high starch content, low-cost production and no dietary restrictions. Beeswax tends to improve the properties of cellulosic material by forming effective barriers to moisture; glycerin improves mechanical properties; Eugenol, the main constituent of clove oil, has great antimicrobial capacity and sodium bicarbonate improves the mechanical properties of the fibers. To achieve this objective, subjective, sensory analysis, packaging testing, specific barrier, mechanical, antimicrobial properties, scanning electron microscopy analysis, absorption spectroscopy in the infrared region with Fourier transform and degradation analysis were carried out. Experimental planning 2⁴ and data analysis were carried out using Minitab Statistical Software, with a confidence level, Z*, of 95%. In the packaging test, the mass loss of fruits packaged in MR was 99.34% (cherry tomatoes) and 53.7% (silver bananas) lower than the mass loss of fruits packaged in kraft paper without covering. Sensory research indicated that the product packaged in the covered material preserves its odor, texture and flavor; the covered material showed an increase in thickness of up to 134%; density increase of up to 122%; increase in grammage of up to 196%; increase in moisture content in wet mass by more than 570% and in dry mass by more than 517%; increase in solubility by 220% and swelling by 429%; reduction of 24.6% in dry mass content; reduction of the water vapor permeability rate by more than 34% and formation of a barrier impermeable to oils and fats; mechanical tests showed an increase in tensile strength, a decrease in elastic modulus and an increase in deformation/elongation; 100% of the samples showed antimicrobial properties against fungi and yeasts; for Salmonella 60% of samples are moderately sensitive; 20% are sensitive and 20% are resistant; for E. coli, 20% is moderately sensitive and 80% is resistant; soil degradation analysis showed that the covered material degrades completely after 60 days. It is concluded, therefore, 

The ASP (Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer) process consists of injecting an aqueous solution containing an alkaline substance, a surfactant and a polymer into a reservoir, with the aim of increasing oil recovery. The technique combines some of the characteristics of miscible methods, due to the presence of alkaline substances and surfactants in its composition, with the characteristics of polymer injection. However, the cost of an ASP injection project is generally high, due to the procurement and quantity of chemical compounds used. Other advanced oil recovery techniques, such as biological, also called MEOR (Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery), have stood out for presenting physical and chemical characteristics close to those of chemical methods, allowing an increase in the recovered fraction to very similar levels. The present work aims to study the efficiency of a solution composed of alkali, biosurfactant and biopolymer (Bio-ASP), as an advanced oil recovery fluid and to compare it technically with the conventional ASP solution. Before developing the experimental part, a technological survey was carried out to map the use of fluids containing: surfactants, polymers, biosurfactants, biopolymers and the ASP solution, in EOR processes, using key words and an IPC code. The experiments were carried out in a core holder using rock samples from the Botucatu formation. The simulated oil reservoirs have an average permeability of 348 mD and a temperature of 60ºC. The crude oil was acquired from the Carmópolis field, with 25.72 ºAPI. Synthetic production water containing 40,000 mg.L-1 of NaCl, and 13,000 mg.L-1 of Na2SO4 was injected through an HPLC pump to saturate the rock samples and to recover the oil in the secondary stage. In the tests, the influence of the concentrations of compounds in the injected fluid, interfacial tension and viscosity on oil recovery was evaluated. The oil recovery factors in the secondary stage varied between 30-36% of the OOIP, these values are within the range reported in the literature. The optimal composition of the Bio-ASP fluid obtained an oil recovered fraction of 63.15% in the advanced stage. According to the technological prospection carried out, the combination of alkali, a biosurfactant and a biopolymer presents itself as an innovative fluid to be used in EOR processes.Therefore, the present study is necessary to investigate the role of each compound in the Bio-ASP solution in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Furthermore, the results obtained in this work make the study very attractive for possible application on a real scale.

Bioactive compounds are understood to mean plant-based (plant) molecules which have beneficial effects on health. In this group stands out the phenolic compounds, which are substances widely distributed in nature. This complex group is part of the constituents of a variety of vegetables, fruits and industrialized products. There are several techniques for extracting these compounds, among these methods, the aqueous biphasic system has been gaining space as a biosecurity technique considered to be quite efficient. Several alternative solvents are used in the separation of components in order to increase the efficiency of the process, among these constituents of the extractive system include the ionic liquids that are promising compounds. This paper aims to study the effect of temperature and the alkyl chain size of PIL anion in systems based on PIL + ACN + water. Binodal data and tie-line data were determined for the biphasic systems. Partitioning data were determined for comercial biomolecules present in clove oil (eugenol, eugenyl acetate and α-humuleno). Initially, the influence of alkyl chain size and the temperature in the phase diagram. Increasing temperature compressed the biphasic region of the phase diagram. The increase in the alkyl chain, and consequently the hydrophobicity decreases the phase separation. The NRTL and UNIQUAC models were used to predict LLE data, with satisfactory results for NRTL. In the proposed systems, eugenol and eugenyl acetate is partitioned to the PIL-rich phase, while α-humulene is partitioned to ACN-rich phase can be easily separated assisting in the deterpenation process. It was observed that increasing temperature allows increased or maintained almost constant the recovery of biomolecules in the bottom phase from similar TLL. Additionally, eugenol and eugenyl acetate can be partially isolated (S = 2.17) at 298.2 K. Finally, the highest values achieved for bottom phase recoveries for the target biomolecules were achieved using ATPS formed by [2HEA][Bu] ]+ACN+water (TLL ≈ 53 and 57.57 < R_B < 93.54). PILs can be used as a salting-out agent in the formation of biphasic phase systems with acetonitrile and to separate of biomolecules where good recovery rates were verified.

Musse Neto, G. J. Life cycle assessment of acrylonitrile produced from glycerol. Dissertation (Master's thesis work) - Polytechnic School at Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, 2023.

ABSTRACT

Acrylonitrile is a monomer traded as a commodity on the global market and with applications in several industrial sectors, produced from the ammoxidation of propylene. New technological alternatives are being studied to minimize the potential impacts of the process on the environment, reducing the use of oil derivatives through renewable and eco-friendly raw materials. This work proposes the application of life cycle assessment in an acrylonitrile plant that uses glycerol as an alternative feedstock, aiming to evaluate the environmental impacts generated compared to a commercial petrochemical process. The use of glycerol, a co-product of biodiesel production, is evaluated with information from strategic databases and published documents, considering its origin in the production process of biodiesel from soybean and waste cooking oil, focusing on the state of Mato Grosso. The results show that the production routes from glycerol derived from the soybean biodiesel and waste cooking oil routes present higher GHG emissions than the SOHIO process (among 6.84% and 276% kg CO₂-eq per kg acrylonitrile produced at depend on the route). The categories of water consumption and fossil resource scarcity show favorable results for the use of acrylonitrile. The processes based on the soybean route and the residual oil route save 2 liters and 5.9 liters of water per kg of acrylonitrile produced, respectively. Finally, the scarcity of fossil fuels can reduce 45.32% through the soybean route and 35.52% for the residual vegetable oil route.

The transition to a more sustainable energy matrix with less impact is a global objective, and bioenergies play a significant role in this transition. Finding opportunities for improvements in the production and consumption of energy resources supports increased energy efficiency and lessens its impact on the environment. This study carried out a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to identify the energy demand and carbon footprint in the pro- duction of biopetroleum by hydrothermal liquefaction (LHT). The species Scenedesmus acutus (SC),Chlorella vulgaris (CV), and  Nannochloropsis granulata (NG) were considered for the comparison of three microalgae biomass production scenarios: high protein content (HP), high carbohydrate  (HC), and high lipid (HL). The reference flow was 1 kg of microalgae biomass in total processed solids in HTL. The ecoinvent™ 3.6 database and assessment methods for cumulative energy demand (CED) in megajoules (MJ) and global warming potential (IPCC-2021 – 100-year GWP) in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO_2eq ) were used in openLCA^® 1.11.0. The most favorable scenario was the NG- HL, which presented the lowest energy demand and carbon footprint, 19.1 MJ kg−1 and 0.85 kg CO_2eq /kg of biopetroleum, respectively. NG-HL achieved the highest biopetroleum yield, 68.3%m/m, with 42.1 MJ kg⁻¹ HHV. In addition, two sensitivity analyzes were developed, the first to obtain more realistic values from the literature regarding the cultivation time before harvesting and the second aimed at understanding the influence of heat demand on the HTL. The return on energy investment (EROI) ranged from 0.8 to 2.4 in the evaluated scenarios. The late harvest time considered in the sensitivity analysis increased the energy demand by 84% and the carbon footprint by 70% in NG-HL. In addition, the heat demand in the HTL is a key parameter in the energy and environmental performance of the biopetroleum, which ranged from -19–30% in the sensitivity analysis of the evaluated categories when changing from 5.9  MJ kg⁻1  in  HTL for 3 –10 MJ kg⁻¹. It has been shown that microalgae biomass for biopetroleum production using waste heat sources can reduce energy demand and carbon footprint. The approach proposed in this study supports decision-making in HTL based on biomass composition, growing time before harvest, and heat demand in HTL to reduce the energy demand and carbon footprint of microalgae bioproducts. Due to the need to optimize technical parameters, such as production efficiency and operating costs, the implementation of biopetroleum from microalgae in the supply chain faces challenges on a commercial scale, which reflects the need for further studies.

Chemical reactions do not present total conversion of raw materials, being important to recover and if possible, reuse them in the industrial process, to reduce emissions to the environment caused by unconverted substances that are discarded as solid waste, effluents or burning vapors.

This work aims at the operational optimization of the recovery process of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) from an air and nitrogen stream in a three-stage cooling system using condensers. VCM comes from the polymerization reaction of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is approximately 85% converted. The unconverted is routed to a system where it is recovered by condensation of the gas stream for later use as part of the initial charge of a new batch. The remaining gases are incinerated using natural gas as fuel.

To evaluate the system, the Aspen Plus® vs. software was used for thermodynamic modeling of the dew point equilibrium data in conjunction with data compiled from similar works in the literature. The validation of the simulation was performed on a set of data from a real PVC production unit, and the variables that influence the VCM condensation were identified by parametric sensitivity analysis, that allowed the optimization through the structuring of objective function.  

After the identification of possible optimizations to be implemented in the plant, a test plan was carried out that in a few months brought environmental and economical captures. The implemented improvement was the increase of the area's operation pressure, which facilitated the VCM condensation process by 7.5t in 3 months and that represented a reduction of 13t of CO₂ equivalent, besides the possibility of reducing 53t CO₂ equivalent in the year and a savings of R$ 75 thousand per year. 

For future studies, it is proposed a modification in the system to reduce the amount of nitrogen that it is sent to the monomer recovery system, consequently reducing the loss of VCM. The initial evaluation demonstrated that it is possible to capture 1,080t of CO₂ equivalent per year and a savings of R$ 1.6 million per year, so a more detailed evaluation from a technical and economic study is recommended.

The isomer compounds isobutyraldehyde and butyraldehyde that are formed in hydroformylation and present water in the mixture, need separated in a distillation column for the production of oxo-alcohols. These aldehydes in mixture with water present a highly non-ideal behavior, with azeotrope point and formation of second liquid phase. These characteristics significantly affect the distillation process, making it difficult to obtain a configuration with lower energy consumption without a more detailed study. The understanding of what happens with the distillation column and obtaining the best configuration that results in the lowest energy consumption, was done through simulation of the column with real data from an industrial plant, followed by a sensitivity analysis and optimization with response surface methodology. The simulation used NRTL thermodynamic model with Redlich-Kwong, obtaining satisfactory deviations for thermodynamic validation and the distillation column separation process, which was made for low and high production, the latter being the routine process of the industrial plant studied. The column efficiency per rectifying and stripping section were respectively 66.66% and 59.24% for low production followed by 65.60% and 54.41% for high production. The problems caused by the high presence of water in the column, such as Ross type foaming and temperature deviation of the sensitive tray, can be reduced or eliminated by removing the second liquid phase generated in the condenser systems, which is predominantly composed of water. Lower temperatures in the condenser with removal of the second liquid phase, reduces the concentration of water in the rectifying section, especially at the column top, allowing a work with higher concentrations of water in the feed, however there is an increase in energy consumption. Higher concentrations of water in the feed, result in higher energy consumption, but also contributes to the separation of the compounds isobutyraldehyde and butyraldehyde, making it possible to adjust in the reflux ratio to obtain a final balance of lower energy consumption. In the optimization, the concentration of water in the feed obtained respectively was 1.00 wgt% and 0.97 wgt% to low and high production, followed by the temperature of the first condenser of 43.27°C and 46.36°C as the best configuration for these two variables with total removal of the second liquid phase. The low production did not obtain significant results in energy consumption, due to its high reflux ratio value, but reduced 7.37% of this reflux ratio, with the final value of 25.70. However, for high production, it obtained a saving of 5.06% of energy consumption, reducing by 7.99% the reflux ratio, with the final value of 19.48. This reduction of the reflux ratio to obtain the same concentrations of the aldehyde compounds, provided an increase in the production capacity of the column by 8.51%.

The abundant availability of biodiesel-based glycerol presents an economic opportunity for its use as a low-cost raw material to produce high-value chemicals. 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) is a specialty chemical of commercial interest in the production of high-performance polymers and is obtained from glucose through an industrial biotechnological process. The use of glycerol allows for the expansion of 1,3-PDO applications, leading to increased commercial competitiveness. In this context, this work evaluates the current market and growth prospects for glycerol and 1,3-PDO and proposes a new process for producing 1,3-PDO through the hydrogenolysis of glycerol using a Pt-S/MMT catalyst, followed by a comparative technical and economic feasibility study (TEFS) and a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) with a representation of the existing commercial biotechnological process. The catalytic route was developed using the Aspen Plus® software, and the LCA was performed based on the Ecoinvent database and simulated by SimaPro®. The TRACI and Environment Footprint methods were used to evaluate environmental impacts. The proposed catalytic route yielded better results than the biotechnological route, both from an economic and environmental perspective. The proposed route demonstrates cost-effectiveness and competitiveness compared to the biotechnological route. It achieved a net present value to investment ratio (NPV/INV) of 2.03, an internal rate of return (IRR) of 38%, and a 1,3-PDO production cost 18% lower than that of the biotechnological route. This is mainly due to the lower investment required for constructing the new plant and lower energy demand during operation. The proposed catalytic route resulted in reduced environmental impacts, particularly in terms of ecotoxicity, fossil fuel scarcity, and water usage, compared to the biotechnological route. The environmental benefits in these categories are attributed to the lower consumption of natural gas and water. The purification of glycerol was identified as the process step with the highest contribution to environmental impacts, primarily due to the use of NaOH as a homogeneous catalyst in biodiesel production and glycerol purification. Substituting it with a heterogeneous catalyst such as zeolite Y can increase process yield and reduce environmental impacts during glycerol separation, significantly reducing the amount of waste generated. The process of obtaining 1,3-PDO from glycerol is scalable and can represent a competitive route alongside commercial biotechnological production, which makes the product into a commodity.

Produced water (PW) is an effluent from petroleum extraction. Along with the growth of this exploration, there is an increase in the environmental concern of the responsible bodies, especially in relation to the quality of wastewater discarded from this type of activity, which brings two major problems: its composition, as it has a high oils and greases content (OGC) and salinity, and its expressive volume. Such characteristics make its final disposal difficult, making it necessary to properly manage the PW, that is, to apply actions such as characterization, treatment, disposal, or reinjection. This study proposes a treatment of produced water using microemulsions (ME) with surfactants of vegetable origin, with the objective of reducing two main factors, OGC and salinity. The decision to use of surfactants of vegetable origin as an alternative to a petroleum-based surfactant was made to reduce the negative effects of the overall process on the environment. Coconut soap, the surfactant used in the formulated ME, was selected after testing a variety of surfactants of vegetable origin. The other components used in the ME formulation were 2-butanol, as co-surfactant (C), hexane as oil phase and 2% NaCl saline water as aqueous phase. The ME point used in the water treatment was defined by planning the D-optimal mixture, composed of 85% C/S, 2.5% oil phase and 12.5% water phase, with a C/S ratio of 4. In addition, a full factorial experimental design was used with combinations of three variables (time, temperature, and percentage of microemulsion) and repetition of the central point to select the greatest reduction in OGC and salinity and the best conditions were applied in the real produced water. According to the results, the OGC reduction values ranged from 90.97 to 97.78%, the actual values ranged from 14.33 to 3.52 mg/L. These values are within the limits established by environmental agencies, CONAMA, US EPA and OSPAR Commission, for the disposal of produced water at sea. In addition, the salinity reduction ranged from 44.37 to 52.17%, the actual values ranged from 31660.35 to 27221.19 mg/L. The reduction of the salinity of the produced synthetic water treated with microemulsion in this work presented better results when compared to the literature that used ME with non-biodegradable surfactant based on petroleum in its composition. As for real produced water (RPW), the reduction in OGC was very significant, going from 138.95 mg/L to 12.54 mg/L on average, reaching a reduction of 90.98%. The RPW salinity reduction was also quite significant, going from 49376.47 to 25905.88 mg/L, thus obtaining a salinity reduction of 47.53%. Therefore, it can be said that the use of a biodegradable vegetable oil-based surfactant in the microemulsion formulation for the treatment of produced water is as effective in reducing OGC and salinity as petroleum-based surfactants, which are more harmful to the environment. environment.

The glucaric acid market could reach US$ 1.41 billion in 2028 due to the versatility of its applications in the food, personal care and pharmaceutical industries, among others. It is obtained directly from glucose or from gluconic acid, over heterogeneous catalysts. Gluconic acid has a market estimated at US$ 1.9 billion in 2028 and is used as an additive in the food industry, regulating acidity and in the cleaning products industry. In this work, a study of the market potential of gluconic and glucaric acids was carried out, a critical evaluation of heterogeneous catalysts, technologies and process operating conditions, having as raw material from glucose. The oxidation of glucose was evaluated in a single reaction step (one-pot) to glucaric acid and the partial oxidation in two steps, obtaining gluconic acid in the first step. It was found that gluconic acid can be easily obtained using catalysts containing Au as the active phase, supported on carbon materials or various oxides, reaching yields close to 100%, in a strongly basic medium (pH ≥ 9), and in mild temperature conditions. and pressure. The one-pot reaction of glucose to glucaric acid occurs over Pt-containing catalysts on various supports, at slightly basic pH (pH = 7.2), high oxygen partial pressures (PO2 ≥ 10 bar) and temperatures between 353 and 373K, with yields of up to 82%, with the formation of other acids of lower added value. It is suggested that the production process of glucaric acid may have greater yield and economy if two reactors are used in series, with the partial oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid in the first reactor and the reaction to obtain glucaric acid in the second reactor.

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel and, when of vegetable origin, works as an ally in capturing CO₂, arising from the burning of fuels. However, it is susceptible to contamination by air humidity, microorganisms, traces of metals and other impurities, altering its initial properties. For example, the use of degraded biodiesel in contact with metal parts and structures of automotive systems can cause corrosion. As a solution, additives with antioxidant and anticorrosive effects are added to improve the quality of this fuel. The effect of additives on the oxidative stability and corrosion resistance of metals in biodiesel has been widely investigated in academic literature, but there is limited information on the effect of additives of natural origin, from plant extracts, on increasing the corrosion resistance of metal in biodiesel. The present work aims to investigate the effect of multifunctional additives such as: extracts of rosemary, turmeric, ginger, stonebreaker and thyme, added to soy biodiesel (B100) in relation to corrosion and oxidative stability in contact with carbon steel ( AISI 1020) pure, coated with zinc by electrodeposition and the same coating immersed in oxalic acid. The effect of additives on the corrosion resistance of steel was evaluated by immersion tests in B100 at 25 °C, electrochemical tests, X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The study of additives on oxidative stability was carried out by obtaining the induction period (IP) using the Rancimat method. The results obtained indicate that the additives analyzed increase the oxidative stability of biodiesel, in addition to acting to inhibit corrosion. Turmeric extract was the best additive in relation to oxidative stability, causing a 92% increase in the biodiesel induction period. Regarding corrosion, the ginger extract was the one that presented the best performance in the general average, where for the steel substrate it obtained an increase of 55.8% in corrosion efficiency, in the steel with zinc coating it obtained 94% and with treatment in oxalic acid it obtained 95.6%. It is concluded that the effect of additives on oxidative stability and corrosion inhibition is related to the existence of oxygen and phenolic compounds present in the molecular structure of natural substances.

Zn-Ni alloys have been used to decrease the corrosion rate of carbon steel substrates. These are used in applications such as bolt coatings, threaded parts, swift valves for gas pipelines, aircraft landing gear, brake system components and others. Zn-Ni coatings containing nanocrystals of cellulose (CNC) obtained from sisal fiber (Sif), were manufactured using the electroplating technique. Obtaining the nanocrystals involved bleaching raw sisal fiber and then acid hydrolysis to extract the nanocrystals. The effect of the concentrations of the CNC-Sif (0 % V/V, 2% V/V, 3% V/V, and 4% V/V) on the morphology and microstructure of the Zn-Ni coating was analyzed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, and roughness measurements using confocal microscopy. The effect of the addition of CNC-Sif on the efficiency of galvanostatic deposition was analyzed. The corrosion rate through mass loss and electrochemical tests were also analyzed.  The effect of adding CNC-SIF on coating microhardness investigated. The results show that the addition of nanocrystals alters the structure, the morphology, increases current efficiency and the corrosion resistance of the Zn-Ni coating and these effects are more significant with the addition of 2% V/V. At this concentration, the addition of CNC-Sif decreased the roughness from 0.37 μm to 0.21 μm, the crystallite dimension from 57.4 nm to 48 nm, and increased the texture coefficient corresponding to the (330) γ plane of 75% to 96%. This elevation of the texture coefficient favors the packing density of the coating. Regarding the deposition current efficiency, it was observed that the addition 2% V/V of CNC-Sif increases the deposition current efficiency of the Zn-Ni coating from 85% to 93%. Furthermore, it was found that this concentration decreases the corrosion rate from 0.146 ± 0.021 mm/year to 0.036 ± 0.017 mm/year and increases polarization resistance from 1083 ± 173 Ohm to 3485 ± 324 Ohm. Regarding the analyzed mechanical property, it was found that the addition of the nanocrystals increases the microhardness of the coating, in the presence of 2% V/V of the CNC-Sif, from 238 ± 12 HV to 336.3 ± 32 HV. The results obtained indicate that the addition of the CNC-Sif in the Zn-Ni coating is promising, because it reduces the energy consumed during the electrodeposition process in addition to increasing corrosion resistance of the Zn-Ni coating and the microhardness.

This work aimed at the thermodynamic modeling of acid gases with ionic liquids using the SRK (Soave-Redlich-Kwong), CPA (Cubic-Plus-Association), and PC-SAFT (Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory) equations of state to be applied for removing acid gases present in natural gas. The literature has already proposed a methodology for parameterization of ionic liquids from density and speed of sound data using the GC-sPC-SAFT (Group Contribution Simplified Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory) equation of state. Wherefore, in this study, routines were developed in Python programming language for the parameterization of ionic liquids. Equilibrium studies with the SRK, CPA and PC-SAFT equations of state and ionic liquids with the Aspen Plus process simulator were not presented in the literature. In this work, implementations of new substances (ionic liquids) were carried out in Aspen Plus, to evaluate the equations of states present in the simulator and, thus, carry out studies with individualized ionic liquids and explore the equilibrium data with hydrocarbons and gases acids with the predictive equations and with the correlation of the binary interaction parameter. Hence, it was verified that the correlation of the density and speed of sound curves presented limitations to correct the slope of the curves of pure ionic liquids. Nonetheless, PC-SAFT with the 4C associative scheme demonstrated a better fit in the thermophysical properties, presenting for the [EMIM][TfO] deviations of 0.16% for density and 0.53% for speed of sound, while [OMIM][NTf2] was 0.07% for the density and 0.75% for the speed of sound. As for the prediction of phase equilibrium, for the ionic liquid [EMIM][TfO] with the two acid gases, the CPA with the associative scheme 2B presented the best results, as well as the PCSAFT with the scheme 1A with the CO2, and the CPA with Scheme 2B for the H2S. For binary systems, the parameterization of the two components must be considered, and it is also important to revisit the parameterization of the natural gas components when necessary. Correlatively, if all experimental equilibrium data are available, it is recommended to use the RK-Aspen model with excellent performance and less computational time.

Glycerol is an input that has applications as a raw material in different industrial processes. Its market size is estimated US$ 2.7 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach US$ 4.6 billion in 2028, growth connected to demands in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Glycerol is the main by-product of the biodiesel industry and due to the growth of biofuels plants, there is a surplus of glycerol in the market, causing its devaluation. An alternative to increase the added value of this product is to convert it into molecules with high added value in reactions such as the dehydration and hydrogenation, from which 1,2-PDO and 1,3-PDO can be obtained, respectively. Propanediols have wide application in textile, pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries.
In order to increase the conversion and selectivity of these processes, it is necessary to develop catalysts with great activity and that are stable in reaction conditions, increasing their viability on industrial scale. The catalytic solids used in these processes have acidic sites as active phases, which allow the dehydration of glycerol molecule, and metallic sites, where the hydrogenation step takes place. Pt and WO3 are bifunctional solids being widely applied in glycerol conversion to 1,3-PDO. This bimetallic phase is usually associated with other structures in order to provide greater stability and high surface area. SBA-15 is an example of a mesoporous material applied as catalytic support due its high surface area, thick pore walls, and provides good thermal and mechanical stability to the bonding materials.
In the present work, catalysts containing 2% Pt and 10% WO3 supported on SBA-15 were developed through sequential impregnation steps for each active species and by co-impregnation of the two species in in a single step. The main goal was to verify the influence of these methods on structural and textural properties through XRF, TGA/DTA, XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDS, Raman, textural analysis and pyridine FTIR techniques.
It was verified that the applied method was effective to promote the formation of ordered mesoporous hexagonal structure of SBA-15 and that after the impregnation steps the structure was maintained. XRD and Raman analyzes showed that the co-impregnation provided a better dispersion of WO3 species on SBA-15 surface and that the reduction process, for both methodologies, showed an improvement in metallic dispersion. For the co-impregnation method, there was also a smaller decrease in surface area. Ultimately, the better distribution of WO3 on SBA-15 surface resulted in greater formation of Bronsted acid sites for this method, with predominance of Lewis sites in the structure of the catalysts obtained by both methodologies.

Environmental regulations have intensified measures to reduce the sulfur content of gasoline, as sulfur oxides are generated after combustion, aggravating environmental and human health problems. The reduction of this gasoline contaminant can be done directly in the FCC by employing additives that perform in situ desulfurization. The FCC process is severely impacted by the deactivation of catalysts and additives, due to coke formation. This problem is circumvented with the cyclic regeneration of materials, through the combustion of coke, which requires kinetic data of its thermal decomposition to determine the parameters of temperature and residence time in the regenerator. Given the above, this work evaluated the activation energy required for the thermoxidation of coke, deposited on zeolite Beta modified with La and Zn, which are promising materials for the reduction of sulfur in gasoline range, and performed a comparison of the data with two commercial additives. The samples were deactivated, in an accelerated manner, with coke deposition by catalytic cracking of cyclohexane containing 2% sulfur, at a temperature of 500 °C and a space velocity of 0.02 s-1. Modifications of the Beta zeolite were carried out by incorporating 2% zinc and 2% lanthanum via wet impregnation. The synthesized materials were characterized with XRF, XRD, N2 physisorption and FTIR techniques, which indicated that there were no significant structural changes in the Beta zeolite after the modifications. The coke deactivated samples were analyzed by thermogravimetry, which showed that the reference zeolite Beta and the one modified with lanthanum obtained the highest and lowest deposited coke content, respectively. The Ozawa-Flynn-Wall method was applied for the kinetic study, which uses the data from the thermogravimetric analyses. It was found that the lowest activation energy for coke thermoxidation was found in the zeolite modified with lanthanum, while the unmodified Beta zeolite presented the highest value. The Raman spectroscopy analyses showed a direct relationship of the degree of graphitization with the activation energy of coke combustion, and the zeolite modified with lanthanum showed the lowest activation energy for combustion, indicating that the coke is more easily consumed during the regeneration of the catalyst in the FCC. 

The modeling of the pyrolysis process is very complex, considering that the pyrolysis products result from dozens of parallel, competitive and consecutive reactions. Consequently, it is practically impossible to determine the kinetics of the process. Faced with this complexity, some authors have modeled biomass in terms of its macro-components. In this work, we chose to model the particle. The innovation in modeling arose from the need to adapt to reality. The sisal residue has many extractives (+ 50%), and according to the macrocomponents, the extractives are not considered in the modeling. During modeling, the need for data inherent to the particle was observed: the kinetics of particle degradation and the behavior of density over time. The literature methods did not allow us to determine the kinetic parameters of degradation at the temperatures of interest (450°C and 500°C). For this, a procedure to determine the kinetic parameters was proposed. In this procedure, the reaction order was determined by the fit model, and then the pre-exponential factor and the activation energy were determined by the free models. In this way, we obtained the reaction order (3.14±0.15), the pre-exponential factors (6.34 E39 s-1 and 1.30 E56 s-1), and activation energies (528.96 kJ/mol and 794.04 kJ/mol), at temperatures of 450°C and 500°C, respectively. The density behavior versus time was obtained, being represented by the equations 1.4642×e^(-0.005×t) and 1.4642×e^(-0.006×t) for temperatures of 450°C and 500° C, respectively. Finally, a force and mass balance for the particle were implemented, in which the equations of relative velocity and radius in time were provided. Given this information, the residual mass of the particle and the residence time were calculated for the reaction temperatures (450°C and 500°C) and nitrogen flows (8m³/h, 11m³/h, 12.5m³/h, 14m³/h and 14.06m³/h). Data validation occurred by comparing the calculated and experimental values, which varied between 1.63% and 31.32% for the residual particle mass. Its average was 13.82%, a value considered acceptable in mathematical modeling, especially for the mathematical modeling of such a complex process.

Dimensionally stable anode electrodes (DSAs), made from a mixture of oxides, are electrochemical devices based on faradaic processes in alternating current to promote oxidation-reduction reactions. They are of great importance for industrial effluent treatment works. These electrodes are synthesized by some methods, and in this work the use of ionic liquids (LI) in the so-called sol-gel method. The use of (LI), especially protics, comes from the numerous advantages of these solvents, such as: low vapor pressure, highly formable, conductive even in anhydrous medium, being thermochemically stable over a wide temperature range, etc. The efficiency of the sol-gel method is linked to the solvent viscosity, and ILs have a wide viscosity window. The solution is prepared by using a dispersion of oxides in LI, where this solution is applied to the substrate, in this case, titanium, and then calcined at 800 K, and the process is repeated until mass stability is reached on the electrode. . Promising results were found when mainly the purity of the LI, and the results by micrography, where a large surface area was revealed, this related to the electrically active area of the electrodes. The electrochemical tests showed excellent results regarding the capacitances and amount of electrical charge on the electrodes, and the morphological factor. The impedance data are in agreement with the voltammetric data, the lifetime reached by the electrodes of this work are much higher when compared to the commercial electrode data. And it was proven that the use of ILs in electrode synthesis (DSA) by the sol-gel method is feasible, where the results were considered excellent.

So it was possible to complete this work successfully

The oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane in the presence of carbon dioxide is a promising route to obtain ethylene, an important industrial input and precursor to a wide range of chemicals, including polymers. This process has the advantage of using a greenhouse gas, in addition to increasing selectivity and decreasing the formation of carbon oxides (COx). Despite the advantages, there is still a demand for improving this system regarding the activity, yield and resistance to coke deposits over the catalysts. In this context, catalysts based on niobium oxide-supported nickel oxide and/or gallium oxide were developed. The effect of incorporating these metal oxides, in different concentrations (Ni(Ga)/Nb= 0.1; 0.2 and 0.4), on the textural and catalytic properties of niobium oxide support was evaluated. The samples were prepared by wet impregnation and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, specific surface area measurements, temperature programmed desorption of ammonia and temperature programmed desorption of carbon dioxide. Stable catalysts were obtained up to 1000 oC, made of niobium oxide (Nb2O5), nickel niobate (NiNb2O6) and nickel oxide (NiO), regardless the presence of gallium, in addition to catalysts based only on gallium oxide supported on oxide of nickel. No compound containing gallium was detected, which was associated with its high dispersion. Non-porous solids were produced with low specific surface areas, typical of metal oxides. The addition of nickel to the support did not change this parameter until the molar ratio Ni/Nb= 0.4, while gallium promoted a gradual increase in specific surface areas, with the content of this metal. The catalysts containing nickel and gallium showed intermediate values of specific surface areas, when compared to solids containing only one metal. All catalysts showed acid and/or basic sites, whose strength and quantity varied with nickel and/or gallium content. In general, gallium was more efficient than nickel in generating strong, weak and moderate acid sites. When present simultaneously in the solid, they favor the formation of moderate and strong acidic sites. In small quantities, gallium was more efficient than nickel in forming basic sites, when present alone in the solid, but when together, these metals created greater total amounts of sites, than nickel and smaller than gallium, suggesting an interaction between them. When together in the solid, weak sites are formed predominantly. However, higher amounts of nickel and/or gallium do not affect the basicity of niobium oxide. It was concluded that the acid-base properties can be tailored by the kind and content of the metals.

The efficiency of niobium oxide as catalytic support of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts (CoMo and NiW) has been investigated in the HDS of a model molecule representative of sulfur compounds present in FCC gasoline (3-methylthiophene: 3MT). Furthermore, textural and chemical characterization techniques have been performed in order to understand the different phenomena that could explain the experimental results obtained. From NH₃-TPD analysis it was observed an acidity profile with a predominance of weak/strong and weak/moderate acid for CoMo and NiW catalysts, respectively. Meanwhile, the BET analysis has shown a low specific surface area for the catalysts supported by niobium metal. Concerning the structure characteristic, the XRD analysis has suggested an amorphous phase in all catalysts analyzed.

The NiW/Nb₂O₅ catalyst presented a higher catalytic activity than CoMo/Nb₂O₅ calcined and non-calcined catalyst, with a lower ratio pentane/pentene when compared with the calcined CoMo/Nb₂O₅ catalyst, which implies a lower formation of hydrogenated products. Indeed, the activity order for the catalysts evaluated is: NiW/Nb₂O₅ > CoMo/Nb₂O₅ calcined support > CoMo/Nb₂O₅ non-calcined support.

 Many ionic liquids are considered a more ecofriendly alternative to organic solvents currently used, and yet have the advantage of being designable solvents, therefore the possible number of mixtures is considerably large. On the other hand, the availability of experimental data in literature is rather small. COSMO based models are, in general, predictive in nature, and involve the electronic distribution of molecules, determined by quantum calculations. Due to the prediction possibility, this type of model is indicated for use in the description of mixtures which contain ionic liquids. In this context, this study proposes an analysis of COSMO (Conductor-like Screening Model) based thermodynamic modelling for solid-liquid phase equilibria systems containing ionic liquids. The explored version in this study is the purely predictive COSMO-SAC. In such a model, the electronic configurations (σ-profiles) of components such as ionic liquids, solvents, biomolecules or hydrocarbons which may take part in the mixtures are generated using quantum chemistry, using ab-initio QM (HF+TZVP), or GAMESS software. Its performance and possible use for the screening of solvents to be used in extractive processes is henceforth evaluated. Thus, it is verified that, even though some systems could have their behavior appropriately predicted, even in a quantitative manner, many systems, on the other hand, presented calculated solubility deviations compared to experimentally obtained values of more than 100%.

Production water, also called produced water, is the effluent that stands out most among
those from the oil and gas industry that contains a large amount of contaminants and needs
to be treated, due to the harmful effects it causes to the environment. This effluent
contains salts, organic compounds, gases and heavy metals. Moringa is a plant native to
India and the carbon obtained from burning results in a low-cost adsorbent and interesting
properties for the separation of organics. The present work aimed to develop modified
activated carbon based on moringa that associated with the use of the Fenton process was
used to remove organic compounds from the produced water. The activated carbon was
obtained through the processes of pyrolysis and chemical activation, and used in the
process of adsorption of the organic compounds of the produced water, being followed
by the Fenton process. The adsorption was designed to reduce the content of oils and
greases (TOG). The Fenton process, in turn, aimed to degrade the remaining organic load.
The experiments were carried out with effluent prepared in the laboratory from the
dispersion of crude oil in saline solution. The initial TOG adopted in the model effluent
was 300 mg L^-1, based on the average TOG of the effluent in the processing units of the
SE/AL basin. The adsorption process was individually studied in batch using activated
carbon from the pod (CV) and seed (CS) of the raw oil moringa, and modified with iron
and copper. The impregnation of activated carbon with metal aimed to increase the
adsorption efficiency. Then, the effluent from the best condition of these processes was
tested under different conditions of the Fenton, varying the concentration of H₂O₂ e Fe²⁺. The developed activated carbon was characterized by analyzing the surface area,
SEM, thermogravimetry, XRD, FTIR, elemental analysis and Boehm method. The
modification of activated carbon with metals was successful, with SEM and FTIR
demonstrating that the nanoparticles were retained in the developed material and the
Boehm method confirming that the impregnation changed the surface groups. The
adsorption studies revealed that the activated carbon from the iron-modified seed was the
adsorbent with the highest adsorption capacity, effectively removing 93,1% of TOG from
the produced water. The combination of the adsorption and Fenton processes removed
99,83% of the TOG from the model AP.

The search for a cure for malaria led researchers to find artemisinin (ART) in a Chinese plant (Artemisia annua L.) in the early 1970s. This compound is a sesquiterpenoid lactone peroxide known for its potent antimalarial activity, a disease that affects 216 million people today. However, conventional ART extraction has high cost and low efficiency, and its low solubility in water is considered a strong obstacle to its wide use. Hydrotropes are a class of compounds with the ability to increase the solubility of hydrophobic solutes in aqueous solutions considerably. Recently, ionic liquids (ILs) have been reported as a promising class of hydrotropes capable of increasing the solubility of various hydrophobic compounds in an aqueous solution. Thus, hydrotropic solutions with ILs can contribute not only to improve the efficiency of extracting ART from natural sources but also to increase its bioavailability. In this context, the main objective of the thesis is to propose a method of extracting ART that uses aqueous solutions of ILs, or salts, as alternative solvents. First, the impact of the chemical structures of ILs, namely the nature of the anion and cation, and their concentration on the solubility of ART in water was evaluated. For this, the solubility of ART was determined in several aqueous solutions of ILs/salts at different concentrations at 30 ºC. The results obtained so far clearly demonstrate the exceptional ability of ILs to increase the solubility of ART in aqueous media, which is compared to that obtained with the use of organic solvents. The maximum solubility value varied, in the different systems, between 2.5 and 750 times the solubility value of pure water, the maximum being reached with sodium salycilate. In addition, solvatochromic parameters of the investigated aqueous solutions of ILs were determined to correlate the solvent properties with the ART solubility data and study the hydrotropy phenomenon. After proving the IL and salt hydrotropic power, the response surface methodology was used to optimize the operational extraction conditions (extraction time, hydrotrope concentration, and temperature), leading to a maximum ART extraction yield of 0.68% by weight of dry leaves of Artemisia annua L.. Finally, the antimalarial activity of the extracts was determined and confirmed.

Despite the variety of renewable energy sources today, fossil sources are still the main sources in the world. The growth in oil production that favors the stability of the economy through positive impacts on the social, scientific and technological sector is the same that presents serious risks to the environment and consequently to human health. The oil spill catastrophe that recently occurred on the Brazilian coast serves as an alert for the development of research that contemplates the prevention of environmental accidents, mainly the development of biotechnological processes and products for cleaning marine environments. Thus, the use of natural sorbents to remedy impacted areas has been a promising alternative, since they are biodegradable and available in nature. Therefore, this work aims to compare the use of residual coconut fibers (Cocos nucifera L.) in natura and pretreated with Practical Ionic Liquid (LIP) [2-HEA] [Ac] and by mercerization / acetylation for remediation petroleum spilled in the marine environment, using a hydrodynamic simulation on a laboratory scale. The chemical pretreatments (traditional methods: mercerization / acetylation and innovative: with LIP), the characterization of the fibers (in natura and treated) were carried out using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FITR) , and in the kinetics and sorption balance tests using Campos Basin oil and artificial saline water. It was found that the morphological structure of the fibers treated with LIP had a greater amount of pores and that the mercerized / acetylated fibers had a rougher surface when compared to fibers in natura. As for the sorption kinetics, it was possible to observe that time does not influence sorption, requiring a short contact time between the adsorbent and the adsorbent for biosorption to occur. The kinetic model that best fitted the experimental data was the pseudo-second order, indicating that the limiting step in the process is chemorsorption. In addition, the biosorbents entered into a sorption equilibrium from 6.0 mL of oil spilled in 94.0 mL of saline water. The experimental data showed a greater correlation with the data from the Sips model for all fibers studied, indicating that the adsorption is reduced to the Freundlich isotherm (multilayer) in low oil concentrations and to Langmuir (monolayer) in high concentrations. Finally, fibers treated with LIP adsorbed 25.5% (5.37 g / g) more than fibers in natura (4.00 g / g) and 20.5% more than mercerized / acetylated fibers (4.27 g / g). Based on these results, it can be said that treated fibers have a greater capacity to adsorb oil than fibers in natura, and fibers treated with LIP have greater sorption capacity compared to conventionally treated fibers, which can be used in oil spills.

The use of organic compounds as an additive to improve corrosion protection of carbon steel has been gaining ground, especially in electroplating. In order to improve corrosion protection using Ni and Ni-Mo deposits, the present work describes an investigation of the addition of glycerol fractions (0.0; 0.07; 0.27; 0.82 mol.L^-1) on AISI 1020 carbon steel in acidic (0.5 mol.L^-1 NaCl) and basic (0.5 mol.L^-1 NaOH) medium at times of 24, 48 and 72 hours. The addition of glycerol has a positive effect on the deposition efficiency of Ni and Ni-0.3Mo, as well as reducing the energy consumption spent in the process, or which is interesting in industrial application. In corrosion analysis, the corrosion rate in NaCl and NaOH medium is observed, the reduction in corrosion rate occurs as the amount of glycerol increases for Ni and Ni-Mo deposition. Confirmation of the study is corroborated by the polarization curves, where it is possible to observe larger polarizations to the values of 0.82 mol.L^-1, and by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Despite the reduction in microhardness provided by glycerol, the expressive results of corrosion resistance suggest non-friction environments, this application is valid. The morphology of the deposits was loaded with XRD, roughness and SEM techniques, which is noted as an increase in roughness for Ni bath and a decrease for Ni-0.3Mo. This difference can be expressed by SEM, where the Ni bath apparently overlaps the deposit predominantly by the structures (111) and (200) and the reduction for the Ni-0.3Mo bath is observed by the reduction of vacations that occur. SEM presented as glycerol is increased, mainly due to Mo structure (313). It is noteworthy that although glycerol influences different shapes in the baths, a corrosion resistance is improved, regardless of the corrosion in the medium.

Wax deposition in pipelines is a recurring problem in the oil industry which has gained even more relevance with the growth of offshore production in deep environments. Therefore, several studies have been conducted aiming at a better understanding of such phenomenon, as well as to provide estimates regarding the precipitate layer. Information such as this can be useful to support the decision-making process related to pipelines and production units. However, the study of wax deposition is strongly dependent on the performance of experiments, which are often costly and may make the analysis unfeasible. As an alternative to test-dependent methodologies, we have developed a model for estimating the thickness of the deposited wax layer. By combining a solubility equation with a one-dimensional and steady-state thermal model, we were able to obtain thickness values with deviations below 3% for a cylindrical shape. The results for a square duct showed that the model is not able to represent the gradual growth of deposits. The obtained data enabled the development of a significant statistical model, in which the temperature was the most determinant variable in the process, regarding the conditions under analysis.

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been outstanding in many industrial applications due to their interesting properties, such as its designability, good solubility in organic and inorganic compounds, moderate surface tension, low vapor pressure, thermal and chemical stability. In biodiesel production, aprotic ionic liquids (AILs) are normally used as catalysts. For this purpose, considerable amounts of this compound must be used in the reaction, as well as higher temperatures and methanol:oil molar ratio are required, increasing the costs of production. Protic ionic liquids (PILs) when compared to AILs are less expensive, less toxic and have simpler synthesis. Some of these compounds can be synthesized with the presence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups in their structure, presenting surfactant characteristics, therefore, promoting the interfacial tension reduction. Exploring its surfactant activity, low concentrations can be applied in the transesterification reaction of vegetable oils with the advantage of improving the immiscible phases (alcohol and oil) contact, increasing the reaction rate and the biodiesel yield. In the literature, few scientific studies have investigated the application of PILs as co-solvent in the alkaline transesterification of oils or fats. Generally, ILs are used in enzymatic catalysis processes in order to preserve biocatalysts and, for this purpose, AILs are preferred. Thus, this study evaluates the use of the protic ionic liquid diethylenetriammonium hexanoate ([DETA][Hx]) as co-solvent in the homogeneous alkaline reaction of soybean oil and methanol for biodiesel production. A factorial design of 2 independent variables was performed to evaluate the effects generated on the biodiesel yield by the variation of the concentration of [DETA][Hx] and the reaction time. The statistical analysis showed that the use of small amounts of co-solvent is enough to increase the yield in 5.10%, reaching 97.06% with only 3% w/w of [DETA][Hx] in the reaction medium in 30 minutes. In the second stage, cascade experiments were carried out to obtain the optimum point of biodiesel production, whose mass yield was 99.53%. The optimal reaction conditions were achieved under 2.0% (w/w) of PIL [DETA][Hx], methanol:oil molar ratio of 7:1, 1.0% KOH as catalyst, 30 °C and 10 min reaction. The results demonstrate that the application of PIL [DETA][Hx] as a co-solvent was promising, as it promotes the reduction of the interfacial tension between the phases, improves the reagents solubility in milder reaction conditions and consequently increases the mass yield. The biodiesel produced at the optimum point was characterized to verify compliance with the specifications of ANP Resolution No. 45/2014, ASTM D6751 and EN 14214.

This work proposes to obtain information on the use of nanofluids as the coolant in the plate heat exchanger, using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), since there is a need for studies on the performance of these systems. ANSYS Fluent CFD software was used, whose simulation strategy is finite volume methods. With this tool, 3D simulation of a plate heat exchanger operating with Al2O3 nanofluid was made in selected 2%, 3%, and 4% in the volume of solution as a coolant and pure water as hot fluid. An analysis was also carried out for different coolant fluxes, ranging from 2 lpm to 5 lpm. Additionally, an analysis with the plate corrugation angle at 30º and 60º were run. Validation was made obtaining a good approximation, about 90% accuracy, in relation to the heat transfer coefficient  experimentally in previous studies of Pandey e Nema (2012), which was the use of the values for construction of geometry and operation test. The use of nanofluids at higher concentrations, up to 4%, that was analyzed in the heat exchanger, shows a good influence on the thermal unemployment. The angles of 30º and 60º present between the plates also promote better heat exchanger performance when compared to geometry without angulation. The flow variations of the nanofluid must take into account the pressure drop adequate for the process in which the heat exchanger is applied since the increase in flow gives a significant increase in pressure drop.

With the estimated increase in oil demand for the coming decades, the need for exploration of unconventional areas intensifies, and associated with them, given the high exploration costs, the need to improve available technologies. In this sense, in the last decade, the application of nanoparticles for the improvement of drilling fluids has intensified. In this scenario, montmorillonite nanoclays and xanthan gums were little explored for the development of nanofluids. For this work, the influence of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic montmorillonite nanoclays on the rheological parameters of xanthan solution containg sodium and calcium chlorides was verified. For that, the experimental analysis for each clay was divided. For hydrophobic clay, nanoclay was first characterized with XRF, XRD and TGA; then, a complete factorial design 2⁴ was adopted, varying the concentrations of nanoclay, xanthan, sodium and calcium chlorides; thirdly, a Doehlert Matrix of the 7x5x3 type was adopted, varying the concentrations of nanoclay, xanthan and temperature, with the concentrations of the constant salts; fourth, the dispersion of the mixtures was evaluated with differing rheological parameters and respective Conductivity and Zeta Potentials. For hydrophilic clay, the clay was also primarily characterized by DRX, FRX and TGA. Then, under one-dimensional experimental planning in triplicate, it was evaluated: the influence of the variation in the concentration of nanoclay on the rheology of the solution, keeping the salt and xanthan concentrations constant; then, the influence of temperature and then the hydration time on the rheology of the mixture, keeping the concentrations of the components constant; finally, the interaction of the particles of the mixture through the Electrical Conductivity and the Zeta Potential, varying the concentration of nanoclay and hydration time. It was concluded, for hydrophobic clay, that the interactions between the components of the mixture do not stabilize; the temperature, the salts have no significant influence on the rheology of the mixture; nano clay in concentrations not exceeding 5% (m/v) interacts with the Minimum Shear Stress; the rheological parameters stabilize after 96h of hydration. As for hydrophilic clay, there is an improvement in the rheology of xanthan solutions for certain concentrations of nanoclay; the addition of nanoclay favors rheology in the xanthan mixture with increasing temperature; and the hydration time does not significantly affect the nanofluid rheology; that there is interaction between nanoclay and xanthan.

The present study relates hydrodynamic data in a gaseous absorption column with glass Raschig rings. The objective of this study is the application of the column for the treatment of gases, as volatile organic compounds, describing the pressure drop behavior and parameter definitions for this application. For the analysis of these hydrodynamic parameters, a liquid-gas (water-air) system was studied, using Ergun's correlation for the dry bed test and the Prahl method for the wet bed test. With this system, the optimum operational conditions were determined (inlet flows of the liquid and gas phases). To compare the Prahl's method, a dimensional analysis of the column was performed, where an empirical equation was obtained to determine the pressure drop, where it was possible to have an average decrease in errors of 15%. Still on the hydrodynamic tests, it was possible to identify the flood point and the load point, and they are located between the molar air flow rates between 3.0 and 4.0 L / min, in all tests based on the method developed by Bianchini (2018). Three operating regions are determined and the critical point of operation, where the pressure difference in the column stabilizes. Finally, an empirical model was developed in order to correlate the pressure drop in the column with the operational parameters. After all hydrodynamic analysis, the experimental regions were determined using the response surface methodology (MSR) used in this process to evaluate the factors that influence the response variable of acetone concentration in water. Thus, a fractional statistical planning was carried out, plus three repetitions at the central point (PC), totaling 19 experiments, with the flow of the light phase (Qd), the flow of the heavy phase (Qc), temperature (T) and time (t) considered as independent variables. The response surface methodology, brought fundamental information that helped in the understanding of the operation's learning absorption process, as an example the significant profile of the interaction of the variables Qd and Qc, presenting a bigger jump, in comparison to the other combinations, of values of concentration, going from 0.002 g / g to approximately 0.005 g / g. Thus, by compiling the hydrodynamic study information together with the data obtained in the mass transfer used as the basis for collecting column behavior information, the future gas treatment project can be continued, as foreseen in the general research project.

Pollution of the environment by industrial effluents has been increased in the last decades, becoming a serious social and environmental problem. Frequently produced effluents contain toxic and biologically refractory pollutants, which are not removed by conventional treatment systems such as coagulation / flocculation, activated carbon adsorption, precipitation and biological degradation. Nanostructured or nanoporous porous materials have deserved prominence in the area of molecular separation, catalysis and gas sensing due to their high surface area, high porosity and regular distribution of pore size. Among the nanostructured materials, titanium dioxide-based nanostructures are worthy of note, given their outstanding characteristics, such as chemical stability, non-toxicity, low cost and high efficiency. In this work, we intend to evaluate the photocatalytic potential of nanostructures based on titanium dioxide in the degradation of anthracene, in a bench lake. In this way, titanium dioxide nanoestructures (TiO₂ P25 and TiO₂ sol-gel) were prepared, using alkaline hydrothermal synthesis at 120°C. To optimize the synthesis parameters, samples were synthesized at three different times. As a result of this, first phase of the work, the effects of the precursor and duration of the heat treatment on the photocatalytic properties of nanostructures. The catalysts obtained were characterized by FTIR, XRD, UV, MET and SEM, in order to investigate the properties of the materials produced and to define the most suitable treatment time to proceed in the next phases of the work. The results for the hydrothermal treatment time of 24 h showed a diameter of about 22.5 to 15.5 nm and tube length in the range of 230 and 557 nm respectively for the sol-gel precursor. This definition was important because the results show that the catalysts produced canbe applied in the photocatalytic process for the degradation of organic pollutants. However, other techniques will be evaluated to conclude and define the best time to be used, as well as the precursor.. In the other phases of the work, metal was impregnated for the nanostructures formed in the time of 24 h, then photocatalytic tests were performed in suspension and the material characterized by the same techniques. Finally, the catalysts that presented the best photocatalytic performance were immobilized in latex membrane, tested in the anthracene degradation reaction and also characterized by UV, TG and XRD techniques. The results show, for all phases, that the nanostructures formed from the precursor based on s-TiO2(solgel) showed a better photocatalytic activity, when compared with the nanostructures formed from the precursor p-TiO2( Commercial). This result can be clarified with the decrease of the bandgap facilitating the migration of electrons from the valence bankroll to the conduction band during the reactions, making the reaction time shorter and more efficient. Other techniques presented in chapter 4 of this paper confirm this result.

The increase in the xylitol demand in the food and pharmaceutical market, as well as the possibility of its use as a raw material of renewable origin to form other compounds of interest, such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, lactic acid, furans, among others, have motivated an increase in research to obtain this polyalcohol. Industrially, xylitol is produced by catalytic hydrogenation of xylose, in the presence of a metallic catalyst and under high temperature and pressure of H2. The use of biomass residues as a source of xylose, and the obtaining of xylitol through consecutive reactions in a single reactor allows greater economic competitiveness. In this work, the production of xylitol from pure xylose and fresh corncob was studied, since this residue has a high xylose content (31%), low cost, and high availability. The acid hydrolysis step was optimized, reaching 93% in the percentage of xylose extraction working at 140 ºC, 1.3% H2SO4 for 5 min. The best hydrogenation conditions were 0.1 g of 5% Ru/C, at 140 °C, and 600 rpm, reaching 98% xylitol yield, using a 5% Ru/C commercial catalyst. The hydrolytic hydrogenation of fresh corncob under mild conditions (H2SO4 0.5%, 140 °C, 2 Mpa H2) led to a xylitol yield of 70.8%. The process proved to be effective for the production of xylitol directly from the biomass residue, opening perspectives for reducing its production costs, and implementing the new process in a biorefinery.

The reservoirs, whose mechanisms have poor efficiency and consequently retain large amounts of hydrocarbons after the exhaustion of their natural energy, are potential candidates for the employment of several processes with the purpose of improving oil recovery. These processes are known as recovery methods and their objective is to interfere in the reservoir characteristics. Cyclic steam injection is an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method which is characterized by oil viscosity reduction after steam injection into the well. It´s composed by three stages (steam injection into the well, soaking and production), requiring workover operation for the injection system assembly and later, again, for the production system. Considering this problem, the ENGEPET, a Brazilian company, developed and patented the Cyclical Steam Injection and Pneumatic Artificial Lift (CSI/PAL), which has a lifting system BPZ (Type Z Pneumatic Pump) connected to the steam injection system, eliminating the workover operation need. Nevertheless, as in any thermal method, the heat introduced into the rock formation produces oil casing stress and deformation. In order to reduce this problem, the CSI/PAL system was modified, replacing the joint and thermal packer by a treated water flow used as a seal to control the casing temperature. In this context, the purpose of this work is to apply Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to study the thermal exchange between water and steam flows in the Cyclical Steam Injection and Pneumatic Artificial Lift with water seal (CSI/PAL/WS) system to control the wellbore casing temperature. In order to reduce computational effort, models were tested considering a thin interface between domains, axissimetry and well depth partitioning. The results obtained in the CFX software for superheated steam were compared with two other models developed in Matlab®, one considering the phase change of the saturated steam and the other considering phase change and pressure drop of the two-phase flow. In general, the results showed that the CFX is inadequate for the study of the system because it does not allow the modeling of the condensation and steam quality that are extremely important to the process. Furthermore, it has been found that the pressure drop didn’t influence significantly the temperature profile of the water and the steam

In recent years, the chemical industry has been demonstrating a growing interest in the use of renewable sources in the production of consumer goods. In this sense, lignocellulosic biomass, due to its characteristics and availability, can replace fossil sources such as petroleum. Biomass is the raw material for obtaining more complex molecules of high added value, called "platform molecules". Among these platform molecules, sorbitol is one that stands out and is used in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry. Sorbitol is the most prominent among polyols due to its widespread use in vitamin C production as a substitute for glucose and in the production of biopolymers. In industry, heterogeneous Ru/C or Ni-Raney catalysts are used for sorbitol production, although other supports have been tested, such as zeolites (ZSM5) and oxides (Al₂O₃). However, such supports present disadvantages such as high production costs and leaching properties with contamination of the product.

The present work aims to study Ru/Nb₂O₅ catalysts in different ruthenium contents and two morphological phases (amorphous and crystalline phase - TT phase) in the hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol. The catalytic supports were prepared from the hydrated niobium oxide and subjected to thermal treatment and subsequently impregnated with the RuCl₃ salt, obtaining different metallic loadings. The catalysts and supports were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ isotherm, specific surface area B.E.T. (Brunauer, Emmett and Teller) determination, pore volume B.J.H. (Barrett, Joyner and Halenda) determination,  temperature programmed reduction (TPR-H₂), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The precursors of the catalysts were reduced in a glass reactor at 250 °C for 3 h in H₂/N₂ flow (5%). Then, 500 mg of catalyst and a 10% (w/v) aqueous glucose solution were added to a Parr type batch reactor and evaluated under the operating conditions of 100 °C, 60 bar H₂ and 700 rpm for 4 h. The reaction products were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

It was found that the preparation of the catalysts by the wet impregnation method was effective to obtain the Ru loadings studied. Moreover, among the Ru loadings studied, 5% (w/w) catalyst presented the best results of conversion of glucose and yield in sorbitol. The phase change of the Nb₂O₅ support significantly affected the results of glucose conversion and selectivity to the desired product. For support in the amorphous phase, 52.5% conversion and 54.9% selectivity to sorbitol were obtained. For TT crystalline phase, the result was 84.6% conversion and 98% selectivity to the same product. The best performance was observed in the 5% Ru catalyst with crystalline phase support and it can be attributed to modifications in the textural properties of the material, such as the presence of larger pore diameters, which facilitate the transport of reagents to the active sites, as well as associated to the synergistic effect between Ru and niobium oxide with more ordered structure and oxide transition (TT phase) that allows greater interaction with the reagent.

Liquid-liquid extraction, or solvent extraction, is a unitary operation designed to separate one or more components from the insertion of a liquid phase that has more affinity with the components of interest. It is a technique used in various industrial process including the food industry, petrochemical and biochemical. Thus, the present work aims to investigate the operational parameters in the performance of a pulsed packed extraction column. For this, 30 runs were performed with aqueous acetic acid solution (solute) and 1-Butanol solution (solvent) in order to obtain concentration data in the extract and raffinate and with these data to calculate column efficiency and mass transfer coefficient. The Murphree (1925) and Kawase (1990) models were used to calculate the efficiency. The two models chosen for the efficiency calculation presented consistent values. For the calculation of the mass transfer coefficient, six different models were used: Plug Flow Model (PFM), Safari et al.(2012), Kister (1992), Torab-Mostaedi and Safdari (2009b), Diffusion Model and GhaffariTooran et al.(2009). Among these models, two did not present coherent values: Torab-Mostaedi and Safdari (2009b) and GhaffariTooran et al.(2009).With the analysis of the results it was noted that for both efficiency and mass transfer coefficient there was a positive influence. The flow ratio was the one that most influenced column efficiency, with a percentage increase of 33.57%. Finally, an empirical model was developed to correlate column efficiency with operational parameters. The equation showed good agreement with the Murphree equation, presenting an average deviation of 7.35%

In recent decades, heavy metal contamination of water bodies has become a serious environmental problem. Disposal of metal ions contaminated effluents, even in small quantities, can cause damage to humans, fauna, flora and microbiota, thus compromising the quality of life of the present ecosystem. Given this context, it is necessary to treat these effluents at environmentally acceptable levels. Nevertheless, a wash correction using biological surfactants, biosurfactants as an alternative technique to the methods used, as it is considered of low toxicity in the environment. Biosurfactants are surfactants of microbial origin that can capture metal ions through electronic interactions. The presence of distinct functional groups of different polarities in their molecules leads to a molecular interaction with metal charge, acting as a chelating agent and allowing the decontamination of soils and effluents. Biosurfactants offer several advantages over synthetic surfactants, including the possibility of production from renewable resources through fermentation. However, as commercial applications of biosurfactant run into its high cost of production. This can be attributed to the use of expensive nutrients and deficiencies in recovery and purification operations. To overcome these bottlenecks, agro-industrial waste is used as an alternative to the low cost substrate for biosurfactant production. From this perspective, the present work aims to evaluate the production of surfactin by Bacillus subtilis UFPEDA 86, using as a source of carbon or aqueous extract of papaya peel, as a way of reducing production costs and its application in the removal of copper and iron ions. in a synthetic effluent. Submerged fermentation occurred in a bioreactor (37 ° C, 200 rpm, 0.5 vvm) for 144 hours. At regular time intervals, sizes were collected to perform the kinetic study. Cell growth, substrate consumption, surfactin production, medium pH, surface tension and Critical Micellar Concentration were analyzed. To evaluate the efficiency of surfactin that removes copper and iron metals, an experimental multivariate design was performed in the presence of crude and purified biosurfactant. Through the adsorption isotherms analyzed, it is possible to obtain biosurfactant in the adsorption of Cu and Fe metals. Among the results found, in 24 hours of cultivation, recorded and higher of biomass and product, of 2.17 g L^-1 and 2.88 g L^-1, respectively and with respect to the observed substrate 73% of the clean carbon source was consumed. There was no significant change in pH throughout cultivation, with values ranging from 5.58 to 6.83. The fermentative assays shown in Bacillus subtilis UFPEDA 86 are a good biosurfactant producer and extract papaya peel or a viable substrate for biosurfactant production by this strain. The biosurfactant produced presented Critical Micellar Concentration (CMC) of 20.73 mg.L^-1, which was able to reduce the surface tension of the water from 70.54 to 28.69 mN / m. Biosurfactant produced from papaya peel was able to adsorb Cu and Fe in its structure. Langmuir adsorption model can be adjusted for Cu and Fe, with the maximum adsorption capacity estimated at 10 and 5 mg.g^-1, respectively. The biosurfactant produced presented potential for use as adsorbent in the treatment of heavy metallic trapped effluents.

All Saints, is the largest bay in Brazil and despite the economic development generated,
carries a series of environmental impacts for local residents. Although the number of accidents is
low, ship traffic and refinery effluents have a significant negative impact on biota, introducing
contaminants such as oil and derivatives into the water. Removal of contaminants in water
efficiently has become an important issue today. Among the separations methods, it is an
adsorption process one of the effective types used for the remediation areas with spill petroleum
and its derivatives. Thus, the objective of this work is to investigate the adsorption of natural and
low-cost adsorbent, such as wild cane fiber (Gynerium Sagittatum) in the adsorption of
petroleum. Biomass was studied in raw form, acetylated and treated with [2HEA][Ac]. All the
images were scanned with thermogravimetric techniques (TG and DTG), scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and lignocellulosic
composition analysis. The adsorption tests were performed in thermostatic baths with fiber in the
three forms, varying the time for the kinetic study and the concentration of the adsorbate for the
equilibrium study. The kinetic study of oil adsorption allowed to identify that the raw reaches its
maximum adsorption capacity of 4.3 g of oil / g of adsorbent in 90 minutes, whereas the acetyled
and ionic liquid treated fibers require 30 minutes to reach maximum value of 3.5 g oil / g
adsorbent. The kinetic model that fit the experimental data was pseudo-second order. In the
adsorption equilibrium, the models that presented the best fit were Sips and Toth isotherms.

The large amounts of phenolic pollutants from several industrial sectors have led to increased water contamination, contributing to the increase of environmental problems. Advanced oxidative processes (POAs) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of these industrial effluents, especially the Fenton reaction. However, this process still shows several drawbacks, such as efficient and low cost catalysts. In the present work, catalysts based on iron oxides supported on activated carbon, obtained from palm residues, were prepared for the abatement of phenolic compounds in industrial effluents. The activated carbons were prepared by chemical activation, using sodium hydroxide, as an activating agent, in the ratio biomass / activating agent 1: 2, 1: 1, 2: 1 and 3: 1 and by physical activation, using water vapor as an activator at 600 and 800 ° C. The activated carbons were impregnated with an iron nitrate solution (5% iron by weight). The samples were characterized by thermogravimetry, infrared spectroscopy with Fourier transform, X-ray diffraction, measurement of specific surface area and porosity, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy and were evaluated for the oxidation of phenol by the Fenton reaction. In the catalysts obtained by chemical and physical activation, a mixture of magnetite and hematite was detected. Chemical activation led to the formation of activated meso and micropore carbons, while physical activation produced microporous carbons. Solids containing phenolic, alcoholic and carboxylic groups were obtained on their surface. It was observed that the method of preparation did not significantly influence the nature of the functional groups on the surface of the activated carbon. All catalysts obtained from chemical activation led to the highest removal of phenol, via Fenton's reaction. The catalyst prepared with the highest biomass / activating agent ratio (3: 1) led to the highest phenol conversion (100%) at the end of the reaction, however the catalyst prepared with the lowest biomass / agent ratio (1: 2), led conversion of phenol in a shorter reaction time. The catalysts obtained by physical activation proved to be inactive in the oxidation of phenol.

The advancement of petrochemical technology, specifically for the production of polymers, has brought many benefits to mankind. However, it is increasingly evident that the ecosystem is damaged as a result of the accumulation of nonbiodegradable plastic. For this problem, the possibility of developing other types of products, which present rheological characteristics similar to existing synthetic polymers, but which, at the same time, presents less resistance to degradation, are eliminated biologically as they are no longer useful. In this perspective, the present work aimed to develop and characterize reinforcing materials: cellulose nanoparticles (from different sources) nanoparticles of starch (by different methods) and amylopectin nanoparticles (with different times of hydrolysis) and to evaluate the effect of incorporation of these nanoparticles into films based on cassava starch and plasticized with glycerol. These particles at the nanoscale were characterized by: particle size distribution (DSL), Zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X - ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), infrared absorption spectroscopy Fourier transform (FTIR) and weighted average molecular weight - (HPLC-IR). The films obtained by the incorporation of the nanoparticles were characterized by: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical tensile tests, being evaluated the following properties: maximum tensile strength, stretching and Young's modulus. The starch nanoparticles obtained by ultrasound showed a smaller diameter (d = 70.97 ± 10.40 nm) than those obtained by acid hydrolysis (112 ± 12,04 nm), which were more crystalline (crystallinity index of 36% ). As for the cellulose nanoparticles, those extracted from the microcrystalline cellulose presented smaller dimensions (L = 79.11 ± 19.33 nm, d = 7.47 ± 2.12 nm) than those extracted from sisal (L = 266.05 ± 55.90, d = 11.36 ± 4.72 nm). Regardless of the source, the cellulose nanoparticles were more crystalline than the starch nanoparticles. In the mechanical tests it was observed that the cellulose nanoparticles significantly increased the tensile strength of the starch film by about 50%, whereas the starch nanoparticles obtained by ultrasound did not influence the elongation of the film. The amylopectin nanoparticles showed an inversely proportional yield to the hydrolysis time. Those obtained at the time of 36, 39 and 42 hours presented a more homogeneous size distribution. The 48 hour hydrolysis time generated amylopectin nanoparticles with the highest crystallinity index (33.18%). The weighted average molecular weight was reduced to 0.15 x 103 Da with 48 hours of amylopectin hydrolysis. The addition of the amylopectin nanoparticles obtained at the hydrolysis times of: 36, 39 and 42 hours in the starch films caused a significant mechanical reinforcing effect. The films added of hydrolysed nanoparticles for 42 hours presented the highest value of maximum tensile strength (22.50 ± 1.51 N) representing an increase of about 140% of this property compared to the control film. 

Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) is an alternative source of raw material for the manufacture of thermoplastic materials. This plant has a high starch content that can be obtained with high purity. The application of arrowroot native starch as a raw material in polymer production has shown interesting results despite some limitations due to its hydrophilic character. The high affinity for water is one of the characteristics of native starches that makes its processing and applications difficult. In these contexts, the present work aims to propose the chemical modification of arrowroot starch, through the esterification process, to obtain a partially hydrophobic material and the development of polymeric blends from modified starch and high density polyethylene (HDPE). ). The starches were modified from different process temperatures: ATC-40 (40° C), ACT-50 (50° C), ACT-60 (60° C), ACT-70 (70° C) and ACT- 80 (80° C). Modified starches were characterized by degree of substitution, thermal analysis, FTIR, XRD, RVA and SEM. From the characterizations it can be seen that the modification actually occurred, for the syntheses at temperature 40° C, 50° C, 60° C, 70° C and 80° C the degrees of substitution were respectively 0.31, 0 , 39, 0.53, 1.27 and 1.36. Then the blends were prepared from the acetylated starches and the HDPE by the extrusion process for pellet formation and thermo pressing for the evaluation of the mechanical properties. The obtained blends were characterized by thermal properties, tensile strength, specific deformation, modulus of elasticity and SEM. The mechanical characterization (tensile strength tests) showed that in addition to greater stiffness, the blend made from esterified arrowroot starch and HDPE also presented higher stress and strain values than the native starch formulation. arrowroot with HDPE. Based on the morphological characterizations (SEM), it was possible to verify that the formulation with the arrowroot modified starch presented a better interfacial adhesion with the HDPE matrix.

The sustainable reuse of lignocellulosic biomass based on the concept of biorefinery allows the development of bioproducts of high economic value. The banana cultivation, despite the short vegetative cycle, accumulates a large surplus in residues, available for reuse and rich in carbohydrates. These materials consist mainly of cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose. Cellulose is one of the products of most interest and when the hydrolyzate provides a fraction rich in hexoses, main feedstock to the hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) production. The furanic 2.5 dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a platform molecule that can be used in drug synthesis or as a substitute to the terephthalic acid, used for the production of polymers. The aim of this work is to evaluate the oxidation reaction of HMF in FDCA on platinum and ruthenium catalysts supported in materials of different chemical functionalities, employing the banana pseudostem (PB) as a source of HMF. The steps consist of the hexoses production from the PB pretreatment with 2% (w/v) NaOH at 80 °C for 1 h, followed by hydrolysis with 2% (v /v) H₂SO₄ at 200 °C for 2 h. PB before and after pretreatment was characterized by TGA/DTA, SEM, XRD and FT-IR. For the fructose dehydration in HMF was used Nb₂O₅ and NbOPO₄ catalyst in a batch reactor at 120 ° C for 2 h. The oxidation reaction of HMF in FDCA employed Pt and Ru metals supported on TiO₂, SiO₂ gel, commercial carbon (CA) and açaí seed carbon (CAK) at alkaline pH (pH = 9, NaHCO₃), 40 bar synthetic air, at 100 °C for 4 h. The reaction products were quantified by HPLC from previously constructed calibration curves. The catalysts were synthesized by wet impregnation with 5% metal content and characterized by FT-IR, SEM, XRD, TGA/DTA, Raman spectroscopy, N₂ isotherm, H¹-NMR, C¹³-NMR and XPS. In nature BP showed 22.7% cellulose, 19.08% hemicellulose and 17.2% lignin. Alkaline pretreatment removed 64.5% lignin and 78.3% hemicellulose, but preserved crystalline cellulose of type I (native). For this reason, acid hydrolysis led to the conversion of 37.5% of cellulose and 32.1% yield of fructose and glucose. The dehydration of fructose with NbOPO₄ catalyst showed higher yield in HMF 97.7% compared to 87.8% with Nb₂O₅, due to the higher presence of Brønsted acid sites. In the oxidation reaction the Pt catalysts showed a higher catalytic activity that Ru catalysts. The carbon supports showed a different contribution in the micro and mesoporous area and surface area, but with similar crystalline structure and thermal stability. Both carbon materials indicated the presence of hydroxyls, quinones and ether on the surface, but with different atomic ratios. The catalysts supported on CA showed higher mesoporous character and lower contribution of oxygenated functional groups (9%), which led to the blockage of sites by species adsorption. The micropores in the CAK catalysts associated with a larger amount of oxygenated groups (31%) and led to a higher FDCA yield. The Pt/CAK catalyst was the most active for this reaction with 100% HMF conversion and yields of 93.6% FDCA and 3.3% FFCA. The reaction occurred by the catalytic route of the HMFCA promoted by alkaline pH with the gem-diol formation. Functional groups, although not directing the route, facilitated the dehydrogenation of gem-diol and increased the yield in FDCA.

The global economic development continually demands the use of energy resources, among which various types of oils are widely used. Despite their undeniable economic importance, accidents during the production, transport and use of these resources occur frequently and lead to serious damage to the environment. Faced with this, the search for efficient and low-cost mitigating measures is recurrent. In this context, techniques that use natural adsorbents, such as vegetable fibers, have been studied, since they combine efficiency, selectivity, low cost and sustainability. Numerous studies have been carried out using various types of fibers, natural or chemically treated. The interest in treating the fiber, in this case, lies in the fact of changing the chemical structure of the fiber, making it capable of sucking a larger mass of oil. However, the chemical agents used in traditional treatments have disadvantages such as toxicity, aggressiveness over fibers and high cost. In this scenario, the ionic liquids present as a new option of chemical treatment of fibers, highlighting low volatility, thermal stability, besides the possibility of adjustment of properties, such as polarity and miscibility. It is known that some factors govern the behavior of lignocellulosic biomass in ionic liquid. In this situation, this work will make a study of the best conditions of the treatment with ionic liquid and the chemical changes generated in the fiber, in addition to the interference in the sorption of oil. The liquid 2-hydroxy ethylammoniumacetate ([2HEA] [Ac]) was used to treat sisal, in which an experimental design was carried out to study the influence of temperature and liquid composition variables. Minimum and maximum values of these variables were tested (30ºC - 70ºC, 5% - 75%), besides the central point (50ºC and 40%). Then, sorption, kinetics and equilibrium tests were performed to evaluate the improvement in the oil adsorption efficiency of the treated fibers compared to the natural fibers. In addition, their chemical and physical structure was evaluated by characterization techniques, indicating the best treatment conditions for improvement in oil sorption performance. Thus, the technical viability of the treatment of sisal fiber by the ionic liquid 2-hydroxy ethyl ammonium acetate ([2HEA] [Ac] and its subsequent use in the adsorption of three types of oils were studied.

The thermal cracking furnaces are of great importance in the petrochemical chain, especially in the first and second generation sectors of this industrial branch. These sectors generate basic inputs for fibers, resins, plastics and chemicals. Its operation based on the breaking of large hydrocarbons, using for this great variations of pressure and temperature via chemical reaction of combustion. Aiming at a better understanding of this phenomenon for the purpose of variable prediction and optimization, this work aims to analyze the fluid dynamics of the combustion in the radiation section of a 1,2-dichloroethane thermal cracking furnace through the use of software ANSYS® CFX 13.0. The simulation based on the Eddy-Dissipation model for combustion, the k-ε model for turbulence and the comparison of results for four different models of radiation heat transfer: P1, Rosseland, DTM and Monte Carlo. The results indicate that the most suitable models are the P1 and DTM, when comparing the predictions of temperatures of these models with the data of the industrial equipment. In general, the model shows great potential for use in predictions of process variables, such as temperature, CO2 concentration, formed gas velocities and for the optimization of the optimum point of location of temperature measuring instruments.

Biosurfactants are surfactant compounds derived from microorganisms that offer several
advantages over synthetic surfactants, such as low toxicity, biodegradability, ecological
acceptability, stability to temperature, pH or salinity and the possibility of being produced
from renewable sources. Although interest in biosurfactants is increasing, these bioproducts
still not compete economically with synthetic surfactants because of the overall costs of their
production process. The use of low-cost agro-industrial waste therefore becomes an
interesting approach, since the substrate accounts for 10 to 30% of the total production cost.
In this study, the aqueous extracts produced from the papaya peels (Carica papaya L.) and the
passion fruit peels (Passiflora edulis L.) were used as low cost alternative substrates for
biosurfactant production by Bacillus subtilis UFPEDA 86 and the kinetic study of the cultures
were performed. In addition, the pH of the best result culture medium was corrected to
approximately 6.8 in order to analyze the influence of that variable on the biosurfactant
production. A medium using glucose as a carbon source was also used for comparative
purposes. The same tests were performed for the four cultures. The submerged culture was
performed on a shaker at 37 °C, 200 rpm for 96 h. Concentrations of biomass, substrate and
product, pH of the medium during cultivation, emulsification index, surface tension and
Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC) were analyzed. The strain adapted well to the
substrates produced from the papaya peels, without and with pH correction, but not so well to
the medium produced from the passion fruit peels. Using the broth produced from the papaya
peels without pH correction, the maximum cell concentration was 1.07 g.L-1 in 36 h, 72.38%
of substrate consumption, crude surfactin concentration of 1.82 g.L- 1, emulsification index
around 61.5%, 25.5% surface tension reduction and CMC of approximately 30 mg.L-1. Using
the broth produced from passion fruit peels, a maximum cell concentration of 0.14 g.L-1 was
obtained in 36 h, 5.75% of substrate consumption, 0.48 g.L-1 of crude surfactin, emulsification
index around of 54%, 17.4% of surface tension reduction and CMC around 70 mg.L-1. Using
the broth produced from the pH-corrected papaya peel, the maximum cell concentration was
1.14 g.L-1 in 24 h, 85% of substrate consumption, production of 2.16 g.L-1 of crude surfactin,
emulsification index of approximately 68.7%, reduction of surface tension of 32.5% and
CMC of approximately 30 mg.L-1. The papaya peel showed to be an effective substrate in the
biosurfactant productionby Bacillus subtilis UFPEDA 86 and the pH variable proved to be of
great importance in the process yield. The passion fruit peel was able to promote cell growth
and biosurfactant production, but the process needs to be improved to achieve better yields

Isomerization of xylenes is a catalytic process which aims to restore equilibrium between
isomers by converting the metaxylene and ethylbenzene reactants to the paraxylene and
orthoxylene products. The industrial environment has sought to make predictions of yields and
catalysts lifetime with greater assertiveness in order to increase the processes profitability.
Therefore, the knowledge of the catalyst irreversible activity losses behavior between stages of
operation or campaigns (PAI) is very important to determine the useful life of the catalyst and,
consequently, to improve the estimation of the economic viability to operate the unit, whether
with a new or an old kind of catalyst. The objective of this work is to evaluate the catalyst
deactivation behavior throughout and between the campaigns of a Xylene Isomerization Unit,
considering the existing data statistical analysis to carry out the prediction of new campaigns
and from these results, make an economic analysis to determine the optimum catalyst life time.
In order to reach this objective, the catalytic deactivation was first studied throughout the
campaign, treating the operational data throughout the catalyst load useful lifetime that
contemplated seven consecutive campaigns. The ethylbenzene conversion capacity (EBate)
was the variable that was most influenced by the catalytic activity loss and, therefore, was
chosen to determine the catalyst deactivation. Two models, one linear and one quadratic, were
developed empirically to represent the behavior of EBate, considering as variables the
accumulated feed flow, non-aromatic content in the unit feed, unit feed rate, hydrogen partial
pressure, concentration of ethylbenzene at the feed and outlet reactor temperature. The
quadratic model was the one that best represented the catalytic deactivation throughout the
campaign. The PAI was calculated from the comparison of the corrected EBate throughout the
campaign, with the same operating conditions for all the campaigns, using the quadratic
empirical models. Finally, an economical feasibility study was conducted to determine the
optimum catalyst life time considering the PAI and the 12-month campaign time. The
profitability index points to an operational return only for the catalyst life of 4 to 8 campaigns.
The optimum useful life was 7 campaigns, where the highest profitability index was obtained.

There is a worldwide trend of sulfur limits in gasoline reduction. Since 90% of gasoline sulfur comes from FCC products, several efforts are dedicated to reduce sulfur content advent from this unit. In Brazil, the solution found to meet specifications was hydrodesulfurization (HDS), with the installment of units in refineries. On the other hand, this additional process promotes octane number loss in gasoline, lowering quality, and increasing production costs. In catalytic cracking, a complex array of reactions occurs, which transform gasoil into high added value products such as LPG, gasoline, and diesel. An important reaction is that of hydrogen transfer because it allows the hydrogenation of unsaturated compounds that may or may not contain sulfur. Therefore, we have studied the catalytic cracking of thiophene on zinc-modified beta zeolites (SAR 18) as a probe molecule and hexane as hydrogen donor aiming at the abatement of sulfur compounds in the gasoline fraction, at the temperatures of 400 ºC and 500 ºC, with a space velocity of 0.83 s-1. The catalysts were prepared with different zinc contents through diffusional impregnation and cationic exchange. They were characterized by DRS, FRX, DRX, FTIR, XPS, N2 adsorption, and TPD-NH3. The catalysts were evaluated in a laboratory unit dedicated exclusively to sulfurized molecules transformation studies. The selectivity for hydrogen transfer reactions in n-hexane catalytic conversion, and zinc dehydrogenation and adsorption capacity demonstrated to be important catalytic properties for fuel desulfurization. The prepared catalysts promoted hexane conversion, and the selectivity to the formation of cracked compounds increased with the temperature increase from 400 ºC to 500 ºC. The catalysts with a higher Zn/Al ratio were more selective to the formation of unsaturated species, and a higher hydrogen transfer. In thiophene conversion, the main product was H2S. The increase in reactional temperature increased selectivity to hydrogenated products. The higher the ZnO/Zn+2 ratio in catalysts, the more undesirable alkylation products formed over H2S. The most selective catalysts for H2S formation were Zn/BEA (TC) and Zn/BEA (2%), at 500 oC, with a 95% selectivity.

This work investigated the effects on structural, morphological, thermal and mechanical properties when adding pure and modified cellulose nanowhiskers in polymeric matrix composed of polyesters synthesized from glycerol, phthalic acid and adipic acid. Variations of the dicarboxylic acids directly influenced physico-chemical and mechanical properties of the polyesters. Higher amounts of adipic acid produce polyesters with higher molecular organization and higher heat resistance. Higher amounts of phthalic acid result in stiffer polyesters. Characterizations of nanowhiskers and composites, demonstrated that the acetylation process influenced the physical-chemical and mechanical behavior of the materials. It was demonstrated through FTIR, XRD, MET, DSC and TG that the acetylation of nanoparticles modifies their crystallinity, thermal behavior, but maintains their structural integrity. The effectiveness of the acetylation was verified through the composition analysis of the nanoparticles in the composites, when compared to the series produced from pure nanowhiskers. Composites with acetylated nanowhiskers obtained different mechanical properties demonstrating regular behavior and reducing the effects of particle re-regulation.

PVC is the third most produced thermoplastic in the world when considering volume.
Due to this fact, much has been studied about it, continually seeking the most
productive and safer process.
The main production process of PVC is in suspension, employing batch reactors. In
them, the monomer MVC (vinyl monochloride), is polymerized in an aqueous medium
in the presence of initiators, dispersants and thermal stabilizers. The reactants are kept
under stirring, forming MVC droplets that are slowly converted to polymer particles.
The system then exits from a highly mobile liquid state into a viscous mixture. The
polymerization reaction is exothermic and, due to the increase in viscosity in the
polymer phase, there is a decrease in the mobility of the high-size radicals, causing
the slowing of the termination reaction. As the concentration of the radicals mentioned
increases, the propagation rate increases due to the self-acceleration of the
polymerization reaction. Consequently, a large amount of heat occurs into the reaction
medium, which is called the gel effect or the Tromsdorff-Norrish effect. The
consequence of this effect is the limitation of the reaction productivity, and may be
caused by the change in the reaction time or the reduction of the conversion. Studies
have been carried out on the issue of diffusion of the monomer in the polymerization
reactions and we have established the hypothesis that improving diffusion from the
first hours can minimize the consequences of the gel effect. The objective of this study
was to evaluate the factors that influence the increase of intraparticle MVC diffusion in
the suspension polymerization process of the monomer from the joint manipulation of
the stirring speed of the reaction mixture (VR) and the water added to the process
along of the reaction (ADa). The intraparticle diffusion was quantified indirectly by the
conversion and by the reaction time that were the responses obtained in this work. The
tests were performed in batch and pilot reactors .They had the objective of: to identify
in bench scale the critical point of stable particle formation; confirming on pilot scale
the effect of stirring, after the point of stable particle formation, on the particle
distribution; to evaluate in pilot scale the effect of agitation and injection of additional
water, after the point of stable particle formation, on reaction time and conversion;
define condition for the optimization of the pilot system and based on previous items
define improvements in the industrial plant. For the definition of the experiments, a
factorial design 22 was used. Subsequently, the tests were expanded using the DCCR
(Rotational Compound Central Design). For the evaluation of the influences of the
variables, the response surface methodology (RSM) was used. The tests proved the
original hypothesis showing that there was an improvement in the diffusion that was
caused by a higher agitation speed and a larger volume of additional ADa through an
increase in the conversion that generates increase of productivity. The variable that
most influenced the conversion was the linear plot VR, followed by the linear portion
of the additional AD variable, both with effects directly proportional to the conversion,
increasing the conversion by 3.01% and 2.27%, respectively.