Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Due to the importance of supercritical fluid technology (SFT) in different industries, it has been the subject of intense research in recent decades. Solubility is a key concept in SFT. In fact, obtaining knowledge about the theoretical concepts of solubility and related experimental measurement methods can be useful in developing and improving the quality of research in this field. This study reviews the fundamental knowledge of solubility in supercritical fluids and investigates the significant topics in this field, including high-pressure phase behavior, experimental measurement methods, modeling, and molecular simulation of solubility.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD) is a compound of great application for pharmaceutical and food industries, and is generally produced by starchy substrates by cyclomaltodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) action. The objective of this study was to produce β-CD using an alternative source of starch, such as jackfruit seed (Artocarpus intergrifolia L.) bran (JSB) by a commercial CGTase. The highest productivity of β-CD (52.10 µM/h.g) was obtained from 10 g of JSB in 100 mL of citrate buffer (10 mM / pH 6.0), with 17 % (v/v) of ethanol and 1.34 U/g of CGTase, at 59 °C for 4 hours. These same conditions were applied to starches extracted from the JSB (SJSB) and ginger (SG) and also, potato starch (SP). The SJSB and SG performances were similar to SP, and resulted in productivities around 2.7 times higher in relation to JSB. Thus, it is possible to conclude that both JSB and SJSB are promising substrates for β-CD production.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract We investigated the immobilization of a tetrameric Kluyveromyces lactis β-galactosidase (EC: 3.2.1.23) (KL-Gal) on Immobead 150 using different support modification strategies. Immobead support was modified using an acid solution of H2SO4:HNO3 (3:1) (Immobead-Ac) or 5 % (v/v) glutaraldehyde (Immobead-Glu). Its unmodified form (Immobead) was also tested. Immobilization yields and efficiencies were evaluated by testing protein loads from 10 to 200 mg.g-1 support. The thermal, physico-chemical, textural and catalytic properties of the supports (modified and unmodified) and their derivatives (Immobead-KL-Gal, Immobead-Ac-KL-Gal and Immobead-Glu-KL-Gal) were analyzed. The highest immobilization yields and efficiencies were achieved with a protein load of 100 mg.g-1 support. Surface and pore areas of the Immobead support were greatly decreased after modification. Michaelis constant of the immobilized β-galactosidase increased in the derivatives. Maximum velocity decreased approximately 2.8 times for Immobead-KL-Gal and Immobead-Glu-KL-Gal, and approximately 1.4 times for Immobead-Ac-KL-Gal. In batch processes, the three derivatives could be reused successfully at least 15 times, maintaining high residual enzymatic activity during the lactose hydrolysis (in both cheese whey and milk). The tetrameric K. lactis β-galactosidase immobilized on Immobead supports via the tested treatments was stabilized and is an alternative tool for lactose hydrolysis in the dairy industry.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This study assessed the effect of non-thermal plasma (NTP) on Nannochloropsis gaditana cell rupture and subsequent lipid extraction. Micrograph images showed that the surface of original N. gaditana cells appeared smooth and had no apparent holes, whereas after NTP the cells showed a non-uniform apparently fractured surface with many pores and large splits. Maximum lipid recovery from N. gaditana cells (~19%) for NTP-assisted rupture was observed at 10 min, similar to extraction after 10 min sonication (19.0%). The lipid recovery after both pretreatments (average 19.0%) was 2-fold higher than the control treatment (no pretreatment 9.5%). In addition, lipids from unruptured algal cells were mainly composed of ω-3polyunsaturated fatty acids (~31% of total fatty acids), while lipids after NTP were predominantly composed of saturated fatty acids (36.0% of total fatty acids), which could be advantageous for biodiesel production. This study demonstrates an alternative approach based on NTP-technology for algal cell rupture prior to lipid extraction with potential uses for algal biodiesel production.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Cantilever nanobiosensors have emerged as an alternative to conventional methods of analysis to monitor heavy metals, which are being highlighted by detecting substances at the micro and nanoscale through the use of sensor layers. In the present study, a new cantilever nanobiosensor was developed functionalized with urease enzyme by self-assembled monolayers for the detection of heavy metals (lead, nickel, cadmium, zinc, cobalt, and aluminum) in water. From the calibration curves, using the statistical method of Principal Component Analysis, it was possible to observe that the nanobiosensor was highly efficient in heavy metal discrimination. The nanobiosensor presented high sensitivity, good stability, and a detection limit in the ppb range during 30 days of storage. The surface characterization by scanning electron microscopy confirmed the cantilever functionalization and the sensing layer deposition. The cantilever nanobiosensor designs based on tensile surface stress measured by changes in voltage suggest the proposed mechanism of the adsorption of heavy metal by the urease enzyme. Thus, the cantilever nanobiosensor with urease enzyme was able to detect heavy metals in water and could be a promising tool for heavy metal detection.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Bio-oxidation leaching of refractory gold concentrate was carried out in a typical gas-liquid-solid three-phase stirred bioreactor. The bacteria, which adhered to solid particle surfaces and spread over the liquid phase, require sufficient oxygen and nutrient of carbon and nitrogen, and then the mass transfer rate should be considered. However, the mass transfer coefficient, which could be used to evaluate the mass transfer rate, was determined by gas holdup, bubble diameter and power consumption. Therefore, a three-phase Eulerian equation with k-ε turbulence model and additional models of two bubble diameter, a torque and a mass transfer coefficient were applied in the simulation. The simulation results were validated with experimental data and used to analyze the spatial distribution of the mass transfer coefficient. The results demonstrated that the simulation and experimental data of Sauter mean bubble diameter and power number were in good agreement and the simulation results of the mass transfer coefficient were agree with the values calculated by an empirical correlation. The Davoody model can be strongly recommended for further simulation of the bubble diameter, and the gas holdup and mass transfer coefficient were very unevenly distributed in the lower zone. Hence, the lower impeller clearance should be considered.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This study focuses on the coalescence of dimethyl disulfide drops with the mother phase at a flat aqueous-organic interface between dimethyl disulfide and different sodium hydroxide solutions. Drop coalescence is an important part of the Merox process for regenerating the solvent. A digital high-frame rate camera was used for recording drops coalescence and duration time. Drops of dimethyl disulfide were directed in different sodium hydroxide solutions as the continuous phase. Applying the experimental design method, the influences of independent variables of drop size and physical properties on coalescence time were investigated. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was employed to simulate the drops released from a nozzle, moving toward the interface, and the CFD results were validated by experimental data. The maximum deviation between the predicted and experimental coalescence times was 18.7%. It was found that, among the physical properties, interfacial tension plays the most important role on the coalescence time. Based on the results, a correlation for coalescence time was proposed.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract In the present work, the impacts of effective parameters on the mixing of Stokes flows in a chaotic batch mixer are numerically and experimentally studied. The batch mixer consists of a container and two circular rotors where the rotors can rotate independently. To investigate the possibility of improving the mixing, the effect of non-constant speeds, contra-rotating rotors, and varying rotor speeds are studied. The results showed that varying the rotor speed while rotating in the same direction does not significantly increase mixing. However, if the rotors rotate in opposite directions, 10-times more mixing is achieved compared to the mode of rotating in the same direction. Nevertheless, given the constant speed of rotors, the flow is steady since the fluid particles have periodic movements in secondary flows, but the flow becomes chaotic and mixing is considerably increased by applying sinusoidal perturbations to the rotor speed. Nevertheless, for both modes of rotations in the same and opposite directions, the chaotic flow leads to increased mixing index in the same amount of time. Based on results, the best mixing results are achieved when the rotors rotate with sinusoidal rotational speed in opposite directions.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The dynamics of rising bubbles in a liquid sodium pool plays a significant role in the estimation of the radiological source term during anticipated transients and normal operation of a fast reactor. Sodium is chemically reactive with air and water. Therefore, carrying out experiments using sodium on a reactor scale level requires extra precautions. We report an in-house experimental technique to depict the bubble dynamics along with numerical support to establish similarity behavior between water and liquid sodium, to reduce the number of experiments in sodium systems for in-depth knowledge of bubble dynamics in the case of the fast breeder reactor. In the present work, 3-D bubble dynamics is studied in the OpenFOAM platform and the validated numerical model is used to study bubble dynamics in sodium to establish similitude between the water and sodium systems. The bubble aspect ratio of 0.9 cm diameter bubbles in the sodium system is found to be in close agreement with that of 0.5 cm bubbles in the water system. Experimental and numerical findings suggest similarity of the aspect ratio between water and scaled-up sodium systems. The similarity criteria established between water and sodium are found to be very useful in conducting water-based experiments to study bubble dynamics in sodium systems.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The research article is based on biodiesel synthesis by the transesterification of waste cooking oil with methanol in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts prepared from different marble. Eight samples of marble were successfully converted into potential catalysts by calcination. The thermal treatment of waste marbles at 300oC-1000oC converted the metal carbonates (CaCO3) to metal oxides (CaO). The calcined marble was analyzed by chemical tests, flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction studies (XRD). The presence of CaO in these catalysts made them highly reactive for biodiesel synthesis. The basicity and percentage of calcium in marble catalysts were calculated to know their basic strength. The transesterification was performed by fast stirring using waste cooking oil, methanol and nine different types of marble catalysts for 5 min at five different conditions, i.e., room temperature, hot plate stirring, solar ordinary irradiations, solar concentrated reflected irradiations and solar concentrated refracted irradiations. The solid catalysts were easily separated from the product for re-use. All marble catalysts were found to be active and basic except one namely silver pun (I). The production of biodiesel was confirmed by ASTM standards, TLC examination and by gas chromatography (GC).

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Silica spheres coated with titania (SiO2@TiO2) were synthesized using chitosan as template. The N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms of the spheres point to meso and macroporous characteristics and the elemental mapping by EDS shows uniform distribution of Ti on the surface of the silica spheres, leading to formation of an amorphous structure (XRD). The results from the model reaction of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) show a good stability of the spheres regarding their reuse. The tests with various additives pointed to hydroxyl radical production as the main via of MB degradation. The photocatalytic activity of the spheres in the hydroxylation of benzene to form phenol, hydroquinone and benzoquinone was assessed. The kinetic data point to the formation of phenol as the limiting step; in addition, the phenol consumption occurs by parallel and consecutive reactions producing benzoquinone.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Colloidal silica is an important biocompatible, inert and non-toxic material for imaging, therapy, and drug delivery biomedical applications. In this context, the evaluation of colloidal suspensions and their stabilities by a Fiber Optic Quasi-Elastic Light Scattering sensor is proposed. Two different silica nanoparticles were prepared and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, being completely amorphous, with mean diameters of 125 and 159 nm and average specific weight of 1.94 g.cm-3. The nanoparticles were dispersed in deionized water in different concentrations ranging from 0 to 2% (m/m), resulting in suspensions with mean kinematic viscosity of 0.009157 cm².s-1. The sensor showed different sensitivities regarding concentrations and diameters, with an increase in the light intensity dispersion caused by the scattering. A decreasing tendency of the decay rate of the autocorrelation function of the light intensity signal was verified with the variation of pH, and this decay rate also showed an abrupt decrease with the enhancement of the ionic strength, detecting the limits of the colloidal stability. This work presents a simple and reliable methodology for the colloidal assessment in a low-cost and minimally invasive way, easily extendable for different chemical and biological systems.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This work presents the processing of a high-acidity oil through sequential reactions of esterification using montmorillonite K10 and transesterification using zinc monoglycerolate. Since these solids had not been employed along with this approach beforehand, the objective of this work is to provide a general insight of the proposed process and demonstrate its technical feasibility. In this sense, the processing of a synthetic mixture containing soybean oil and lauric acid provided a reduction of the free fatty acid content from (40.8±0.1) % to (3.1±0.4) % after the esterification reaction and a fatty acid methyl ester yield of (95.4±0.2) % was obtained after the transesterification reaction. As compared to traditional homogeneous catalysts, the solid catalysts employed in this work require higher reaction times to achieve satisfactory ester yields but, on the other hand, they are less sensitive to the presence of both water and free fatty acids in the raw materials and can be easily recovered and reused. Therefore, the results accomplished may help the development of a technology for processing high-acidity fatty materials in order to obtain biodiesel, although its economic feasibility still needs a further assessment.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This study reports a synthesis of copper nanoparticles (CuNP) deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) filters and antibacterial evaluation of the obtained filters against Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica. CuNP were synthesized by a two-step method involving adsorption of [Cu(OH)4]2- ions onto a PET filter and subsequent chemical reduction by ascorbic acid without using other capping agents. The synthesized CuNP were 105±26 nm (mean±SD) in size and agglomerated into clusters on the PET fibres. Increasing the immersion time of the filters in [Cu(OH)4]2- solutions yielded higher amounts of deposited CuNP. SEM images and mass measurements revealed significant changes in the PET fibre surface under the alkaline medium. Passing bacterial suspensions of E. coli and S. enterica through the CuNP-deposited PET filter reduced them by 5.55 and 2.30 log values, respectively. This method of depositing CuNP onto PET material may be further developed for a wide scope of applications, not only in antibacterial filters, but also in catalytic, packaging and biomedical fields.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This work presents a modeling procedure for a tall photocatalytic fluidized bed photoreactor used for the photocatalytic oxidation of n-hexane on the anatase TiO2 surface. The modeling strategy split the reactor into two parts: a lower dense phase, with high solids concentration behaving as a bubbling bed treated as a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR); and an upper lean phase of low solids concentration behaving as a plug-flow reactor (PFR). The Langmuir-type kinetic parameters were obtained for the flow rate of 1.67 × 10-4 m3 s-1 and catalyst mass of 0.1 kg. The model revealed a good adjustment with experimental data when predicting conversion results for the same experimental conditions, but deviations grew as flow rates and catalyst loads departed from those values in which the model was obtained.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Coke formation inside radiant coils is one of the main problems during thermal cracking of hydrocarbons. The on-line preparation of the coating for coking inhibition is a promising technology because it provides more flexibility to the operators on site. The SiO2/S coating was prepared on the inner surface of coils in an 8-year-served GK-VI industrial cracking furnace. The effects of the coating preparation process on the operation of TLE were studied. The coking rates of the tube with and without coating preparation were evaluated by the trend change of tube metal temperature. Simulations of the coating deposition process were further carried out using the computational fluid dynamics approach. The results showed that a significant temperature increase at the outlets of TLEs during coating preparation were due to the accumulation of SiO2 and S in a loose form under the TLE operating conditions when the concentration of coating precursors was 7500 ppm (wt. %). In the three tests, coating precursors were mainly completely consumed in tubes and TLEs. For the coated tube, the run time was extended by 4-7 days because the catalytic coking was decreased. No significant changes in the distribution of products and molar yields of main products were observed. In the simulations, it was found that increasing the inlet flow rate led to a more uniform thickness and improved the mass content of sulfur in the coating. In the tube bend section, circumferential nonuniformities for the deposition were due to circumferential differences in the temperatures and mass fractions. The mass fraction of S in the coating was within the range of 0.02%-0.1%. The control step for the SiO2/S coating deposition was kinetic. Based on the simulation results, the optimized coating preparation parameters were determined, i.e., the inlet flow rate of 15t/h, the outlet temperature of 1093K and the inlet mass concentration of 3000 ppm (wt. %).

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract CoMo/MgO catalysts with low loading of cobalt and molybdenum were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and the sol-gel method for high yield production of carbon nanotubes (CNT). A detailed characterization of the catalysts, as-produced CNT and purified CNT, indicated a relationship between carbon nanotube properties, synthesis and purification steps. Excess of molybdenum in the catalyst caused a decrease in carbon yield and produced CNT with a lower degree of graphitization. Catalysts prepared by the sol-gel method and with higher molybdenum loading showed an improved interaction between cobalt and molybdenum, increasing the formation of CoMoO4, which was not completely removed during the purification step. The purification removed all MgO and part of the cobalt and molybdenum present in samples without significant damage to the CNT structure. An increase in sample purity could be achieved by increasing reaction time.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract A liquid-liquid hydrocyclone, so-called de-oiling equipment, was investigated for separation of oil droplets and wastewater in an Iranian petroleum unit. To generate the geometry and the mesh of the hydrocyclone Gambit software was used. Afterwards, by taking advantage of the Euler-Lagrangian principle, the governing equations covering the motion of fluid and that of particles in the hydrocyclone were solved. Initially, it was shown that the outcomes of CFD are in agreement with experimental data, and then 15 hydrocyclones with different overflow diameters, overflow lengths and input velocities were employed for more detailed analyses. The separation process through a hydrocyclone is counted as an economical process when ther is not only a low pressure drop inside the hydrocyclone, but also a high separation efficiency. As a result, regarding the mentioned criteria, the optimum hydrocyclone, whereby the highest performance of the hydrocyclone is exploited, was obtained by applying the 15 sets of CFD data to a Neural Network (NN) and then by optimizing the function generated by the NN by means of a Genetic Algorithm (GA). The innovation of this research work is the three-phase modeling.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract In order to improve the adsorption capacity and selectivity of CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2, we have functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). The functionalized MWCNT was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and BET analysis. CO2, CH4 and N2 adsorption at two different temperatures and P < 5 bar on the functionalized MWCNTs was investigated by the volumetric method. The selectivity of the functionalized MWCNTs for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 was studied and compared with MWCNTs. The functionalized MWCNTs show higher adsorption capacity of CO2 and selectivity of CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 in comparison with the MWCNTs at different pressures. The highest CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 selectivities for the functionalized MWCNTs were 6.78 and 26.14, respectively, at a pressure of 0.2 bar and at 298 K. Two of the most common adsorption models, the Langmuir and Sips isotherms, were used to correlate the experimental data of CO2 and CH4 adsorption on the adsorbents. The results confirm that the functionalized MWCNTs are promising materials for the separation and purification of gases.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The selective separation of Mn(II) and Cd(II) as well as regeneration of the complexing agent were conducted by shear induced dissociation coupling with ultrafiltration (SID-UF), and the copolymer of maleic acid and acrylic acid (PMA) was used as complexing agent. At the optimal complexation conditions, pH 6 and P/M (mass ratio of polymer to metal ions) 9, both the rejections of Mn(II) and Cd(II) arrived at more than 99%. The shear stabilities of two PMA-metal complexes at different pHs were particularly investigated using rotating disk membrane and the results indicated that critical shear rates γ c of PMA-Mn complex were lower than that of PMA-Cd at the same pH. According to the difference of the shear stabilities between PMA-Mn and PMA-Cd complexes, the selective separation of Mn(II) and Cd(II) were achieved by SID-UF at 1450 rpm and 1600 rpm, and PMA was regenerated.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Sources of fluoride contaminated water are found around the world and their treatment is required before human consumption. This paper contributes to advances in the use of bone-char as an adsorbent for fluoride, associating steps of chemical regeneration and fluoride adsorption in continuous systems, thereby making feasible the multiple use of the adsorbent. Following the development of low cost treatment of water defluoridation in a fixed bed column, using bone-char, regeneration was carried out with NaOH (0.5 mol/L) solution in subsequent adsorption/desorption cycles. The continuous system was modeled applying Thomas, Yoon-Nelson, Adams-Bohart, Wolborska and Yan models, and the Yan model showed the best adjustment. The adsorption capacity of 6.28 mg/g was obtained from the breakthrough curve. Chemical regeneration of bone-char was feasible, and a reduction in adsorption capacity of 30% was observed only after five adsorption/desorption cycles.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract In this study, polyetherimide/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PEI/PVP) hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) were synthesized by the phase inversion method. The synthesized PEI/PVP membranes were characterized by morphological analysis and transport properties (hydraulic permeability and solute rejection coefficient). Their performance in uremic solutes separation was also investigated. Urea removal and clearance were measured. Surface properties were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), water uptake, zeta potential and protein adsorption. The results showed that PEI/PVP membranes had transport properties comparable to those of current high flux clinical membranes, with better removal of medium molecular weight solutes (using lysozyme as a model) and high retention of high molecular weight solutes (using albumin as a model). Surface characterization suggests that PEI/PVP membranes present improved blood compatibility. These results confirm the potential of polyetherimide as an alternative material for producing hollow fiber hemodialyzers, in substitution to polysulfone and polyethersulfone.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract During the processing of rice grain, a wide range of by-products are generated, including Rice Bran (RB), which presents rich composition, offering great potential for application in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the best operating variables in the extraction of rice bran protein through alkaline extraction and Microwave-Assisted Extraction (MAE). It was found that MAE, in similar conditions, resulted in a higher yield of protein extraction and protein content in the extracted material in a relatively shorter process time, when compared to the values obtained in the alkaline extraction (MAE: yield: 22.04% higher, protein content: 6.19% higher, 30 times faster). In addition, the characterization of the extracts obtained showed that the use of microwaves did not affect the extracted rice bran proteins. Thus, it was possible to verify that MAE is potent and a strongly advisable technique for obtaining rice bran protein.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The performance of a flat sheet polyamide nanofiltration membrane in rejection of a binary mixture of heat stable salts (acetate and sulfate) from methyl-diethanolamine (MDEA) solution was investigated. The effects of pressure and concentration of MDEA solution on rejection of acetate and sulfate ions were studied. At MDEA concentration of 20% wt. and pressure of 70 bar, 80% and 98% rejection can be obtained for acetate and sulfate ions, respectively. Membrane performance and transport coefficients were investigated using the Spiegler-Kedem-Katchalsky (SKK) model, film theory and extended Nernst-Planck (FT-ENP) model. The results of the FT-ENP model show accurate agreement with experimental results. This result can be obtained due to considering the charge repulsion of sulfate ions. For sulfate ions, both models show errors less than 1% with >R2=0.98. In the case of acetate, errors less than 3% (>R2=0.75) and 2% (>R2=0.89) were obtained for the SKK and FT-ENP models, respectively.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Chinese star anise essential oil (EO) is prized for its pleasant aroma and mainly due to its antioxidant capacity (AC), which can combat cancer and treat neurodegenerative diseases. This study shows the innovative approach of optimizing not only EO yield, but also to therapeutic activity. The product obtained follows the principle of the Pure Food and Drug Act and of eco-friendly technology. Also, the best analytical control methodology of the active principle during industrial production was also defined. The AC was found to be dependent on the extraction conditions, and the best antioxidant performance was reported after 3h of hydrodistillation time, using 500 mL distilled water and 8% dry fruits whose granulometry was inferior to 425 μm. Although all four analytical methodologies used for assessing AC are precise, they cannot be correlated. The antioxidant potential was 59.6±1.1 mg GAE/g EO for TP; 14.3±0.5 mmol TEAC/g EO for FRAP; 25.7±0.8 mmol TEAC/g EO for ABTS and 23.5±0.3 mmol TEAC/g EO for DPPH. The EO exhibited better AC than the trans-anethole and D-limonene standards, suggesting a positive synergistic effect. The DPPH method exhibited a good coefficient of determination (R²=0.9311) and has the advantage of using a solvent compatible with the EO.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Solanum viarum Dunal belongs to the Solanaceae family and it is considered to be a grazing weed toxic to cattle. In this study, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and supercritical CO2 extraction (SFE-CO2) were applied to evaluate the extraction yield and chemical composition of fruits and roots matrices of Solanum viarum Dunal. A hydroalcoholic solution (60% ethanol/40% water, v/v) was the solvent used for UAE. For comparisons, extractions with Soxhlet and maceration were carried out. For SFE-CO2, the highest yield was obtained at 60°C and 250 bar. For UAE, the highest yield was obtained at an ultrasound intensity of 75.11 W/cm2 and pulse cycle of 0.93. The techniques seem to be efficient for the extraction of chemical compounds, indicating a large number of bioactive compounds. The major compounds are 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, quinic acid, octadecenoic acid, and solasodine. The results highlight the application of UAE to recover compounds from vegetal matrices, since it presented higher yields and more chemical constituents when compared with other techniques.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Two deep eutectic solvents (DES) based on betaine (B) and propylene glycol (PG) in molar ratios of 1:4 and 1:5 were prepared and their physico-chemical properties were determined. Liquid-liquid equilibria at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure were determined for 13 quasi-three-component systems with a hydrocarbon (n-hexane, n-heptane, i-octane or toluene), solute (pyridine or thiophene) and DES (B-PG 1:4 or B-PG 1:5). Experimental phase diagrams and calculated distribution ratios showed that DESs are more suitable for denitrification than for desulfurization. The equilibria in the investigated systems were described by the NRTL and UNIQUAC models, and good agreement with experiments was obtained.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract In this work, the vapor-liquid equilibrium experimental data for the systems of isopropyl chloroacetate + isopropanol, isopropyl chloroacetate + cyclohexane and isopropyl chloroacetate + benzene were measured by a modified Rose-type recirculating still under the pressure of 101.3 kPa. The thermodynamic consistency of the measured data was verified by the Herington and van Ness methods, respectively. The experimental data were correlated by the NRTL, Wilson, and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models, and the corresponding interaction parameters of the three models were obtained. The root-mean-square deviations between the experimental data and calculated results for the temperature and the mole fraction of the vapor phase were less than 0.58 K and 0.0066, respectively. In addition, the excess Gibbs energy was calculated for the three systems.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Hydrates are crystalline structures formed by water and substances with low molar mass molecules. Hydrate formation can occur during oil production when oil, gas and water flow through the same lines in conditions of high pressure and low temperatures. The deposition of hydrate crystals in production lines can severely jeopardize the safety of operations, being one of the biggest issues of the oil and gas industry. The present work describes a study carried out on the formation of cyclopentane hydrates. Cyclopentane forms - at atmospheric pressure - type II-structure hydrates, which are similar to those formed by natural gas. In this study, hydrate formation was induced in two different systems, one obtained with the cationic surfactant DODAC (dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride), water, mineral oil and cyclopentane, and the other with the anionic surfactant AOT (di-(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate of sodium), water and cyclopentane. The surfactants used can form emulsions or self-associated systems, depending on compositions and concentrations of the substances that are present in the samples. The stability of the hydrates formed in the different structures was analyzed. Moreover, we also perform a study of the stability of the structures obtained when the hydrate formation is induced.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Oil recovery, retention index, and thermodynamic parameters of green coffee beans (GCB) and its press cake (PC) extraction using bio-based solvents were investigated. The extraction parameters investigated were temperature (35 to 55 °C), type of material (coffee beans and press cake), and type of solvent (ethanol, acetone, and ethyl acetate), at a fixed solvent to solid mass ratio (5:1) (w/w). The fatty acid profile of the ethanolic extract was assessed for both GCB and PC, and compared to the oil obtained from the mechanical pressing. It was observed that higher temperatures affected positively the extraction yields, especially when acetone and ethanol were employed, allowing a recovery up to 90% and 56.7% for GCB and PC, respectively. The solution retained in the raffinate phase from the GCB extraction was greater than that for the PC. For all operational levels, the ∆H and ∆S were positive. ∆G decreased with increasing temperature. Palmitic and linoleic acids were predominant in all types of oil. The oil obtained by pressing showed higher content of linoleic acid (45.32%), while the solvent-extracted oil from GCB had more palmitic acid (34.79%), and the PC oil presented intermediate levels of all the methyl esters.