PHYTOENERGY: energetic valorisation of phytoremediation derived biomass

There are presently more than 3 million contaminated sites all over EU, according to the EEA (report 25186 EN), with the contamination with heavy metals being of particular concern, as they are not degradable. Soil recovery is thus becoming an urgency and diverse approaches can be applied. From these, phytoremediation has shown to be an attractive low cost alternative as it promotes the establishment of a vegetation cover, stabilizing these degraded sites and allowing for the slow extraction of the contaminants. In spite that the fate of the harvested plants is a common complication for its implementation, it can also represent an opportunity for producing added value. This work intends to assess the possibility of the production of biodiesel resulting from the transterification of sunflower seed oil with bioethanol resulting from the processing of sunflower stems. Sunflower plants growing either in agricultural and metal contaminated soils were assessed and the quality of the successive energetic products was evaluated. Sunflower seeds were used for oil extraction, with observable extraction efficiencies of up to 20 ml oil/m 2 ; plant stems were used for bioethanol production with yields of up to 280 ml/m 2 ; finally, biodiesel was generated via transterification. The final biodiesel as well as the obtained oil and bioethanol were characterized and it was possible to observe that the contamination of the soils with metals did not affect significantly the quality of the products, namely in concerning metal levels. This study reports thus the successful energetic valorisation of plants grown in degraded soils.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inclined plate settler for emergency water treatment: final design

Previously we reported on the proof-of-concept and initial optimisation work on an inclined plate settler (IPS) for water treatment in humanitarian situations. Whilst promising results (i.e. effluent turbidity < 5 NTU) were obtained, further work was warranted to better control and design the hydraulic flocculation (floc conditioning) stage of the treatment system. This paper reports on such work. A scaled-down version of the IPS was tested in parallel with several hydraulic flocculation configurations. The first deployment of the IPS is planned for 2015

Diagnóstico de propriedades agrícolas no município de Cristalina-GO, visando estabelecer um sistema de produção integrada de feijão comum (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

Está se conduzindo um projeto para subsidiar a implantação de um Modelo de Produção Integrada de Feijão. Realizou-se um diagnóstico dos sistemas de produção em uso e de algumas características das propriedades candidatas a sediarem essas Unidades. Esse diagnóstico norteou a elaboração do sistema de produção para feijão irrigado, que está sendo validado a campo com a participação dos produtores

Potencialidade de progênies de açaizeiro (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) para produção de frutos em sistema agroflorestal na região de Manaus, AM.

Estudo visando: avaliar progenies de acai nas condicoes edafoclimaticas de terra firme na regiao de Manaus, quanto a caracteristicas ligadas ao vigor, precocidade e producao de fruto e de polpa; recomendar aos produtores de Manaus as progenies de acaizeiros mais produtivos; e estudar a variabilidade genetica, herdabilidade e correlacoes geneticas entre caracteres relacionados com a producao de frutos em progenies de acai. O levantamento do plantio efetuado ate o dia 07/10/1997 mostrou sobrevivencia de 100% das mudas de acai, cupuacu e acerola, e 126 mudas plantadas de cada uma dessas cultura em um total de 378 plantas, restando outras 378 mudas a serem plantas sob irrigacao ate o inicio do proximo periodo chuvoso. As progenies no campo perfazem a metade da area total do experimento, ou seja, aproximadamente 1 e1/2 repeticao, sao as seguintes: 116, 162, 06, 29, 04, 100, 115, 161 e 167.bitstream/item/89226/1/PA-37.pd

Biofuel production from phytoremediation derived sunflower biomass

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biofuel production from phytoremediation derived sunflower biomass

There are presently more than 3 million contaminated sites all over EU, according to the EEA (report 25186 EN). Heavy metal contamination is of particular concern, as metals are not degradable. Phytoremediation is gaining attention from the public and is an attractive low cost alternative for soil requalification, by establishing a vegetation cover which will stabilize the site, avoiding dispersion of contamination and simultaneously removingpollutants. Although the fate of harvested biomass is a common obstacle for its implementation, it may represent an opportunity for producing energy. This work presents a novel integrated strategy comprising the utilization of all plant parts for the generation of biodiesel. Combinations of sunflower and plant growth promoting microbiota were assessed growing in agricultural and metal contaminated soils.Harvested plant tissues were analysed and it was possible to observe that accumulation of Zn and Cd was made mainly in the roots, followed by the stems and the flowers, with the values registered for plants grown in contaminated soils being higher than the reported phytotoxic levels described in literature. Also, plants grown in the agricultural soil presented higher biomass rates. Sunflower seeds were then used for oil extraction and it was possible to observe efficiencies of up to 20 ml oil/m2, with only the oil from plants grown in industrial soil presenting levels of 1.8 mg Zn/l. Plant stems were used for bioethanol fermentation with yields of up to 280 and 162 ml/m2 for plants growing respectively in agricultural and industrial soils. Once again only plants grown in the industrial soil presented detectable levels of 1.1 mg Zn/l (and no Cd). Biodiesel was then produced via transterification of the extracted oil with the produced ethanol, allowing the complete production of a biofuel from this phytoremediation derived biomass. Reference parameters and heavy metal levels were determined and compared for both the biodiesel derived from plants grown in industrial and agricultural soils.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inclined plate settling for emergency water treatment: towards optimisation

Previous work revealed the potential of an inclined plate settler (IPS) for water treatment in emergency relief applications. Whilst preliminary data demonstrated the tested IPS prototype’s capacity to achieve stable turbidity reductions, further optimisation was warranted. This paper reports on the optimisation and preliminary field testing of an IPS prototype. Trials revealed that after system modification, treatment objectives with regards to turbidity reductions (i.e. < 5 NTU) could be achieved. Such positive results were largely due to the addition of a hydraulic flocculation (conditioning) stage

Produtividade de soja e eficiência no uso de potássio em sucessão a Urochloa brizantha cultivada na entressafra.

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o uso de Urochloa brizantha na entressafra sobre a dinâmica de potássio e produtividade de soja cultivada em sucessão. O ensaio foi conduzido em blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições, em parcelas subsubdivididas 2x2x4. Na parcela principal foram alocados os tipos de correção do solo: total inicial e parcelada anual, nas subparcelas, foram implantados os tipos de cobertura de segunda safra: pousio e cultivo de U. brizantha e na subsubparcela foi avaliado as doses de 0, 20, 40 e 60 kg ha-1 de K2O aplicados à lanço e aos 20 dias após a emergência da soja. A U. brizantha foi semeada em 02/2011. A soja M7211 RR foi semeado em 10/2011. A coleta foliar de U. brizantha foi realizada em setembro de 2011 antes da dessecação para o plantio de soja. A correção total inicial proporcionou maior produção de matéria seca (14 Mg ha-1) e acúmulo de potássio nas folhas (121 kg ha-1) de U. brizantha. A utilização dessa forrageira na entressafra proporcionou incremento na produção de soja, além de maiores teores de potássio na parte aérea, nos grãos e consequentemente maior exportação desse nutriente. As doses de potássio proporcionaram incremento nos teores foliares desse nutriente, porém isso não se refletiu na produtividade. Apesar disso, o aumento crescente das doses de potássio contribuiu para a ocorrência de menores valores negativos no balanço de potássio

The potential for energetic valorization of energetic crops derived from phytoremediation

There are presently more than 3 million contaminated sites all over EU, according to the EEA (report 25186 EN). Heavy metal contamination is of particular concern, as metals are not degradable. Soil remediation is becoming a priority and several methods are constantly being tested an implemented. From these, phytoremediation has proven to be an attractive low cost alternative as it acts by establishing a vegetation cover which will stabilize the target sites. However, the fate of harvested biomass is a common obstacle for its implementation. Nonetheless, it can also represent an opportunity for producing added value products. This work presents a novel integrated strategy comprising the utilization of all plant parts for the generation of energy products. Combinations of sunflower and plant growth promoting microbiota were assessed growing in agricultural and metal contaminated soils. Sunflower seeds were then used for oil extraction, with observable extraction efficiencies of up to 20 ml oil/m 2 ; plant stems were used for bioethanol fermentation with yields of up to 280 ml/m 2 ; finally, biodiesel was then produced via transterification of the extracted oil with the produced ethanol, allowing the complete production of a biofuel from this phytoremediation derived biomass. All the products were characterized and it was possible to observe that the presence of metals in the soils did not affect significantly the metal levels on either the oil, the bioethanol or the biodiesel. Additionally, plant roots were used as carbon and energy source for biomethane assays (BMP) for the production of biogas via anaerobic digestion. Overall, it was possible to conclude that soil contaminated with metals was not found to have an important effect on the anaerobic biodegradability of the sunflower roots. This study reports thus the successful energetic valorisation of plants grown in degraded soils as a whole.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio