Technologies for reusing, recycling and energetic valorization of tires in Brazil

Os pneus usados estão se tornando um problema mundial. O descarte de pneus cresce ano após ano em todo o mundo. Pouca importância foi dada ao descarte de pneus em muitos países. No Brasil, em 1999, foi aprovada a Resolução nº 258/99 do CONAMA (Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente) que instituiu a responsabilidade do produtor e do importador pelo ciclo total do produto, ou seja, a coleta, o transporte e a disposição final. Desde 2002, os fabricantes e importadores de pneus devem coletar e dar a destinação final para os pneus usados. Segundo essa lei, os distribuidores, revendedores, reformadores e consumidores finais são co-responsáveis pela coleta dos pneus servíveis e inservíveis, os quais devem colaborar com a coleta. Neste trabalho serão apresentadas as tecnologias utilizadas no Brasil para a reutilização, reciclagem e valorização energética, além de um fluxograma do processo de logística reversa dos pneus novos e usados, dados estatísticos dos canais de distribuição, objetivo da reciclagem e a disposição final, no período de 2002 a 2006. Em 2006, foram reciclados 240,62 mil toneladas de pneus inservíveis, o equivalente a 48,12 milhões de pneus de automóvel. As atividades de laminação, trituração e fabricação de artefatos de borracha representaram 50,02% do total destinado, o co-processamento em fornos de clínquer representou 35,73%, a regeneração de borracha sintética representou 13,22% e a extração e tratamento de minerais 1,03%.Used tires have become a worldwide problem. The discarding of tires rises year after year all over the world. So far little importance has been given to the discarding of tires in many countries. In 1999, the CONAMA (National Council for the Environment) resolution 258/99 made the producer or importer as responsible for the total cycle of the product in Brazil, including the means of collection, transportation and final destination to the product. Since 2002, the manufacturers and importers of tires must collect and give the final destination to the used tires. The distributors, retailers, re-modelers and final consumers are co-responsible for the collection of the used or unserviceable tires. In this study we review the technologies for reusing, recycling and energetic valorization of tires, in addition to presenting a flowchart of the reverse logistic process for new and used tires. Also included are statistical data of distribution channels, recycling goals and final destination for the used tires in the period from 2002 to 2006. In 2006, 240.62 thousand tons of unserviceable tires were recycled, which correspond to 48.12 million of automobile tires. The activities of laminating, grinding and manufacturing of rubber artifacts represented 50.02% of the total; the co-processing in clinker ovens represented 35.73%; the synthetic rubber regeneration represented 13.22% while 1.03% was used in the extraction and treatment of minerals

Light collection and wavelength calibration for an extreme ultraviolet diode array spectrograph

Includes bibliographical references.We describe the use of a simple spherical aluminum-coated mirror to image the radiation of a distant XUV-emitting plasma in the slit of a vacuum spectrograph. Calculations to determine the optimum position and curvature radius of the mirror as a function of the divergence of the emitted plasma radiation are described, Efficient light collection by the grazing incidence mirror allows calibration of an intensified diode array used as a detector with a low-pressure (10-4 Torr) dc capillary discharge that does not require a complex differential pumping system.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. ECS 8606226. M. C. Marconi was supported by a fellowship from Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas de la Republica Argentina

Study of the soft x-ray emission from carbon ions in a capillary discharge

Includes bibliographical references.The soft x-ray emission from plasma produced in polyacetal and polyethylene capillary discharges excited by current pulses 100 ns full-width half-maximum (FWHM), 50 ns risetime, and peak currents up to 60 kA has been studied. Time-resolved spectra show that intense Cᴠɪ line emission dominates in the polyethylene discharges, peaking shortly after the maximum of the current and vanishing before the end of the current pulse. Polyacetal capillary spectra are dominated by Oᴠɪ lines and show weak Cᴠɪ emission. Plasma density and temperature for the polyethylene discharge were derived from the Stark broadening of Cᴠɪ Balmer lines and the relative intensities of Cᴠɪ and Cᴠ lines. A short (5 ns FWHM) pulse of energetic beam electrons was detected in coincidence with the onset of the discharge. The results are discussed in relation to the possibility of obtaining soft x-ray amplification by plasma recombination in a capillary discharge plasma column.This work was supported by the Department of Energy, Advanced Energy Projects Grant DE-F602-91ER12110 and by the National Science Foundation by Grant ECS 9013372. The work of M. C. Marconi was supported by the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas de la Republica Argentina

Universal temporal features of rankings in competitive sports and games

Many complex phenomena, from the selection of traits in biological systems to hierarchy formation in social and economic entities, show signs of competition and heterogeneous performance in the temporal evolution of their components, which may eventually lead to stratified structures such as the wealth distribution worldwide. However, it is still unclear whether the road to hierarchical complexity is determined by the particularities of each phenomena, or if there are universal mechanisms of stratification common to many systems. Human sports and games, with their (varied but simplified) rules of competition and measures of performance, serve as an ideal test bed to look for universal features of hierarchy formation. With this goal in mind, we analyse here the behaviour of players and team rankings over time for several sports and games. Even though, for a given time, the distribution of performance ranks varies across activities, we find statistical regularities in the dynamics of ranks. Specifically the rank diversity, a measure of the number of elements occupying a given rank over a length of time, has the same functional form in sports and games as in languages, another system where competition is determined by the use or disuse of grammatical structures. Our results support the notion that hierarchical phenomena may be driven by the same underlying mechanisms of rank formation, regardless of the nature of their components. Moreover, such regularities can in principle be used to predict lifetimes of rank occupancy, thus increasing our ability to forecast stratification in the presence of competition

Central vault after phakic intraocular lens implantation : correlation with anterior chamber depth, white-to-white distance, spherical equivalent, and patient age

To compare the central postoperative vault of a phakic intraocular lens (pIOL) to correct myopia, myopic astigmatism, and hyperopia and identify ocular and lens parameters that might predict the vault amount.Supported in part by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion research grants (SAF2008-01114 and SAF2009-13342) (Dr. Montes-Mico) and a Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia of Portugal grant (FCT-SFRH-BD-34303-2007) (Dr. Fernandes)

Holographic Collisions in Non-conformal Theories

We numerically simulate gravitational shock wave collisions in a holographic model dual to a non-conformal four-dimensional gauge theory. We find two novel effects associated to the non-zero bulk viscosity of the resulting plasma. First, the hydrodynamization time increases. Second, if the bulk viscosity is large enough then the plasma becomes well described by hydrodynamics before the energy density and the average pressure begin to obey the equilibrium equation of state. We discuss implications for the quark-gluon plasma created in heavy ion collision experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures; published versio