Investigation of the urban pruning wastes as biofuels and possible utilization in thermal systems / Investigação dos resíduos da poda urbana como biocombustíveis e possível utilização em sistemas térmicos

The urban afforestation is an important part of cities that provide well-being and health for their citizens; however, the urban afforestation needs constant pruning, which generates a considerable amount of waste that are not able to be disposal in land. In the other hand is an emerging need of clean energy production due the damage caused by the fossil fuels. An alternative to solve these issues is to use the urban pruning waste as feedstock for thermochemical conversion with the goal to produce clean energy. However, is necessary investigate the physical-chemical properties of urban pruning waste as possible biofuel, for this propose this study realize several experiments such as: Thermal Analysis (DG/DTG and DTA), Proximate and Ultimate Analysis, Inductively Coupled Plasm – Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), Electron Diffraction Spectrometry (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). The analysis of the urban pruning waste achieves as result a considerable energy property and low amount of pollutants-forming elements for that biomass, which mean, that the urban pruning is an profitable source for energy generation and also contents a proper chemical composition.The urban afforestation is an important part of cities that provide well-being and health for their citizens; however, the urban afforestation needs constant pruning, which generates a considerable amount of waste that are not able to be disposal in land. In the other hand is an emerging need of clean energy production due the damage caused by the fossil fuels. An alternative to solve these issues is to use the urban pruning waste as feedstock for thermochemical conversion with the goal to produce clean energy. However, is necessary investigate the physical-chemical properties of urban pruning waste as possible biofuel, for this propose this study realize several experiments such as: Thermal Analysis (DG/DTG and DTA), Proximate and Ultimate Analysis, Inductively Coupled Plasm – Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), Electron Diffraction Spectrometry (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). The analysis of the urban pruning waste achieves as result a considerable energy property and low amount of pollutants-forming elements for that biomass, which mean, that the urban pruning is an profitable source for energy generation and also contents a proper chemical composition

Enzymatic and Microbial Electrochemistry: Approaches and Methods

[Image: see text] The coupling of enzymes and/or intact bacteria with electrodes has been vastly investigated due to the wide range of existing applications. These span from biomedical and biosensing to energy production purposes and bioelectrosynthesis, whether for theoretical research or pure applied industrial processes. Both enzymes and bacteria offer a potential biotechnological alternative to noble/rare metal-dependent catalytic processes. However, when developing these biohybrid electrochemical systems, it is of the utmost importance to investigate how the approaches utilized to couple biocatalysts and electrodes influence the resulting bioelectrocatalytic response. Accordingly, this tutorial review starts by recalling some basic principles and applications of bioelectrochemistry, presenting the electrode and/or biocatalyst modifications that facilitate the interaction between the biotic and abiotic components of bioelectrochemical systems. Focus is then directed toward the methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of enzyme/bacteria–electrode interaction and the insights that they provide. The basic concepts of electrochemical methods widely employed in enzymatic and microbial electrochemistry, such as amperometry and voltammetry, are initially presented to later focus on various complementary methods such as spectroelectrochemistry, fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy, and surface analytical/characterization techniques such as quartz crystal microbalance and atomic force microscopy. The tutorial review is thus aimed at students and graduate students approaching the field of enzymatic and microbial electrochemistry, while also providing a critical and up-to-date reference for senior researchers working in the field