Wastewater and biological fanges treatment: reduction of phosphorus with chemical and biological products

Motivation:Wastewater treatment is both an important and difficult topic nowadays due to the negative effects it can cause on the environment and people’s health. One of these problems is he presenc of organic nutrients such as nitrates, nitrites and phosphates.In our project we have studied the possibility of combining some of the already used chemical coagulants with natural and biodegradable coagulants to remove phosphorus in wastewater by alternative cogualation-flocculation processes.Methods:Within the methodology used, we have used the Jar- test together with different chemical and biological reagents to perform the coagulation-flocculation process. In this process, the solids and nutrients of the water sample decant obtaining the clarified to be analyzed. Once obtained, filtration tests are performed and the amount of soluble phosphorus is analyzed by spectophotometry as well as the pH, turbidity and conductivity to determine the effectiveness of the coagulants used.Results:Among the results, we can add roughly that the chemical caogulants already used work better in conjunction with biologic coagulants not used until now, such as agar, different types of cellulose and starches. The use of these components are also beneficial for industrial companies which work with these kind of wastes because they are cheaper and easier to obtain.Conclusions:Biological coagulants are more effective for reducing the percentage of phosphorus in water, so there are many that have not yet been studied and that could be more beneficial for the environment and for the performance of companies, so it would be interesting that research lines continue to open in order to deepen this issue

Determination of adulteration of extra-virgin olive oil

Motivation: This essay was made with the purpose of find some methods for the detection and determination of adulteration of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). It was sought a fast, cheap and effective method for the detection of adulteration, in order to it would be available to all producers and sellers of the different varieties and apellations of EVOO.Methods: For this work we try out three methods of determination the adulteration. First of all, we prepared the samples with which we would work. Different mixtures were elaborated in order to emulate a sample of adultered EVOO. The samples contained a mixture of EVOO with a percentage of volume of a determinated adulterant. The adulterants were: corn oil, sunflower oil, refinated olive oil and pomace oil. The percentage of adulterant oscillated within 0 to 20%. Beyond a precentage of 20% the organoleptic properties change at the point that is measurable to taste. Furthemore, we prepared binary mixtures, with EVOO and one adulterant, and ternary mixtures, with EVOO and two adulterants. Then, we used a thermometer to measure of stabilization time. Secondly we employed a refractive index measurer. And finally, we measured the absorbance of the mixtures with an spectrophotometer.Results: Neither the stabilization time and the measurement of the refractive index were approved for the work because of their erratic results. Data given by the measurement of absorbance implied a clear difference between the different percentages of mixtures and furthemore between the different adulterants.Conclusions: We concluded that, in the first place, measurement of stabilization time is complicated because of the estrict temperature conditions in the room. In the second place, Data of the refractive index were overly erratic to consider them. And after all, the data given by the spetrophotometer made us out that it would be the best candidate to the determination of EVOO adultered in plant. Moreover, with this technique could be possible determinate the adulterant incorporated in the mixture.

Characterization and deslignication of Dictyota dichotoma

Motivation: Algae, with more than 27,000 species, includes a great variety of aquatic organisms with a high ecological importance. Every yearthousands tons of sea waste are acumulated on the shore. Consequently some investigations are recently focused on its potential as raw material for animal food, bioethanol or cellulose extraction among others. Currently there are not many studies about the use of these wastes for cellulose extraction. The objetive of this project is to characterize the algae Dictyota dichotoma.and compare two different deslignification treatments.Methods: The characterization of the specie Dictyota dichotoma, seaweed was carried out, in order to determinate the composition of benzene ethanol extractables, ashes, hot water solubility, lignin, holocellulose and alfa-cellulose.On the other hand, the diference between two chemical treataments for the delignification of D. dichotoma was studied using NaOH, antraqinone and H2O2 or NaCl2O. Also an experimental designwas carried out taking into account the effect of five independent variables( time, temperature, antraqinone, NaOH and H2O2 or NaCl2O) on whiteness..Results: The obtained results allow to conclude that Dictyota dichotoma presents a low content in lignin, with 16.07%.Conclusions: The study demonstrates that D.dichotoma is an adequate alternative as raw material for papermaking due to its low content of lignin (16%)in comparison with other vegetables terrestrial species which facilitates cellulose extraction. Moreover this algae present elevate contents in cellulose (34,8% of holocollulose and 30,6% of alpha-cellulose) and its extraction can be carried out using clean technologies

Cellulo-Sea premiado por la UCA y seleccionado por Genoma España “Programa Biocampus”

Cellulo-Sea es un proyecto pionero, surgido del proyecto de fin de máster “Micro y macroalgas para la extracción de celulosa de alta pureza”, dirigido por la Profesora del departamento de Ingeniería Química de la Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Ana Moral Rama y las alumnas del Máster de Biotecnología Ambiental,  María López Alonso y María José Fernández Rodríguez. El proyecto contempla  la creación de una empresa de extracción y producción de celulosa con distintos fines comerciales, a partir de algas de cultivo propio

Uso de programas de simulación para promover la pedagogía activa en la docencia universitaria

La pedagogía activa se fundamenta en que el alumno sea un sujeto activo en su propio aprendizaje y el docente actúe como un facilitador del proceso. Pese a que esta metodología presenta aspectos muy positivos, la mayoría de acciones se realizan en proyectos de escuelas activas ya que son muchas las dificultades para emplearla en el entorno universitario. Sin embargo, se hace patente la necesidad de un cambio desde el aprendizaje tradicional “industrializado” hacia una formación permanente, activa y experimentada para lo que resulta imprescindible el manejo de las nuevas tecnologías de información y comunicación (TICs). En concreto, resulta especialmente útil el empleo de simuladores, ya que mediante simulación el alumno es capaz de diseñar un modelo de un sistema real y llevar a cabo experiencias con él. En el presente trabajo, se propone el uso del programa informático de simulación de bioprocesos Aspen Batch Process Developer como herramienta para un aprendizaje activo en las enseñanzas prácticas de las asignaturas Procesos Biotecnológicos del Grado en Biotecnología e Ingeniería de los Bioprocesos del Máster en Biotecnología Ambiental, Industrial y Alimentaria de la Universidad Pablo de Olavide. Mediante esta simulación, los alumnos manejarán balances de materia, parámetros de diseño y optimización propios de una industria biotecnológica. Durante el transcurso de las asignaturas se promueve la formación activa de los alumnos mediante el uso de un entorno virtual en el que se deposita material didáctico interactivo

Synthesis of sustainable flocculants for phosphorus removal in urban wastewater from algae, marine and terrestrial plant wastes.

Motivation:Wastewater treatment is a process that is constantly evolving in order to reduce both economic costs and the environmental impact. Since the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) was approved in 1991 [1], the minimum requirements for wastewater treatment have been increasing, and there are now plans until 2040 that introduce new limit values for certain elements such as Nitrogen and Phosphorus [2].For this reason, there are several lines of research focused on finding new, less polluting alternatives for this process. In our study, we seek to reuse organic wastes from algae, marine and terrestrial plants, from which we can extract cellulose [3], subject it to a cationization process [4] and use it as a flocculant to clarify the water and remove a portion of the phosphorus.The objective of this study is not only to try to substitute the chemical flocculants that are normally used, but also testing wether our cellulose can be combined with this flocculant (Ferrous Chloride) in order to achieve the same performance while decreasing economic costs and environmental impact.Methods:The most important method we are going to use is the jar test. This test allows us to analyze at the same time several 500 ml samples with different amounts of coagulant to evaluate the optimal dose and its efficacy.Different methods will also be used to measure pH (Hach pH meter), conductivity (Hach conductivity meter) and concentrations of different elements such as P or N (Merck kits). A study of the microfauna will also be carried out by microscopic observation.These tests are performed to ensure that the coagulants used do not modify the characteristics (physical, chemical and biological) in a negative way.Results:After preliminary tests with different cellulose samples, positive results were obtained in 3 different samples of cationized cellulose from terrestrial plants. In these tests, a reduction of soluble phosphorus by 14 to 20% was achieved.Conclusions:The results obtained so far are promising, as other types of cellulose are still to be tested and a higher P removal is expected when combining this flocculant with the Ferrous Chloride

Obtención de derivados catiónicos a partir de pastas Kraft de pino

El objetivo fundamental es el desarrollo de productos que contaminan menos que los usados actualmente, para sustituir los reactivos químicos que se emplean durante el proceso de producción, en la industria papelera. Para ello se utiliza la reacción secuencial de mercerización-cationización de fibras celulósicas de la pasta de pino. El empleo de éstos biopolímeros es una alternativa interesante al uso de agentes químicos por ser un recurso renovable (Biswas et al., 2010; López et al., 2000). La principal ventaja es el empleo de fibras cationizadas que pueden obtenerse a partir de materia prima presente en fábrica, sustituyendo a los agentes químicos durante el proceso, minimizando costes e impacto medioambiental. Se realizaron una serie de ensayos utilizando el equipo “Mütek DFR-05 Drainage Freeness Retention”. El  Mütek DFR-05  simula las condiciones de retención y drenaje imperante en una maquina de papel  inmediatamente antes y durante la formación de la hoja de papel, permitiendo una valoración sistemática de las influencias químicas así como de los posibles cambios en dichas influencias que puedan resultar de la variabilidad de carga. Los ensayos de retención se realizaron siguiendo la norma TAPPI  T261-94. La retención se estudio sobre suspensiones formadas por pasta kraft de pino y está mezclada con una pequeña cantidad de la pasta obtenida de nuestros ensayos. Con el objeto de simular las cargas minerales presentes en las suspensiones papeleras se añadió en todos los ensayos realizados una cantidad de carga mineral más usada en la fabricación de papel. En los resultados se apreció que el grado de retención mayor, se obtienía cuando la velocidad de refino se encuentra dentro del intervalo que previamente se definió como óptimo. Como conclusiones se pude proponer un nuevo procedimiento de cationización de pasta Kraft de pino, por reacción de ésta con distintos grados de refino con 3 cloro-2-hidroxipropil trimetil amonio en medio alcalino, a presión y temperatura controladas, en la que se alcanzan grados de sustitución de uno. La  adición de pasta cationizada como agente de retención, permite alcanzar retenciones próximas al 90%, que superan las alcanzadas en procesos industriales utilizando poliacrilamidas como agente de retención. La pasta cationizada queda totalmente en la hoja, sin producir contaminación en las aguas drenadas

Standardization of in vitro digestibility and DIAAS method based on the static INFOGEST protocol

Resumen de la conferencia invitada presentada en el 7th International Conference on Food Digestion. Cork, Irlanda. 3-5 Mayo (2022

Evaluación de TuFormulas. Diseño y aplicación de indicadores para medir el impacto y la sostenibilidad de este recurso educativo como herramienta de enseñanza y aprendizaje

Depto. de Química en Ciencias FarmacéuticasFac. de FarmaciaFALSEsubmitte

Standardization of in vitro digestibility and DIAAS method based on the static INFOGEST protocol

Background: The FAO recommends the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) as the measure for protein quality, for which the true ileal digestibility needs to be assessed in humans or pigs. However, due to high costs and ethical concerns, the FAO strongly encourages as well the development of validated in vitro methods, which complement the in vivo experiments. Method: Recently, an in vitro workflow, based on the validated static INFOGEST protocol, was developed and compared towards in vivo data. In parallel to the validation with in vivo data, the repeatability and reproducibility of the in vitro protocol were tested in an international ring trial (RT) with the aim to establish an international ISO standard method within the International Dairy Federation (IDF). Five different dairy products (skim milk powder, whole milk powder, whey protein isolate, yoghurt, and cheese) were analyzed in 32 different laboratories from 18 different countries, across 4 continents. Results: in vitro protein digestibilities based on Nitrogen, free R-NH2, and total amino acids as well as DIAAS values were calculated and compared to in vivo data, where available. Conclusion: The in vitro method is suited for quantification of digestibility and will be further implemented to other food matricesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio