Odorico Konrad

Life cycle comparison of waste-to-energy alternatives for municipal waste treatment in Chilean Patagonia

The energy system in the Region of Aysén, Chile, is characterized by a strong dependence on fossil fuels, which account for up to 51% of the installed capacity. Although the implementation of waste-to-energy concepts in municipal waste management systems could support the establishment of a more fossil-independent energy system for the region, previous studies have concluded that energy recovery systems are not suitable from an economic perspective in Chile. Therefore, this work intends to evaluate these technical options from an environmental perspective, using life cycle assessment as a tool for a comparative analysis, considering Coyhaique city as a case study. Three technical alternatives were evaluated: (i) landfill gas recovery and flaring without energy recovery; (ii) landfill gas recovery and energy use; and (iii) the implementation of an anaerobic digestion system for the organic waste fraction coupled with energy recovery from the biogas produced. Mass and energy balances of the three analyzed alternatives have been modeled. The comparative LCA considered global warming potential, abiotic depletion and ozone layer depletion as impact categories, as well as required raw energy and produced energy as comparative regional-specific indicators. According to the results, the use of the recovered landfill gas as an energy source can be identified as the most environmentally appropriate solution for Coyhaique, especially when taking into consideration the global impact categories.

Lessons learned for a more efficient knowledge and technology transfer to South American countries in the fields of solid waste and contaminated sites management

The present paper describes the development, performance and conclusions derived from three know-how and technology transfer projects to South American countries. The first project comprised a collaborative study by European and South American universities to find sustainable solutions for Chilean and Ecuadorian leather tanneries which had underachieving process performances. The second project consisted of investigations carried out in a Brazilian municipality to enhance its municipal solid waste management system. The final collaborative programme dealt with the initial identification, evaluation and registration of suspected contaminated sites in an industrial region of Chile. The detailed objectives, methods and procedures applied as well as the results and conclusions obtained in each of the three mentioned projects are presented, giving special attention to the organizational aspects and to the practical approach of each programme, concluding with their main advantages and disadvantages for identifying a set of qualitative and quantitative suggestions, and to establish transferable methods for future applications.

Potential of biogas production from swine manure supplemented with glycerine waste

In this study, was studied the biogas generation from swine manure, using residual glycerine supplementation. The biogas production by digestion occurred in the anaerobic batch system under mesophilic conditions (35°C), with a hydraulic retention time of 48 days. The experiment was performed with 48 samples divided into four groups, from these, one was kept as a control (without glycerin) and the other three groups were respectively supplemented with residual glycerine in the percentage of 3%, 6% and 9% of the total volume of the samples. The volume of biogas was controlled by an automated system for reading in laboratory scale and the quality of the biogas (CH4) measured from a specific sensor. The results showed that the residual glycerine has high potential for biogas production, with increases of 124.95%, 156.98% and 197.83% in the groups 3%, 6% and 9%, respectively, relative to the sample control. However, very high organic loads can compromise the process of digestion affecting the quality of the biogas generated in relation to methane.

Potencial de Geração de Biogás a Partir da Suplementação de Óleo de Babaçu em Dejetos de Animais

O presente trabalho objetiva avaliar o comportamento e o potencial de geracao de biogas atraves do blend de dejetos de bovinos, suinos e aves quando suplementado com oleo de babacu. O uso de oleaginosas para fins energeticos em comunidades isoladas que nao possuem acesso as redes convencionais de distribuicao de energia eletrica esta sendo bastante discutido, uma vez que ha vasta disponibilidade destas biomassas na Regiao Amazonica e poucas atividades economicas sustentaveis em torno da mesma. O estudo foi desenvolvido no Laboratorio de Biorreatores do Centro Universitario UNIVATES, sendo a avaliacao da geracao de biogas realizada atraves de um dispositivo baseado no deslocamento de fluidos e na equacao combinada dos gases ideais, enquanto o teor de metano contido no biogas foi verificado atraves de um sensor especifico para este fim, denominado Advanced Gasmitter. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que a aplicacao de oleo de babacu (OB) em residuos agricolas melhora o rendimento de biogas e de metano, sendo que o tratamento suplementado com 7,5% de OB o qual obteve melhor desempenho.

Assessment and optimization of an ultrasound-assisted washing process using organic solvents for polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated soil.

The goal of this work was to evaluate a washing process that uses organic solutions for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated soil, and includes an ultrasound pre-treatment step to reduce operational times and organic solvent losses. In a preliminary trial, the suitability of 10 washing solutions of different polarities were tested, from which three n-hexane-based solutions were selected for further evaluation. A second set of experiments was designed using a three-level Taguchi L27 orthogonal array to model the desorption processes of seven different PCB congeners in terms of the variability of their PCB concentration levels, polarity of the washing solution, sonication time, the ratio washing solution/soil, number of extraction steps and total washing time. Linear models were developed for the desorption processes of all congeners. These models provide a good fit with the results obtained. Moreover, statistically significant outcomes were achieved from the analysis of variance tests carried out. It was determined that sonication time and ratio of washing solution/soil were the most influential process parameters. For this reason they were studied in a third set of experiments, constructed as a full factorial design. The process was eventually optimized, achieving desorption rates of more than 90% for all congeners, thus obtaining concentrations lower than 5 ppb in all cases. The use of an ultrasound-assisted soil washing process for PCB-contaminated soils that uses organic solvents seems therefore to be a viable option, especially with the incorporation of an extra step in the sonication process relating to temperature control, which is intended to prevent the loss of the lighter congeners.

ANÁLISE DA INFLUÊNCIA DO PRODUTO INTERNO BRUTO (PIB) E DA POPULAÇÃO URBANA NA GERAÇÃO PER CAPITA DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS EM MUNICÍPIOS DO INTERIOR DO RS, BRASIL

Este trabalho busca contribuir para a discussao de correlacionar a geracao de Residuos Solidos Municipais (RSU) com o Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) per capita em diferentes grupos de populacao urbana. Para determinar a geracao de RSU per capita, 25 municipios da regiao do Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil) foram amostrados durante um periodo de um ano. Os municipios foram divididos em quatro categorias de acordo com seu indice mensal per capita do PIB, e os dados obtidos revelaram uma influencia do PIB per capita na geracao de residuos solidos, indicando maior geracao de residuos no grupo de municipios com maior media do PIB per capita. Alem disso, foi verificada a influencia do numero de habitantes por municipio na geracao de residuos, e foi observado que a geracao media de residuos nos municipios com ate 5.000 habitantes na area urbana foi de 0,43 kg.inh -1 dia -1, e para o outro, na faixa de 5,001 a 21 mil habitantes, esse valor subiu para 0,53 kg.inh -1 dia -1, indicando que com o aumento da populacao urbana pode haver uma tendencia crescente na geracao de residuos per capita

Inventory data on Brazilian Amazon׳s non-wood native biomass sources for bioenergy production

This data article presents a set of non-wood native biomass sources identified for bioenergy production in isolated communities living in Amazon׳s extractive reserves. The data were inventoried using management plan documentation, which provides technical information on Amazon׳s protected areas. The sample was collected from a virtual database published by the Ministry of Environment, the federal body responsible for managing protected areas in Brazil. Five variables were extracted from the management plans to produce the inventory, which includes data on biomass typology, nomenclature and occurrence, as well as mode of access to communities and availability of energy sources in the protected areas.

EVALUATION OF WATER BALANCE AND EFFICIENCY OF A CONSTRUCTED WETLAND AS AN ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT FOR DOMESTIC WASTEWATER

This study aimed to evaluate how pluviometric precipitation and evapotranspiration interfere with the efficiency of a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland used for domestic wastewater treatment. The study was developed in two phases of six months, the first evaluated without the influence of pluviometric precipitation (SIPP) and the second exposed to pluviometric precipitation (IPP). The constructed wetland is subsurface, with horizontal flow, it is vegetated with macrophytes and occupied with stone chips (“rachao”), gravel and sand. The equipments used for the measurement of water balance were an analogical rain gauge and two water meters, while to evaluate the treatment efficacy, the analysis of OBD (Oxygen Biochemical Demand), NTK (Nitrogen Total Kjeldal) and Pt (Phosphorus total) were realized in laboratory. The results showed that in the phase IPP the water balance faced significant changes due to the pluviometric volumes and evapotranspiration. The average removal efficiencies in the phases SIPP and IPP were 67,3% e 66,8% for DBO, 40% and 21% for NTK and 34,8% and 17,6% for Pt, respectively. The study showed that pluviometric precipitation and evapotranspiration rates influence the water balance of a constructed wetland, providing variations in hydraulic retention time of the efluente, what, as a consequence, interferes with the efficiency of removal of polluting loads.

Composição gravimétrica dos resíduos sólidos destinados para uma central de triagem, compostagem e disposição final

A geracao de residuos solidos domesticos tem intensificado devido aos novos habitos de consumo e ao aumento populacional, dessa forma a preocupacao com o gerenciamento dos mesmos tem crescido. Nesse sentido, a caracterizacao gravimetrica, surge como uma importante ferramenta, pois, demostra os tipos e quantidades de residuos coletados, valorando-os em porcentagem com relacao a sua massa. O estudo caracterizou os residuos de um grupo de 30 municipios, abrangendo cerca de 95.000 habitantes. Constatou-se que a materia orgânica correspondia a 60,3% em peso do total de residuos destinados a central de triagem, compostagem e disposicao final, 18,2% destes residuos eram materiais reciclaveis e 21,5% rejeitos. Atraves do estudo, verificou-se que do total de residuos solidos domesticos coletados, aproximadamente 80% em peso eram passiveis de reaproveitamento.