Relevant chemical separations for the petrochemical and chemical industries include the removal of aromatic hydrocarbons from aliphatics, the desulfurization and denitrification of fuels, and the separation of azeotropic mixtures containing alkanols. In an attempt to contribute to the development of novel technologies, the potentialities of imidazolium chloride ionic liquid (IL) mixtures as separation agents were investigated. Selectivities, capacities, and solvent performance indices were calculated through the activity coefficients at infinite dilution of organic solutes and water in the imidazolium chloride IL: [C8mim]­Cl, [C12mim]­Cl, and the equimolar mixture of [C4mim]Cl and [C12mim]­Cl. Results show that the imidazolium chloride IL might be appropriately tailored for specific purposes, in which an increase in the proportion of cations containing larger alkyl chains tends to increase the overall affinity with organic solutes. The IL designer solvent concept was explored by comparing the IL equimolar mixture results with the intermediary [C8mim]­Cl. The COSMO-RS thermodynamic model was also applied, showing it to be a promising tool for a fast qualitative screening of potential separation agents for specific separation processes.

Many pharmaceuticals have been recently identified at trace levels worldwide in the aquatic environment. Among them, the highly consumed paracetamol (PCM), an analgesic and antipyretic drug, is largely being accumulated in the aquatic environment due to inefficient removal by conventional sewage treatment plants. This work deals with the treatment of PCM, used as a model pharmaceutical contaminant of emerging concern, by catalytic wet peroxide oxidation using clay-based materials as catalysts. The catalysts were prepared from natural clays, extracted from four different deposits using acid-activated treatment, calcination, and pillarization with Fe and Co. Pillared clays show the highest catalytic activity owing to the presence of metals, allowing to remove completely the PCM after 6 h under the following operating conditions: CPCM = 100 mg L−1, CH2O2 = 472 mg L−1, Ccat = 2.5 g L−1, initial pH = 3.5 and T = 80 °C. The prepared materials presented high stability since leached iron was measured at the end of reaction and found to be lower than 0.1 mg L−1.

RESUMO. Diariamente são geradas grandes quantidades de resíduos de frutas e verduras nos atacados, feiras e supermercados. A geração excessiva desses resíduos pode acarretar em danos para o meio ambiente. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo verificar a capacidade de biodegradação anaeróbia dos resíduos de frutas e verduras por meio do monitoramento da DQO e da relação C/N. Os resíduos depois de coletados, picados, triturados, inoculados com lodo de esgoto e caracterizados em termos de carbono orgânico, nitrogênio Kjeldahl e DQO solúvel e total, foram colocados em um biodigestor por 300 dias com monitoramento periódico. Os resultados obtidos permitem verificar que, durante os 300 dias de codigestão anaeróbia, não foi possível degradar a matéria orgânica do resíduo, o que foi evidenciado pelas baixas reduções de carbono e pelas baixas remoções de DQO, fato que provavelmente se deve ao aspecto físico da mistura dos resíduos. Acredita-se que a diluição do resíduo ou a adição de mais inoculante ao meio facilitaria o processo de biodigestão.Palavras-chave: tratamento, frutas e verduras, degradação, biodigestão.ABSTRACT. Evaluation of the COD and the C/N ratio in the anaerobic treatment of fruit and vegetable wastes. Daily, there are generated large quantities of fruit and vegetable wastes on wholesale fruit and vegetable markets, local orthofruit shops and supermarkets. The excessive generation of these wastes can cause environmental problems. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the anaerobic biodegradation of fruit and vegetable wastes by the COD and C/N ratio monitoring. The wastes were collected in a central distribution market for food, shredded, blended, inoculated with sewage sludge and characterized. The waste was characterized in terms of organic carbon, soluble and total COD and Kjeldahl nitrogen, so it was put in an anaerobic reactor for the biological degradation that was monitored during 300 days. The results show that during the experiment, the degradation of the organic material wasn't possible, because of the low COD and C/N ratio removal. Probably, this fact was caused by the physical aspect of the waste, such as a semi-solid paste. A dilution or the addition of higher concentrations of sewage sludge could facilitate the biodigestion process.Keywords: treatment, fruits and vegetables, degradation, biodigestion. IntroduçãoDiariamente são geradas grandes quantidades de resíduos de frutas e verduras nos atacados, feiras e supermercados, seja no transporte ou na perda da qualidade de material comercializável. A geração excessiva desses resíduos pode acarretar em danos para o meio ambiente, tais como proliferação de vetores, maus odores e diferentes formas de poluição.A alta quantidade de matéria orgânica presente no lixo urbano permite a conversão desses resíduos a um estado em que possam ser manuseados e reutilizados sem efeitos adversos ao ambiente. Esses resíduos podem ser facilmente tratados por processos biológicos como compostagem ou digestão anaeróbia, sendo convertidos em ad...

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