The global nitrogen cycle has been disrupted by large anthropogenic inputs of reactive nitrogen to the environment. Excess nitrogen underlies environmental problems such as eutrophication, and can negatively affect human health. Managing the natural microbial process of denitrification is advocated as a promising avenue to reduce excess nitrogen, and denitrifying bioreactors (DNBRs) are an emerging technology harnessing this biochemical process. Previous DNBR research has established successful nitrate removal, whereas this study examines the potential to expand DNBR functionality to address excess phosphorus and mitigate the production of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Results from a laboratory experiment supported the hypothesis that the addition of biochar, a charcoal-like soil amendment and novel organic carbon source in DNBR research, would increase nitrate and phosphorus removal as well as decrease the accumulation of nitrous oxide, an intermediate product of microbial denitrification. In order more closely examine the ratio of the products nitrous oxide and inert dinitrogen, development of a novel analytical method to quantify dissolved gases in environmental water samples using gas chromatography mass spectrometry was undertaken. Although static headspace analysis is a common technique for quantifying dissolved volatiles, the variation in sample preparation has recently been revealed to affect the determination of dissolved concentrations of permanent gases and convolute comparison between studies. This work demonstrates the viability of internal calibration with gaseous standard addition to make dissolved gas analysis more robust to variable sample processing and to correct for matrix effects on gas partitioning that may occur in environmental samples. / Master of Science

Submitted by Tony Rogerio de Lima Dadamos null (tonyrlrl@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-02-20T16:25:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_AU_TRLD_2018.pdf: 2071412 bytes, checksum: ba59227c90cba94171f8548d07346f1a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Elza Mitiko Sato null (elzasato@ibilce.unesp.br) on 2018-02-21T19:00:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dadamos_trl_dr_sjrp.pdf: 2071412 bytes, checksum: ba59227c90cba94171f8548d07346f1a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-21T19:00:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dadamos_trl_dr_sjrp.pdf: 2071412 bytes, checksum: ba59227c90cba94171f8548d07346f1a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-01-24 / Este trabalho apresenta metodologias de desenvolvimento, otimização, e validação de procedimentos de medição eletroquímica de parâmetros bioquímicos em fluidos biológicos. As ferramentas desenvolvidas foram aplicadas à medição voltamétrica, simples e de baixo custo de ácido úrico (AU) em soro humano que se apresenta como uma alternativa confiável às medições realizadas pelo método de referência espectrofométrico. Foi estudada a medição de AU no soro visto a ser utilizada no diagnóstico de várias doenças, tais como gota, doenças cardiovasculares e neoplasias. O eletrodo de trabalho modificado desenvolvido e otimizado é composto por 25 % de lignina, 60 % de nanografite, 15 % de óleo mineral e cobre metálico eletrodepositado. As medições foram realizadas por um método de adição cumulativa de padrão (MAP-C), recorrendo a um novo tratamento estatístico dos dados de calibração, que permite a calibração da instrumentação num pequeno volume de soro. A incerteza da medição foi estimada recorrendo a diversas abordagens bottom-up desenvolvidas e usando abordagens pragmáticas top-down apresentadas na bibliografia. As componentes de incerteza foram combinadas usando a Lei de Propagação de Incertezas ou os métodos numéricos de Kragten e Monte Carlo. Procedeu-se igualmente a uma avaliação bayesiana da incerteza da medição que envolve a atualização de dados da prevalência de ácido úrico na população com o resultado da medição do soro específico analisado. Os modelos metrológicos desenvolvidos foram implementados em folhas de cálculo MSExcel de fácil utilização pelo analista. As avaliações bottom-up da incerteza da medição recorreram a estimativas da incerteza de extrapolação produzidas pelo modelo de regressão ou usando simulações de Monte Carlo aplicáveis quando os pressupostos do modelo de regressão não são cumpridos. O método de adição cumulativa de padrão foi aplicado com sucesso à análise de soro humano pela adição de 1,0, 3,0, 5,0, 7,0 e 9,0 mg dL-1 de AU a 5 mL de soro. A adequação da qualidade das medições eletroquímicas foi avaliada comparando sua incerteza com um valor alvo de 0,56 mg dL-1 (uma oitava parte das faixas de AU de indivíduos saudáveis) e avaliado a compatibilidades das medições com determinações realizadas pelo procedimento de referência. As medições realizadas revelaram-se válidas e com menor custo do que as produzidas pelo método de referência. As ferramentas desenvolvidas para a construção e otimização de eletrodos de trabalho são aplicáveis à medição de outras espécies de análise e em outras matrizes. O método de adição cumulativa de padrão desenvolvido, bem como os modelos de medição respectivos desenvolvidos, são aplicáveis a qualquer tipo de medição instrumental não destrutiva de soluções. / This work presents methodologies for the development, optimization and validation of procedures for the electrochemical measurement of biochemical parameters in biological fluids. The developed tools were applied to voltammetric, simple and low-cost measurements of uric acid (AU) in human serum, which proved to be a reliable alternative to the spectrophotometric reference method. It was studied the measurement of AU in serum since it is used in the diagnosis of various diseases, such as gout, cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms. The developed and optimized modified working electrode is composed of 25 % lignin, 60 % nanocarbon, 15 % mineral oil and electrodeposited copper. The measurements were performed using a cumulative standard addition method (MAP-C), using a new statistical treatment of the calibration data, which allows the calibration of the instrumentation in a small volume of serum. The measurement uncertainty was estimated using developed bottom-up approaches and using pragmatic top-down approaches presented in the literature. The uncertainty components were combined using the Uncertainty Propagation Law or the numerical Kragten and Monte Carlo methods. A bayesian evaluation of the measurement uncertainty was performed, involving the updating of uric acid prevalence in the population with the result of the measurement of AU in the specific serum sample. The developed metrological models were implemented in user-friendly MS-Excel spreadsheets. The bottom-up assessments of measurements uncertainty involve the estimation of the extrapolation uncertainty from the regression model or using Monte Carlo simulations applicable to when the assumptions of the regression model are not valid. The cumulative standard addition method was successfully applied to the analysis of human serum by adding 1.0, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0 and 9.0 mg dL-1 of AU to 5 mL of serum. The adequacy of the electrochemical measurements was assessed by comparing their uncertainty with a target value of 0.56 mg dL-1 (one-eighth of the range of AU in healthy individuals) and by evaluating the compatibility of measurements with determinations performed by the reference procedure. The performed measurements are valid and significantly cheaper than those produced by the reference method. The tools developed for the construction and optimization of working electrodes are applicable to the measurement of other analytes and matrices. The developed cumulative standard addition method and respective measurement models, are applicable to any kind of non-destructive chemical measurement of a solution.

L’application de la photoluminescence suscite un intérêt croissant de la part des chercheurs et ceci dans de nombreux domaines. Dans notre cas, différents complexes à base de lanthanide seront détectés par une méthode spectrophotométrique avancée, la fluorescence résolue en temps. Ces derniers peuvent être ainsi détectés même à l’état de traces au sein des milieux complexes tel que ceux rencontrés dans l’industrie pétrolière (saumures, traces de pétrole, éléments solides en suspension, etc.). L'utilisation de la détection de fluorescence résolue en temps combinée à des complexes de lanthanides a été démontrée comme une stratégie simple et efficace pour éliminer la fluorescence de fond des matrices présentes dans le milieu étudié et fournir un rapport signal sur bruit élevé. Le sujet de cette thèse consiste à répondre avec les outils précédents à différentes problématique existants au sein de l’industrie pétrolière, de l’extraction du pétrole au processus de marquage de différents produits raffinés à des fins commerciales. Dans la première partie du manuscrit décrira différents protocoles capables d’extraire de l’information de différents additifs chimiques employés sur les champs pétrolifères lors de l’extraction de pétrole et de gaz. Les additifs en questions peuvent être des inhibiteurs de dépôts minéraux, des inhibiteurs de corrosion, des polymères viscoélastiques, dans différentes eaux de synthèse et de production issues de différentes plateformes. Les impacts de certains facteurs ont été analysés afin d’améliorer la sensibilité et les performances. Nous démontrerons la possibilité de quantifier avec succès la teneur résiduelle de différents types d'additifs chimiques. L'effet de matrice de l’échantillon a été limité par le développement de deux stratégies d'addition standard. Nous montrerons par ailleurs qu’il est possible de quantifier la présence non seulement d’un additif mais encore, dans certaines situations optimisées, de deux additifs en mélange. Outre la détermination de la concentration en additifs chimiques, nous présenterons également une méthode permettant de déterminer l’anionicité d’un polymère en milieu complexe. Dans la deuxième partie du document, nous détaillerons le développement de complexes de lanthanides utilisés en tant que marqueurs ainsi que la méthode de détection par fluorescence résolue en temps visant à la lutte contre la contrefaçon de différents pétroles bruts et de carburants raffinés. La synthèse et le processus d’incorporation de trois types de marqueurs de photoluminescence et leur stabilité dans différents carburants seront ensuite discutés. Les résultats obtenus démontrent qu’il est possible, à l’aide de cette technologie de marquage, de détecter efficacement les fraudes à la taxe dans les carburants, même à haute dilution. Ces travaux présente potentiellement un fort impact dans les domaines académiques comme industriels. Toutes les études se concentrent sur la mise au point d’une procédure simple, qui fournit une sensibilité élevée permettant de réduire le coût de production et qui repose sur l’emploi du fluorimètre résolu en temps Inibox™ développé pendant ma thèse pour porter sur le terrain les technologies développé au laboratoire / The application of photoluminescence is receiving an increasing interest from researchers coming from many fields. The previous laboratory works introduced a time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) detection method for the quantification of chemicals in complex medium (petroleum, production brine, and synthetic sea water) tagged with lanthanides, the additives form complexes that exhibit specific TRF signal which overcomes autofluorescence of sample and provide a high signal to noise ratio. The subject of this thesis concerns the development of specific methods based on patented technique to answer problematics arising in the oil industry from the extraction of crude product to the distribution of fuels. In the first part of the document, we focus on the monitoring of residual amount of chemical additives such as scale inhibitors, corrosion inhibitors, viscoelastic polymers in different synthetic and production waters. The impacts of some key factors were analyzed in order to improve the sensitivity and performance, also proves that under optimized conditions it is possible to quantify simultaneously two products in the same matrix. We successfully quantified various types of chemical additives with satisfying precision. Furthermore, the matrix effect was controlled by the development of two standard addition strategies. In addition to the determination of the concentration of chemical additives, we will also introduce a method to determine the anionicity of a polymer in difficult conditions. In the second part of the manuscript we follow the development of lanthanide complex markers and their detection for anti-counterfeiting on different crude oils and refined fuels. The synthesis, incorporation process and stability of three types of photoluminescence markers in different fuels have been discussed. The obtained results will prove that the technology can be used to detect fraud on fuels. This work has a potential great impact for both the academic and industrial domains. All studies focus on the creation of a simple procedure, with high sensitivity and low cost. All method are relying in the end on a specific field apparatus developed during my thesis to support the exportation of the technologies from the laboratory to the industry: The Inibox™