A indústria de software tem características peculiares, seu produto é imaterial, seu caracter é pervasivo e necessita de mão-de-obra bastante específica, mesmo assim sua indústria se concentra em aglomerações produtivas, muitas em locais sem tradição na indústria tecnológica. Este trabalho tem como propósito inicial investigar a aglomeração de empresas de software que caracterizam estes polos produtivos. Para isso foram pesquisados aglomerações de empresas de software no estado de Santa Catarina. Seguindo a metodologia proposta por Paul Krugman foram localizados 5 polos de software nas cidades de Blumenau, Chapecó, Criciúma, Florianópolis e Joinville. Nestes locais buscou-se os fatores relacionados ao surgimento das primeiras empresas e procurou-se por associações de representação da indústria e empresários pioneiros aos quais foram questionadas variáveis relacionadas a emergência destes polos. A questão da aglomeração das indústrias foi vista considerando elementos da emergência que, entre outras características, apresenta as aglomerações como consequência das micro interações entre os atores que geram um comportamento macro e visível. Levou-se em consideração também questões estruturais relacionadas principalmente a governo, indústria e universidade e suas influências nos processos de consolidação destes polos. O estudo identificou que os primeiros polos tiveram grande parte do seu sucesso relacionado a micro interações entre os atores a partir de empresas pioneiras enquanto que em polos mais novos a importância da Universidade e do fomento governamental foram fundamentais. / The software industry has unique characteristics, her product is immaterial, her character is pervasive and requires rather specific workforce, yet the industry concentrates on productive clusters, many in places with no tradition in the technology industry. This paper aims to investigate the agglomeration of software companies that characterize these production clusters. For this purpose agglomerations of software companies in the state of Santa Catarina were researched. Following the methodology proposed by Paul Krugman five software centers were located in the cities of Blumenau, Chapecó, Criciúma, Florianópolis and Joinville. In these clusters we sought factors related to the appearance of the first companies and look for representation associations, the industry pioneers and entrepreneurs who have been questioned variables related to the emergence of these clusters. The issue of agglomeration of industries was seen considering elements of emergency, that among other characteristics, presents the clusters as a result of micro interactions between the actors that generate a macro and visible behavior. It was taken into consideration also structural issues related primarily to government, industry and university and its influence on the processes of consolidation of these clusters. The study identified that the first’s clusters had much of its success related to micro interactions between the actors from the pioneers at the poles while in the younger clusters the importance of University and government were fundamental.

As aglomerações industriais permitem que pequenas e médias empresas consigam competir e sobreviver no mercado dinâmico e globalizado. Contudo, a pressão social e regulamentar tem imposto limites a este modelo obrigando-o a adotar caminhos mais sustentáveis de crescimento. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo geral analisar a temática de aglomerações industriais sob a ótica da sustentabilidade, contemplando as suas dimensões econômica, ambiental e social. Para tanto, se propõe a: i) definir e apresentar o conceito de aglomerações industriais, caracterizar como ocorre a sustentabilidade nas mesmas e comparar as diferenças entre os distritos industriais tradicionais e os eco parques industriais; ii) analisar a percepção dos servidores públicos da SDPI quanto à temática dos distritos industriais, bem como quanto à temática da sustentabilidade nos mesmos; iii) sintetizar e apresentar o projeto do Eco Parque Industrial de Candiota que está em fase de desenvolvimento, caracterizando sua operacionalização e realizando uma análise quanto ao seu alinhamento aos referenciais teóricos identificados na literatura. Por aglomerações industriais entende-se como indústrias que agregam-se a outras por meio de relações intra ou extraterritoriais, que levam ao surgimento de relações de concorrência e/ou cooperação que conferem dinamismo ao grupo e permitem que ele se desenvolva e propicie vantagens econômicas e mercadológicas às empresas que o integram. Para que elas sejam sustentáveis devem respeitar ao tripé da sustentabilidade, que tem como bases o desenvolvimento econômico, sem causar impactos no ambiente e promovendo melhorias sociais. Verificou-se que a percepção dos servidores da SDPI quanto à sustentabilidade limitou-se no atendimento aos aspectos ambientais. Com isso, foi apresentado o projeto do Eco Parque Industrial de Candiota que visa o atendimento à sustentabilidade quanto aso seus aspectos sociais, ambientais e econômicos. Por fim, foi possível constatar que uma aglomeração industrial pode ser sustentável, contanto que seja planejada para essa finalidade. / Industrial agglomerations allow small and medium enterprises able to compete and survive in the dynamic and global marketplace. However, the society and regulatory pressure has imposed limits to this model forcing him to adopt more sustainable growth paths. This work has as main objective to analyze the theme of industrial agglomeration from the perspective of sustainability, considering its economic, environmental and social dimensions. To this end, it proposes to: i) define and introduce the concept of industrial agglomeration, characterize how sustainability occurs on the same and compare the differences between the traditional industrial districts and eco parks industrials; ii) analyze the perception of servants of the SDPI regarding theme of industrial districts, as well as the theme of sustainability in them; iii) summarize and present the design of the Eco Park Industrial Candiota which is under development, featuring its operation and performing an analysis as to its alignment with the theoretical frameworks identified in the literature. For industrial agglomerations is understood as industries that add to others through intra or extra territorial relations, leading to the emergence of competitive relations and/or cooperation that give dynamism to the group and allow it to develop and fosters economic advantages and marketing to companies within it. To be sustainable they must comply with the triple bottom line, which has bases as economic development, without impacting on the environment and promoting social improvement. It was found that the perception of the SDPI servers on sustainability was limited in meeting the environmental aspects. Thus, the design of the Eco Industrial Park Candiota aimed at compliance with sustainability as also their social, environmental and economic aspects was presented. Finally, it was found that an industrial agglomeration can be sustainable as long as it planned for this purpose.

As aglomerações industriais permitem que pequenas e médias empresas consigam competir e sobreviver no mercado dinâmico e globalizado. Contudo, a pressão social e regulamentar tem imposto limites a este modelo obrigando-o a adotar caminhos mais sustentáveis de crescimento. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo geral analisar a temática de aglomerações industriais sob a ótica da sustentabilidade, contemplando as suas dimensões econômica, ambiental e social. Para tanto, se propõe a: i) definir e apresentar o conceito de aglomerações industriais, caracterizar como ocorre a sustentabilidade nas mesmas e comparar as diferenças entre os distritos industriais tradicionais e os eco parques industriais; ii) analisar a percepção dos servidores públicos da SDPI quanto à temática dos distritos industriais, bem como quanto à temática da sustentabilidade nos mesmos; iii) sintetizar e apresentar o projeto do Eco Parque Industrial de Candiota que está em fase de desenvolvimento, caracterizando sua operacionalização e realizando uma análise quanto ao seu alinhamento aos referenciais teóricos identificados na literatura. Por aglomerações industriais entende-se como indústrias que agregam-se a outras por meio de relações intra ou extraterritoriais, que levam ao surgimento de relações de concorrência e/ou cooperação que conferem dinamismo ao grupo e permitem que ele se desenvolva e propicie vantagens econômicas e mercadológicas às empresas que o integram. Para que elas sejam sustentáveis devem respeitar ao tripé da sustentabilidade, que tem como bases o desenvolvimento econômico, sem causar impactos no ambiente e promovendo melhorias sociais. Verificou-se que a percepção dos servidores da SDPI quanto à sustentabilidade limitou-se no atendimento aos aspectos ambientais. Com isso, foi apresentado o projeto do Eco Parque Industrial de Candiota que visa o atendimento à sustentabilidade quanto aso seus aspectos sociais, ambientais e econômicos. Por fim, foi possível constatar que uma aglomeração industrial pode ser sustentável, contanto que seja planejada para essa finalidade. / Industrial agglomerations allow small and medium enterprises able to compete and survive in the dynamic and global marketplace. However, the society and regulatory pressure has imposed limits to this model forcing him to adopt more sustainable growth paths. This work has as main objective to analyze the theme of industrial agglomeration from the perspective of sustainability, considering its economic, environmental and social dimensions. To this end, it proposes to: i) define and introduce the concept of industrial agglomeration, characterize how sustainability occurs on the same and compare the differences between the traditional industrial districts and eco parks industrials; ii) analyze the perception of servants of the SDPI regarding theme of industrial districts, as well as the theme of sustainability in them; iii) summarize and present the design of the Eco Park Industrial Candiota which is under development, featuring its operation and performing an analysis as to its alignment with the theoretical frameworks identified in the literature. For industrial agglomerations is understood as industries that add to others through intra or extra territorial relations, leading to the emergence of competitive relations and/or cooperation that give dynamism to the group and allow it to develop and fosters economic advantages and marketing to companies within it. To be sustainable they must comply with the triple bottom line, which has bases as economic development, without impacting on the environment and promoting social improvement. It was found that the perception of the SDPI servers on sustainability was limited in meeting the environmental aspects. Thus, the design of the Eco Industrial Park Candiota aimed at compliance with sustainability as also their social, environmental and economic aspects was presented. Finally, it was found that an industrial agglomeration can be sustainable as long as it planned for this purpose.

A indústria de software tem características peculiares, seu produto é imaterial, seu caracter é pervasivo e necessita de mão-de-obra bastante específica, mesmo assim sua indústria se concentra em aglomerações produtivas, muitas em locais sem tradição na indústria tecnológica. Este trabalho tem como propósito inicial investigar a aglomeração de empresas de software que caracterizam estes polos produtivos. Para isso foram pesquisados aglomerações de empresas de software no estado de Santa Catarina. Seguindo a metodologia proposta por Paul Krugman foram localizados 5 polos de software nas cidades de Blumenau, Chapecó, Criciúma, Florianópolis e Joinville. Nestes locais buscou-se os fatores relacionados ao surgimento das primeiras empresas e procurou-se por associações de representação da indústria e empresários pioneiros aos quais foram questionadas variáveis relacionadas a emergência destes polos. A questão da aglomeração das indústrias foi vista considerando elementos da emergência que, entre outras características, apresenta as aglomerações como consequência das micro interações entre os atores que geram um comportamento macro e visível. Levou-se em consideração também questões estruturais relacionadas principalmente a governo, indústria e universidade e suas influências nos processos de consolidação destes polos. O estudo identificou que os primeiros polos tiveram grande parte do seu sucesso relacionado a micro interações entre os atores a partir de empresas pioneiras enquanto que em polos mais novos a importância da Universidade e do fomento governamental foram fundamentais. / The software industry has unique characteristics, her product is immaterial, her character is pervasive and requires rather specific workforce, yet the industry concentrates on productive clusters, many in places with no tradition in the technology industry. This paper aims to investigate the agglomeration of software companies that characterize these production clusters. For this purpose agglomerations of software companies in the state of Santa Catarina were researched. Following the methodology proposed by Paul Krugman five software centers were located in the cities of Blumenau, Chapecó, Criciúma, Florianópolis and Joinville. In these clusters we sought factors related to the appearance of the first companies and look for representation associations, the industry pioneers and entrepreneurs who have been questioned variables related to the emergence of these clusters. The issue of agglomeration of industries was seen considering elements of emergency, that among other characteristics, presents the clusters as a result of micro interactions between the actors that generate a macro and visible behavior. It was taken into consideration also structural issues related primarily to government, industry and university and its influence on the processes of consolidation of these clusters. The study identified that the first’s clusters had much of its success related to micro interactions between the actors from the pioneers at the poles while in the younger clusters the importance of University and government were fundamental.

A indústria de software tem características peculiares, seu produto é imaterial, seu caracter é pervasivo e necessita de mão-de-obra bastante específica, mesmo assim sua indústria se concentra em aglomerações produtivas, muitas em locais sem tradição na indústria tecnológica. Este trabalho tem como propósito inicial investigar a aglomeração de empresas de software que caracterizam estes polos produtivos. Para isso foram pesquisados aglomerações de empresas de software no estado de Santa Catarina. Seguindo a metodologia proposta por Paul Krugman foram localizados 5 polos de software nas cidades de Blumenau, Chapecó, Criciúma, Florianópolis e Joinville. Nestes locais buscou-se os fatores relacionados ao surgimento das primeiras empresas e procurou-se por associações de representação da indústria e empresários pioneiros aos quais foram questionadas variáveis relacionadas a emergência destes polos. A questão da aglomeração das indústrias foi vista considerando elementos da emergência que, entre outras características, apresenta as aglomerações como consequência das micro interações entre os atores que geram um comportamento macro e visível. Levou-se em consideração também questões estruturais relacionadas principalmente a governo, indústria e universidade e suas influências nos processos de consolidação destes polos. O estudo identificou que os primeiros polos tiveram grande parte do seu sucesso relacionado a micro interações entre os atores a partir de empresas pioneiras enquanto que em polos mais novos a importância da Universidade e do fomento governamental foram fundamentais. / The software industry has unique characteristics, her product is immaterial, her character is pervasive and requires rather specific workforce, yet the industry concentrates on productive clusters, many in places with no tradition in the technology industry. This paper aims to investigate the agglomeration of software companies that characterize these production clusters. For this purpose agglomerations of software companies in the state of Santa Catarina were researched. Following the methodology proposed by Paul Krugman five software centers were located in the cities of Blumenau, Chapecó, Criciúma, Florianópolis and Joinville. In these clusters we sought factors related to the appearance of the first companies and look for representation associations, the industry pioneers and entrepreneurs who have been questioned variables related to the emergence of these clusters. The issue of agglomeration of industries was seen considering elements of emergency, that among other characteristics, presents the clusters as a result of micro interactions between the actors that generate a macro and visible behavior. It was taken into consideration also structural issues related primarily to government, industry and university and its influence on the processes of consolidation of these clusters. The study identified that the first’s clusters had much of its success related to micro interactions between the actors from the pioneers at the poles while in the younger clusters the importance of University and government were fundamental.

As aglomerações industriais permitem que pequenas e médias empresas consigam competir e sobreviver no mercado dinâmico e globalizado. Contudo, a pressão social e regulamentar tem imposto limites a este modelo obrigando-o a adotar caminhos mais sustentáveis de crescimento. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo geral analisar a temática de aglomerações industriais sob a ótica da sustentabilidade, contemplando as suas dimensões econômica, ambiental e social. Para tanto, se propõe a: i) definir e apresentar o conceito de aglomerações industriais, caracterizar como ocorre a sustentabilidade nas mesmas e comparar as diferenças entre os distritos industriais tradicionais e os eco parques industriais; ii) analisar a percepção dos servidores públicos da SDPI quanto à temática dos distritos industriais, bem como quanto à temática da sustentabilidade nos mesmos; iii) sintetizar e apresentar o projeto do Eco Parque Industrial de Candiota que está em fase de desenvolvimento, caracterizando sua operacionalização e realizando uma análise quanto ao seu alinhamento aos referenciais teóricos identificados na literatura. Por aglomerações industriais entende-se como indústrias que agregam-se a outras por meio de relações intra ou extraterritoriais, que levam ao surgimento de relações de concorrência e/ou cooperação que conferem dinamismo ao grupo e permitem que ele se desenvolva e propicie vantagens econômicas e mercadológicas às empresas que o integram. Para que elas sejam sustentáveis devem respeitar ao tripé da sustentabilidade, que tem como bases o desenvolvimento econômico, sem causar impactos no ambiente e promovendo melhorias sociais. Verificou-se que a percepção dos servidores da SDPI quanto à sustentabilidade limitou-se no atendimento aos aspectos ambientais. Com isso, foi apresentado o projeto do Eco Parque Industrial de Candiota que visa o atendimento à sustentabilidade quanto aso seus aspectos sociais, ambientais e econômicos. Por fim, foi possível constatar que uma aglomeração industrial pode ser sustentável, contanto que seja planejada para essa finalidade. / Industrial agglomerations allow small and medium enterprises able to compete and survive in the dynamic and global marketplace. However, the society and regulatory pressure has imposed limits to this model forcing him to adopt more sustainable growth paths. This work has as main objective to analyze the theme of industrial agglomeration from the perspective of sustainability, considering its economic, environmental and social dimensions. To this end, it proposes to: i) define and introduce the concept of industrial agglomeration, characterize how sustainability occurs on the same and compare the differences between the traditional industrial districts and eco parks industrials; ii) analyze the perception of servants of the SDPI regarding theme of industrial districts, as well as the theme of sustainability in them; iii) summarize and present the design of the Eco Park Industrial Candiota which is under development, featuring its operation and performing an analysis as to its alignment with the theoretical frameworks identified in the literature. For industrial agglomerations is understood as industries that add to others through intra or extra territorial relations, leading to the emergence of competitive relations and/or cooperation that give dynamism to the group and allow it to develop and fosters economic advantages and marketing to companies within it. To be sustainable they must comply with the triple bottom line, which has bases as economic development, without impacting on the environment and promoting social improvement. It was found that the perception of the SDPI servers on sustainability was limited in meeting the environmental aspects. Thus, the design of the Eco Industrial Park Candiota aimed at compliance with sustainability as also their social, environmental and economic aspects was presented. Finally, it was found that an industrial agglomeration can be sustainable as long as it planned for this purpose.

Orientadores: Florencia Cecilia Menegali, Gustavo Cesar Dacanal / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-17T15:47:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Hirata_TalitaAkemiMedeiros_M.pdf: 4514869 bytes, checksum: b65281144cb361473556f15e38d9a709 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Com o aumento da variedade de produtos em pó, produzidos por diversas indústrias alimentícias, há a necessidade de informações detalhadas a respeito do seu manuseio e processamento voltadas para a aplicação em diversos produtos alimentares. O aumento do tamanho de partículas finas pelo processo de aglomeração em leito fluidizado proporciona benefícios que incluem redução de perdas de finos e perigo ou desconforto na manipulação, e principalmente, melhoria das propriedades de instantaneização do pó, por exemplo, solubilidade, dispersão em líquidos etc. Os leitos fluidizados pulsados possuem uma série de vantagens em relação aos leitos convencionais, podendo-se destacar a fácil fluidização de partículas irregulares com tamanhos distintos. A pectina é muito conhecida como agente geleificante e vem sendo utilizada na forma de pó. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as modificações nas propriedades físicas da pectina em pó produzida por aglomeração em leito fluidizado pulsado. As condições ótimas de processo foram obtidas por meio de planejamento experimental, ou delineamento composto central 24. As variáveis estudadas foram temperatura do ar, vazão de ligante, velocidade de fluidização do ar e frequência de pulsação do ar. Obteve-se um rendimento no processo superior a 80% e o aumento de tamanho da partícula foi de quase 340%. O produto foi caracterizado por análises de umidade, instantaneização, dissolução, morfologia, distribuição do tamanho da partícula e do diâmetro médio, fluidez e fragilidade do aglomerado. O aglomerado se mostrou mais poroso e irregular comparado com a matéria-prima que é mais compacta e circular. As partículas aglomeradas apresentaram melhora na aparência, na fluidez, bem como nas propriedades de instantaneização e dissolução. Verificou-se também que a tensão na ruptura e o módulo de elasticidade do gel formado pelo produto aglomerado foram superiores ao gel da matéria-prima / Abstract: The agglomeration of food powders is commonly used to produce porous granules with higher wettability and dispersability. The agglomeration process promotes the particles enlargement and reduction of fines and result in some benefits, including lower rates of particles elutriation and danger reduction in handling or inhalation. Fluid bed agglomeration is commonly used to improve the instant properties of spray-dried food powders. However, the fluidization of spray-dried particles is characterized by cracks and channels. The pulsed fluid bed has some advantages over the conventional fluid bed equipment, including easy fluidization of irregular particles of different sizes. Pectin is widely used in the food industries as a gelling agent and has been used in powder form. The aim of this work was to study the changes in the physical properties of pectin powder produced by agglomeration in pulsed fluidized bed. The optimal process conditions were obtained by a full factorial design 24. The variables studied were fluidizing air temperature, binder flow rate, fluidizing air velocity and air pulsation frequency. Agglomerated process presented a process yield above 80% and an increase of almost 340% in the mean particle diameter. The product was characterized by moisture, wettability, dissolution, morphology, particle size distribution and mean diameter, fluidity and fragility of the agglomerated. The agglomerated was more porous and irregular compared with the raw material that is more compact and circular. The agglomerated particles showed an improvement in appearance, fluidity and the properties of wettability and dissolution. It was also found that the stress at fracture and modulus of elasticity of the gel formed by the agglomerated product were higher than the gel obtained from the raw material / Mestrado / Mestre em Engenharia de Alimentos

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Hikaru H. Peterson / The geographic distribution and structure of the U.S. dairy industry have changed considerably during the last 30 years with larger herds representing an increasing proportion of the nation’s overall dairy cow inventory and producing a greater share of the milk. Geographically, the migration of dairies from traditional production regions to states formerly unfamiliar with dairy production has transpired with the greatest increases in Federal Milk Marketing Order marketings occurring in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas and Southwest Kansas since the 1980’s. This study seeks to define the factors influencing the dairy location decision applying spatial econometric techniques. To examine the effects of county-specific demographic, environmental, and market factors as well as to test for the influence of spatial agglomeration economies on the geographic distribution of the U.S. dairy industry, a spatially explicit, county-level model of the dairy production sector was developed. Quantities of milk marketed through the Federal Milk Marketing Order during the month of May for counties in 45 states during 1997 and 2002 were specified as a function of natural endowments, business climate, production resource availability, milk price, and market access. The model was estimated according to spatial autoregressive (spatially lagged dependent variable) and spatial Durbin (lagged dependent and independent variables) specifications accounting for the censored nature of the dependent variable and heteroskedastic errors. Based on RMSE, the spatial error model was selected to make out of sample predictions for 2004. The change in milk marketings between 1997 and 2002 was regressed on the 1997 independent variables using non-Tobit versions of the same models with limited success. Results indicated a small but statistically significant presence of spatial agglomeration effects in the dairy industry in both 1997 and 2002 and revealed changes in the degrees of influence of several variables between the two periods examined. Population and the wages of agricultural workers became significant in 2002, while the elasticities of feed availability diminished, consistent with an increase in western-style dairy production. Interestingly, the spatial parameter decreased from 0.052 in 1997 to 0.028 in 2002 suggesting spatial agglomeration economies had a diminishing role in determining the amount of milk marketed in a county.

La bauxite est un minerai utilisé pour l’élaboration de l’aluminium ou en tant que matière première pour les ciments techniques. Elle est employée, sous sa forme naturelle, en blocs. Ces blocs se font de nos jours de plus en plus rares et leur manutention peut entraîner des pertes sous formes de poussières non valorisées. L’objectif de ce projet est de recycler ces fines particules minérales sous forme de compactés afin d’améliorer l’usage des ressources naturelles minérales qui se raréfient. Ces compactés sont obtenus par compression directe puis avec un procédé innovant couplant vibration et compression. La poudre de bauxite est mélangée à du ciment et de l’eau, puis subit une phase de compaction. Ces compactés doivent avoir des propriétés spécifiques en termes de masse volumique, porosité et résistance mécanique. La micro-tomographie à rayons X est utilisée pour décrire le réarrangement granulaire et l’homogénéité 3D des porosités. La distribution poreuse est caractérisée par analyse d’image et comparée avec les résultats de porosimétrie mercure. Cette étude concernant l’évolution des paramètres texturaux des compactés amène une compréhension des phénomènes liés à la phase de compression. Le stockage et la maturation de ces compactés sous température et humidité contrôlées ont également été étudiés. L’optimisation des paramètres de compression et de formulation, comme la quantité d’eau ou de ciment dans le mélange et la pression de compression, a mené à l’amélioration des propriétés des compactés. Dans un second temps, la phase de compression et les propriétés des compactés ont été améliorées en utilisant une phase préliminaire de vibrations. Cette phase a été optimisée grâce à l’étude de plusieurs paramètres spécifiques comme le type, l’amplitude et la fréquence des vibrations. / The bauxite is used in aluminium elaboration or directly as a raw material for calcium aluminates in technical cements. It is used, as a raw material, as blocks. Recently bauxite blocks are rarer and rarer and their handling can lead to dust wastes that are not re-used. The objective of this project is to recycle the fine mineral particles in compacts to improve the use of natural mineral resources that are running out. These products are compacted by direct compaction and also with an innovative vibration and compaction process. The bauxite is mixed with cement and water, and then the mixture is compacted. They must have specific properties with higher density and mechanical resistance. X-Rays micro-tomography is used to describe the particle rearrangement and the 3D density homogeneity. The porous distribution is then characterized by image analysis and compared with the mercury intrusion porosimetry results. This study on textural parameters evolution of the compacts leads to improve an understanding about the phenomenon during the compaction stage. The storage with controlled temperature and humidity will also be studied. The optimization of the compression and mixture parameters, as amount of water or cement in the mixture and compression pressure, led us to get compacts with improved properties. In the final study, we improved the compression stage and the compacts properties by another stage using in-situ vibrations. The vibrations stage has been optimized studying several vibrational parameters especially the type, the duration, the amplitude and the frequency of the vibrations.

Commercial ebullated bed hydroprocessors, such as the LC-Finer, are used for the production of synthetic crude oil by upgrading bitumen extracted from the Alberta oil sands. The objective of this thesis was to investigate the impact of an increased vacuum distillation tower bottoms feed fraction on the reactor fluid dynamics (e.g., bed and freeboard phase holdups, bubble characteristics and local fluidization behaviour). Industrial conditions were simulated in a high pressure gas-liquid-solid fluidization system based on dimensional and geometric similitude. Considering important geometric characteristics and matching dimensionless groups, base-case conditions resulted in an ebullated bed of nitrogen, 0.5 wt.% aqueous ethanol, and aluminum cylinders (average lengths and diameters of 7.5 and 3.2 mm, respectively) operating at 6.5 MPa and a gas-to-liquid superficial velocity ratio of 0.78. The proposed scale-down method resulted in high gas holdup conditions similar to industrial measurements. The use of the Sauter mean diameter to account for particle size and shape at the simulation conditions was investigated by comparing glass spheres with diameters of 4 and 1.5 mm to aluminum cylinders with equivalent volume-to-surface area ratios. Local bubble characteristics, including gas holdups, bubble rise velocities, and chord lengths, were then investigated under various operating conditions using a monofibre optical probe. Overall fluid dynamics were studied when increasing the liquid viscosity and varying the gas and liquid superficial velocities due to their relevance for industrial ebullated bed hydroprocessors. Freeboard and bed region gas holdup relations were studied and correlations were developed for gas and solid holdups at the simulation conditions based on the dimensionless groups. Mesophase generation in hydroprocessors due to undesired secondary reactions was also considered for an increased vacuum residue feed fraction. Adding a dispersed immiscible liquid phase which preferentially wetted the particles was therefore experimentally studied at non-simulating conditions using nitrogen, biodiesel, glycerol and various particles, where fluidization behaviour and phase holdups were considerably affected due to particle clustering. A study on the impacts of particle size, shape and material demonstrated the influences of fluid and particle properties, specifically the relative surface energies and viscous forces, on agglomeration due to interparticle liquid bridging.