Mechanical pressing of soybean is highly desirable as it provides, at low cost, non-contaminated, protein-rich, low-fat soyflour which can be further processed into nutritious edible foods. Unfortunately, mechanical pressing of this low-fat oilseed ($<$20%) yields only 50-70% of the available oil, in contrast to the solvent extraction method which recovers over 98% of the oil. The main focus of the study was to maximize the oil recovery from soybean using mechanical oil expression by applying two pretreatments, enzymatic hydrolysis and extrusion cooking of soybeans, and by varying the pressing conditions including three applied pressures (20, 40 and 60 MPa), three pressing temperatures (22, 60 and 90°C) and two sample sizes (10 and 20 g). To characterize the material properties affecting mechanical oil expression from soybean a mathematical simulation of uniaxial compression was developed which incorporated the time dependent variation of soybean properties. The mathematical simulation was based on Terznaghi's theory of consolidation for soils and was solved using measured values of the coefficients of permeability, volume change and consolidation. A compression-permeability test cell was specifically developed for these measurements. For validation of the model, in addition to extruded soy, sunflower seeds (oil content ca. 45%) were also compressed under the same pressing conditions. Improvements in oil recovery due to enzymatic pretreatment of soybean were small, while the extrusion pretreatment increased the oil recovery from only a trace for raw soybean to 90.6%. Such oil recovery using mechanical pressing of soybean has not been reported in the past. The measured values of oil recovery, coefficients of permeability, volume change and consolidation for soybean and sunflower seeds were found to vary significantly $(P<0.05)$ with time of pressing, applied pressure, pressing temperature and the size of the sample. For extruded soy samples, the developed model predicted the values of oil recovery versus pressing time with an average error of 15%, while for sunflower seed samples the average prediction error was 40%. The high error values were attributed to the presence of hulls in the sunflower seed samples, as well as error during measurement of the coefficient of permeability. The coefficient of consolidation was found to have the greatest influence on oil recovery. The incorporation of time dependent material properties in the developed simulation was demonstrated to give more accurate and consistent prediction in trends of oil recovery as compared to using constant material properties. The correlationship developed between the oilseed material properties and the oil recovery obtained from uniaxially compressed oilseeds would help researchers and designers to better evaluate the mechanical oil expression equipment and systems. To the extent that the developed model adequately predicted oil recoveries from both sunflower and soybean oilseeds, the model is expected to be applicable to other oilseeds as well.

A incorporação de óleos vegetais no desenvolvimento de formulações elastoméricas para bandas de rodagem tem sido umas das alternativas para reduzir o uso de óleos com alto teor de policíclicos aromáticos. Muitas pesquisas propõem a substituição do óleo aromático por óleos vegetais extraídos da palma e da soja, além disso, outros estudos sugerem que óleos vegetais apresentam características reativas capazes de promover a ativação em reações de vulcanização. Neste trabalho, o óleo de soja vegetal foi investigado como lubrificante/plastificante e também como co-ativadores em compostos de borracha natural vulcanizados por enxofre, no estado natural e quimicamente modificados, através da epoxidação do próprio óleo de soja. A caracterização do óleo de soja natural e epoxidado foi realizado através de análise de Espectroscopia no Infravermelho com Transformada de Fourier (FTIR) e Ressonância Magnética Nuclear de Próton (RMN-1H). Uma formulação padrão foi utilizada e partir dela outras 5 misturas foram realizadas com o objetivo de substituir o óleo aromático e o ácido esteárico pelas amostras de óleo vegetal, uma amostra branco, sem o sistema de ativação convencional, também foi preparada. As composições foram processadas em misturador fechado, tipo banbury, e após, a homogeneização foi completada em cilindro. As propriedades de cura foram avaliadas em um reômetro de disco oscilatório, e as características não vulcanizadas por um viscosímetro Mooney e um analisador de processamento de borracha (RPA). As propriedades físico-mecânicas foram avaliadas através dos ensaios de dureza, densidade, resistência à tração e ao rasgamento e abrasão, além da densidade de ligações cruzadas. A análise de FTIR confirmou uma estrutura típica de um éster derivado do óleo de soja e o aparecimento de bandas que indicaram a presença de grupos epóxi para o óleos epoxidado. As propriedades físico-mecânicas apresentaram resultados satisfatórios quando o óleo de soja vegetal foi utilizado como lubrificante/plastificante podendo ser um substituto aos óleos aromáticos, garantindo dessa forma, a redução de policíclicos aromáticos. A avaliação da amostra branco indicou a necessidade de ativadores para a reação de vulcanização, visto que apresentou propriedades inferiores quando comparadas ao padrão, provavelmente causado pela formação ineficiente de ligações cruzadas. O efeito do óleo vegetal como co-ativador pode ser verificada, contudo a reação de epoxidação, mesmo promovendo melhor dispersão, prejudicou a formação de ligações cruzadas quando comparado com o padrão, provocando baixas propriedades mecânicas. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2017-07-05T18:16:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Camila Taliotto Scarton.pdf: 1531491 bytes, checksum: ec1a2d77051e4af354973c90269c47c5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-05T18:16:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Camila Taliotto Scarton.pdf: 1531491 bytes, checksum: ec1a2d77051e4af354973c90269c47c5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES. / The incorporation of vegetable oils into the development of tread rubber formulation has been one of the alternatives to reduce the use of oil with high contents of aromatic polycyclics. Many studies suggest the substitution of aromatic oil by vegetable oil extracted from palm and soybean, and other studies propose that vegetable oils have reactive characteristics capable of promoting activation in vulcanization reaction. In this work, vegetable soybean oil was investigated as a lubricant / plasticizer and also as co-activators in natural rubber compounds vulcanized by sulfur, in natural state and chemically modified, through the epoxidation of soybean. The characterization of the natural and epoxidized soybean oil was carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with Protons (1H-NMR) spectroscopy. A standard formulation was used and from the other 5 mixtures were made with aim of replacing the aromatic oil and the stearic acid with the vegetable oil samples, a white sample, without the System was also prepared. The compositions were processed in a closed Banbury mixer and after the homogenization was performed in a cylinder. The curing properties were evaluated on an oscillatory disk rheometer, and the non-vulcanized characteristics by a Mooney viscometer and a rubber processing analyzer (RPA). The physical-mechanical properties were evaluated through the tests of hardness, density, tensile strength and tear and abrasion, as well as crosslink density. FTIR analysis confirmed a typical structure of an ester derived from soybean oil and the appearance of bands indicating the presence of epoxy groups. The physico-mechanical properties presented satisfactory results when the vegetable soybean oil was used as a lubricant / plasticizer and could be a substitute for the aromatic oils, thus guaranteeing the reduction of aromatic polycyclics. The evaluation of the white sample indicated the need for activators for the vulcanization reaction, since it presented inferior properties when compared to the standard, probably caused by the inefficient formation of cross-links. The effect of vegetable oil as a co-activator can be verified, even promoting better dispersion, detrimental has hampered the formation of cross-links when compared to the standard causing low mechanical properties.

A incorporação de óleos vegetais no desenvolvimento de formulações elastoméricas para bandas de rodagem tem sido umas das alternativas para reduzir o uso de óleos com alto teor de policíclicos aromáticos. Muitas pesquisas propõem a substituição do óleo aromático por óleos vegetais extraídos da palma e da soja, além disso, outros estudos sugerem que óleos vegetais apresentam características reativas capazes de promover a ativação em reações de vulcanização. Neste trabalho, o óleo de soja vegetal foi investigado como lubrificante/plastificante e também como co-ativadores em compostos de borracha natural vulcanizados por enxofre, no estado natural e quimicamente modificados, através da epoxidação do próprio óleo de soja. A caracterização do óleo de soja natural e epoxidado foi realizado através de análise de Espectroscopia no Infravermelho com Transformada de Fourier (FTIR) e Ressonância Magnética Nuclear de Próton (RMN-1H). Uma formulação padrão foi utilizada e partir dela outras 5 misturas foram realizadas com o objetivo de substituir o óleo aromático e o ácido esteárico pelas amostras de óleo vegetal, uma amostra branco, sem o sistema de ativação convencional, também foi preparada. As composições foram processadas em misturador fechado, tipo banbury, e após, a homogeneização foi completada em cilindro. As propriedades de cura foram avaliadas em um reômetro de disco oscilatório, e as características não vulcanizadas por um viscosímetro Mooney e um analisador de processamento de borracha (RPA). As propriedades físico-mecânicas foram avaliadas através dos ensaios de dureza, densidade, resistência à tração e ao rasgamento e abrasão, além da densidade de ligações cruzadas. A análise de FTIR confirmou uma estrutura típica de um éster derivado do óleo de soja e o aparecimento de bandas que indicaram a presença de grupos epóxi para o óleos epoxidado. As propriedades físico-mecânicas apresentaram resultados satisfatórios quando o óleo de soja vegetal foi utilizado como lubrificante/plastificante podendo ser um substituto aos óleos aromáticos, garantindo dessa forma, a redução de policíclicos aromáticos. A avaliação da amostra branco indicou a necessidade de ativadores para a reação de vulcanização, visto que apresentou propriedades inferiores quando comparadas ao padrão, provavelmente causado pela formação ineficiente de ligações cruzadas. O efeito do óleo vegetal como co-ativador pode ser verificada, contudo a reação de epoxidação, mesmo promovendo melhor dispersão, prejudicou a formação de ligações cruzadas quando comparado com o padrão, provocando baixas propriedades mecânicas. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES. / The incorporation of vegetable oils into the development of tread rubber formulation has been one of the alternatives to reduce the use of oil with high contents of aromatic polycyclics. Many studies suggest the substitution of aromatic oil by vegetable oil extracted from palm and soybean, and other studies propose that vegetable oils have reactive characteristics capable of promoting activation in vulcanization reaction. In this work, vegetable soybean oil was investigated as a lubricant / plasticizer and also as co-activators in natural rubber compounds vulcanized by sulfur, in natural state and chemically modified, through the epoxidation of soybean. The characterization of the natural and epoxidized soybean oil was carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with Protons (1H-NMR) spectroscopy. A standard formulation was used and from the other 5 mixtures were made with aim of replacing the aromatic oil and the stearic acid with the vegetable oil samples, a white sample, without the System was also prepared. The compositions were processed in a closed Banbury mixer and after the homogenization was performed in a cylinder. The curing properties were evaluated on an oscillatory disk rheometer, and the non-vulcanized characteristics by a Mooney viscometer and a rubber processing analyzer (RPA). The physical-mechanical properties were evaluated through the tests of hardness, density, tensile strength and tear and abrasion, as well as crosslink density. FTIR analysis confirmed a typical structure of an ester derived from soybean oil and the appearance of bands indicating the presence of epoxy groups. The physico-mechanical properties presented satisfactory results when the vegetable soybean oil was used as a lubricant / plasticizer and could be a substitute for the aromatic oils, thus guaranteeing the reduction of aromatic polycyclics. The evaluation of the white sample indicated the need for activators for the vulcanization reaction, since it presented inferior properties when compared to the standard, probably caused by the inefficient formation of cross-links. The effect of vegetable oil as a co-activator can be verified, even promoting better dispersion, detrimental has hampered the formation of cross-links when compared to the standard causing low mechanical properties.