The thesis deals with the influence of the curing process on varnish quality of paint powder coating. The thesis includes a literary study focused on the issue of powder coating. In the experimental part of the work will be done curing of two different materials in three technically different kilns and compare the effect of firing.

Orientador: Celso Eduardo Tuna / Resumo: A agroindústria nacional brasileira dispõe de uma grande variedade de unidades agrícolas que geram elevada quantidade de resíduos como o bagaço de cana-de-açúcar. Mesmo diante da crescente utilização desse material, o excedente ainda é da ordem de milhões de toneladas, causando problemas de estocagem e poluição ambiental. Devido a sua estrutura complexa e sua recalcitrância, a etapa de pré-tratamento representa o desafio mais crítico para a viabilização da utilização do bagaço de cana-de-açúcar dentro do contexto de uma biorrefinaria. O pré-tratamento busca facilitar o acesso aos componentes estruturais da biomassa, permitindo sua utilização na cadeia produtiva. Existem diferentes métodos de pré-tratamento como os físicos, químicos e biológicos ou uma combinação de todos esses, de modo que a geração de resíduos ambientalmente perigosos e/ou altos insumos energéticos é o gargalo. Neste sentido, rotas tecnológicas alternativas vem sendo estudadas e a cavitação hidrodinâmica desponta-se como uma promissora rota para o pré-tratamento de biomassa liberando grandes magnitudes de energia e induzindo a transformações físicas e químicas, favorecendo o rompimento da matriz carboidrato-lignina. Neste contexto, este trabalho empregou a cavitação hidrodinâmica para potencializar o pré-tratamento alcalino do bagaço de cana-de-açúcar. Para isto, projetou-se um reator de cavitação hidrodinâmica com tubo de Venturi utilizando como base uma abordagem computacional para a dinâmica dos fluidos. ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The Brazilian national agroindustry has a large variety of agricultural units that generate high amounts of waste such as sugarcane bagasse. Even with the increasing use of this material, the surplus is still in the order of millions of tons, causing problems of stocking and environmental pollution. Due to its complex structure and recalcitrance, the pretreatment stage represents the most critical challenge for the feasibility of using sugarcane bagasse within the context of biorefinery. Pretreatment seeks to facilitate access to the structural components of biomass, allowing its use in the production chain. There are different pretreatment methods such as physical, chemical, physicochemical and biological or a combination of all of these, so that the generation of environmentally hazardous waste and / or high energy inputs is the bottleneck. In this sense, alternative technological routes have been studied and hydrodynamic cavitation emerges as a promising route for biomass pretreatment releasing large energy magnitudes and inducing physical and chemical transformations, favoring the rupture of the carbohydrate-lignin matrix. In this context, this thesis employed hydrodynamic cavitation as a physical means to improve the alkaline pre-treatment of sugarcane bagasse. The hydrodynamic cavitation reactor with Venturi tube was modeled by a computational approach to fluid dynamics, in order to evaluate the influence of the pressure ratio, the length and diameter of the throat and ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Introduction Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a double stranded RNA retrovirus. According to the World Health Organization more than 30 million individuals were estimated to have HIV by the end of 2020, about 60% of which are in the African region. Pre-treatment drug resistance (PDR) can be defined as the resistant virus strains transmitted at the time of infection or acquired during previous exposure to ARV. This study asses the effect of drivers in PDR. Method: This study was conducted with data extracted from published, publicly available data bases and reports by international organizations. The main sources were United Nation data bases and published reports from World Health Organization.  Inferential statistics were used to assess the PDR to anti-retroviral drugs. A linear regression model was used to investigate the association between PDR and previous exposure to anti-retrovirals and anti-retroviral therapy, pre-exposure prophylaxis, national health expenditure, human development index, and drug stock-out for different classes of anti-retroviral drugs.   Results: The result indicated that NNRTI drug resistance was most common, and seven out of 29 countries had PDR to all four drug classes. The human development index was positively associated with INSTI and PI PDR (p<0.05), while NNRTI and NRTI were mainly positively associated with previous exposure to anti-retrovirals. Conclusion: This study assessed the impact of socio-economics determinants (human development index and national health expenditure), drug logistic determinants (stock-out), and patients’ determinants (adherence and previous exposure to any kind of anti-retrovirals) on PDR. For expensive drug classes (PI and INSTI) the resistance was positively associated with human development index. Previous exposure to anti-retrovirals was associated with increased resistance in NNRTI and NRTI.

The issue of lead exposure through drinking water was re-examined in light of modern public health goals, recent high-profile cases of elevated lead in water, and emerging concerns regarding the efficacy of legally mandated remedial strategies. A critical literature review revealed that serious lead-in-water hazards are present at many US schools and homes, and that the threat to individuals is not eliminated by existing regulations. Health studies have provided strong links between lead in water and lead in blood of exposed populations, even at relatively low levels of exposure compared to reported lead occurrence in US tap water samples. As efforts shift from addressing pervasive lead sources that once elevated the blood lead of large percentages of the population, to more isolated individual cases requiring exceptional attention, the importance of carefully considering lead in water as a potential source for elevated blood lead increases. Consistent with decades of prior research linking elevated water lead to elevated blood lead (EBL), lead-contaminated water in the high-profile case of Washington DC markedly increased the incidence of EBL for very young children. Specifically, incidence of EBL for children aged ≤ 1.3 years increased more than 4 times during 2001-2003 when lead in water was high, compared to 2000 when lead in water was low. The incidence of EBL for children aged ≤ 1.3 years was highly correlated (R² = 0.81) to 90th percentile lead-in-water levels from 2000-2007, and the risk of exposure to high water lead levels varied markedly in different neighborhoods of the city. Analysis conducted herein focused on identifying "worst-case" neighborhoods and populations. Specifically, this was the first study of the Washington DC case to focus on infants who are most vulnerable to harm from lead in water, and to perform smaller area analysis at the neighborhood (i.e., zip code) level in order to capture pockets of high risk among local communities. Prior biokinetic modeling efforts, examining the potential adverse impacts of lead-in-water exposure, were re-examined to explicitly consider new public health goals. This included impacts on the most sensitive population groups (e.g., young children and particularly formula-fed infants), the potential variability in blood lead levels (BLLs) amongst exposed individuals within those groups (e.g., most sensitive children at the upper tail of the BLL distribution), more conservative BLL thresholds reflecting low-level adverse effects (e.g., 5, 2 and 1 µg/dL versus 10 µg/dL), and the possibility of acute health impacts. This re-evaluation creates a paradigm shift, in that levels of lead in water that were previously considered inconsequential are demonstrated to be of concern in specific circumstances. The replacement of lead service lines in front of consumers' homes is a costly, federally mandated remedial action if a water utility exceeds the US EPA lead action level. Because utilities do not own the entire lead service line, they often only replace the portion of the service line up to the property line, typically with copper pipe. Experiences in Washington DC, as revealed by Freedom of Information Act requests, indicated that partial pipe replacements were not decreasing lead in water, and were actually associated with relatively high incidence of childhood lead poisoning. This prompted the first comprehensive investigation of potential long-term problems arising from galvanic corrosion between the remaining lead pipe and the newly installed copper pipe. Bench-scale experiments demonstrated that galvanic connections between lead pipe (new or aged) and copper pipe increased lead release into the water by 1.1-16 times, when compared to a full length of lead pipe alone. The small area of lead pipe adjacent to the copper joint (<0.5 ft) was gravely affected by galvanic corrosion, and accumulated a thick lead-rust layer (1 inch wide) that constituted a reservoir for semi-random particulate lead detachment into the water. The work on simulated partial pipe replacements revealed that under worst-case scenarios of highly contaminated water samples, most of the lead was not quantified if water samples were not mixed thoroughly after standard preservation (i.e., after addition of 0.15% v/v HNO₃), or if water samples were transferred from one bottle to another prior to preservation. While there is no reason to believe that sample handling and pre-treatment dramatically skew regulatory compliance with the US EPA lead action level, slight variations from one approved protocol to another may cause lead-in-water health risks to be dramatically underestimated. This is of special concern in unusual situations of "worst-case" individual exposures to highly contaminated water, associated with childhood lead poisoning. This work provides the water industry and health agencies with important new insights and perspectives on an old problem. Results can improve strategies to detect and mitigate lead-in-water hazards for individuals or populations, and inform future revisions to the US EPA Lead and Copper Rule. / Ph. D.

This work deals with the development and optimization of conditions of pretreatment of two industrial surface finishing baths containing chromium(III) ions and oxalic, maleic, acetic or citric acid and their electrophoretic analysis. Some model mixtures containing known amounts of components of industrial solutions have been made for simulation of complex matrices of the real samples. Prior to analysis a sample pre-treatment consisting of different dilution and addition of fluoride, hydroxide or EDTA anions as suitable agent releasing acid out of the stable chromium complex were studied. Determination of organic anions was accomplished by indirect UV detection at 350 nm with a reference at 230 nm. A commercially available background electrolyte, pH 5.7, was used for separation of analytes. The most appropriate pre-treatment to release acids have been achieved by precipitation of chromium(III) hydroxide. The method of standard additions was used for the quantification. The concentrations of oxalate and citrate in the real samples were calculated as 96,50 % (S.D. = 0,71 %) and 97,53 % (S.D. = 0,79 %), respectively, of declared amount. Satisfactory repeatabilities were obtained for both analytes with R.S.D. values (n = 5) for migration times lower than 0,51 %, R.S.D. for peak areas of oxalic acid were...

Esse trabalho investigou a influência de diferentes origens e pré-tratamentos do inóculo na produção de biohidrogênio em reatores anaeróbios de leito fixo e fluxo ascendente. Aparas de polietileno de baixa densidade foram usadas como material suporte para fixação da biomassa e os reatores foram operados com 2 h de tempo de detenção hidráulica (TDH) e a 25ºC, alimentados com efluente sintético a base de sacarose. Duas fontes de inóculo foram estudadas: lodo anaeróbio de reator UASB aplicado ao tratamento de água residuária de abatedouro de aves (D) e lodo anaeróbio de reator UASB aplicado ao tratamento de água residuária de suinocultura (S); além da autofermentação (A), quando não há nenhum inóculo no reator. Além disso, dois tipos de pré-tratamento térmico (T) e ácido (A) foram avaliados. Os rendimentos de hidrogênio foram de 2,1, 2,0, 2,0,1,0, 1,0, 0,7, 0,7 mol \'H IND.2\' mol-1 sacarose quando os reatores foram inoculados com A, DT, DA, D, SA, ST e S, respectivamente. Nessa nomenclatura, a primeira letra se refere à origem do inóculo e a segunda, ao pré-tratamento. Embora hidrogênio (20-78%) e dióxido de carbono (21-55%) tenham sido os principais produtos no biogás, metano foi detectado nos reatores inoculados com D, DA, S, ST e SA no início e no final da operação. A produção volumétrica máxima de hidrogênio (61,6 mL \'H IND.2\' h-1.L-1) foi obtida quando DA foi usado com inóculo. Porém, o menor valor (15,1 mL \'H IND.2\' h-1.L-1) foi observado usando o inóculo S. Quando o reator não foi inoculado (A), a produção volumétrica de hidrogênio foi 47,3 mL \'H IND.2\' h-1.L-1. Etanol, ácido butírico e acético foram os principais produtos \'metabólicos detectados na fase líquida. Em resumo, os resultados demonstraram que há influência da origem e do pré-tratamento do inóculo em todos os parâmetros analisados. Inóculos sem pré-tratamento resultaram em menor rendimento de hidrogênio do que os observados nos experimentos com inóculos pré-tratados devido a seleção das bactérias produtoras de hidrogênio (BPH). Ademais, embora o pré-tratamento térmico tenha gerado os maiores valores de rendimento, o pré-tratamento ácido resultou em uma operação mais estável com os maiores valores médios. A autofermentação teve desempenho semelhante aos DT e DA e pode ser uma alternativa para a produção biológica de hidrogênio, pois seleciona as BPH naturalmente. / This paper investigated the influence of different inoculums and pretreatment of seed sludge on the biohydrogen production in up-flow anaerobic fixed-bed reactors. Particles of low-density polyethylene were used as support for biomass attachment and the reactor was operated with hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2 h at 25ºC, fed with a sucrose-based synthetic wastewater. Two sources of inoculums were studied: anaerobic sludge from an UASB (up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket) reactor applied to treat poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (Sl) and anaerobic sludge from an UASB reactor treating swine wastewater (Sw), besides the autofermentation (A), with no inoculation of the reactor. In addition, two kinds of pretreatment heat (He) and acid (Ac) shock were evaluated. Hydrogen yields were 2.1, 2.0, 2.0,1.0, 1.0, 0.7, 0.7, mol \'H IND.2\' mol-1 sucrose when the reactors were inoculated with A, SlHe, SlAc, SwAc, Sl, Sw, and SwHe, respectively. In this nomenclature, the first two letters refer to source and the others refer to pretreatment. Although hydrogen (20-78%) and carbon dioxide (21-55%) have been the main gaseous products in the biogas, methane was detected in Sl, SlAc, Sw, SwHe and SwAc at the beginning and in the last days of the operation. Optimal \'H IND.2\' production rate (61.6 mL \'H IND.2\' h-1 L-1) was obtained when SlAc was used as seed sludge. On the other hand, the smallest value (15.1 mL \'H IND.2\' h-1 L-1) were observed using Sw inoculums. When the reactor was not inoculated (A), \'H IND.2\' production rate was 47.3 mL \'H IND.2\' h-1 L-1. Ethanol, butyric acid and acetic acid were the main soluble products detected in the liquid phase. In summary, the results have demonstrated that there are influences of the source and the pretreatment of the seed sludge in all parameters analyzed. Inoculums without pretreatment resulted in hydrogen productivity lower than those observed for experiments with pretreated inoculums due the selection of hydrogen producing bacteria (HPB). Furthermore, although the heat shock has generated the highest values of hydrogen yield, the acid-shock provided more stable operation with the highest average values. Besides, the autofermentation had almost the same performance than SlAc and SlHe and could be an alternative for biological hydrogen production due to natural selection of HPB.

O principal resíduo da indústria de café solúvel é a borra de café, gerada após a extração de sólidos solúveis com água, sendo usualmente queimada em caldeiras para geração de energia para a própria indústria. Entretanto, este co-produto pode conter de 15 a 20 % de óleo, componente de grande interesse na indústria alimentícia. Em paralelo, na indústria de produção de óleos vegetais o solvente frequentemente utilizado é o hexano. Contudo, por este ser um derivado de combustíveis fósseis, alternativas para sua substituição por solventes mais amigáveis ao meio ambiente, que podem ser obtidos por via biotecnológica, estão sendo estudadas. Deste modo, o objetivo principal desta dissertação de mestrado foi a viabilização técnica do emprego de solventes alcoólicos no processo de extração de óleo de borra de café proveniente da indústria de processamento de café solúvel. Foram realizadas extrações sólido-líquido em um estágio para estudar a influência das variáveis de processo temperatura (60 a 90 °C), tipo de solvente (etanol, ET ou isopropanol, IPA) e a hidratação do solvente (absoluto ou azeotrópico) nas características das fases extrato e rafinado, em termos de rendimento de extração de óleo, de ácidos clorogênicos (ACG), de carboidratos totais, teor de proteínas e índice de solubilidade de nitrogênio (ISN) da fase rafinado. Pré-tratamento enzimático ao processo de extração também foi realizado para investigar a sua atuação sobre o rendimento de extração de óleo e ACG, além do ISN das fases rafinado obtidas na temperatura de 70 °C. De forma geral, pode-se inferir que a temperatura favorece a extração de compostos lipídicos, mas a hidratação do solvente prejudica a extração destes compostos pelo aumento da polaridade do solvente. Do mesmo modo, como o ET é mais polar que o IPA, o primeiro solvente proporcionou a obtenção de menores rendimentos de extração de óleo. A temperatura de processo também influenciou a extração de ACG, a qual foi beneficiada a temperaturas mais baixas pelo aumento da polaridade dos solventes utilizados. De tal forma, que a 60 °C, nos experimentos utilizando etanol azeotrópico obteve-se os menores rendimentos de extração de óleo, porém maior rendimento de extração de ACG. O pré-tratamento enzimático apresentou diferenças significativas nas características das fases extrato e rafinado. No entanto, somente os experimentos com etanol absoluto resultaram em rendimentos de extração de óleo economicamente viáveis. De fato, será relevante um estudo mais aprofundado das variáveis de pré-tratamento enzimático para obter resultados mais expressivos em relação à extração de compostos lipídicos. Diante dos dados experimentais obtidos, conclui-se que é tecnicamente viável o emprego de solventes alcoólicos no processo de extração de óleo de borra de café. Entretanto, nota-se que as condições de processo devem ser avaliadas minuciosamente com o objetivo de se obter altos rendimentos de extração de óleo com maior teor de ACG. / Spent coffee grounds are the main residues of the soluble coffee industry, which are generated after the extraction of soluble solids with water. They are generally burned in boilers to generate energy for the coffee industry. However, this residue may contain 15 to 20 % oil, a component of interest to the food industry. Hexane is the most common solvent used in the vegetable oil industry; however, as it is a fossil fuel byproduct, biotechnology alternatives that replace it by more environmental-friendly solvents are being studied. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to determine technical viability of alcoholic solvents in oil extraction of spent coffee grounds. Solid-liquid extractions were carried out in one stage in order to analyzed the influence of the variables of the process (temperature, 60 to 90 °C; type of solvent, ethanol, ET or isopropanol, IPA; and solvent hydration level, absolute or azeotropic degree) in the characteristics of extract and raffinate phases, in terms of yield of oil extraction, chlorogenic acids (CGA), total carbohydrates, protein content, and nitrogen solubility index (NSI) of the raffinate phase. Enzymatic pre-treatment in the extraction process was also carried out to assess its effect on the oil and CGA yields, as well as NSI in the raffinate phase obtained at 70 °C. In general, it could be inferred that temperature favored lipid extraction, but solvent hydration level negatively affected extraction due to the increased polarity of the solvent. Similarly, as ET is more polar than IPA, the former solvent enabled lower yield of oil. The temperature of the process also influenced CGA extraction, which was favored by lower temperatures and increased solvent polarity. Therefore, at 60 °C, in the trials using azeotropic ethanol, oil extraction yield was lower, and CGA yield was greater. Enzymatic pre-treatment showed significant differences in the characteristics of the extract and raffinate phases. However, only the trials with absolute ethanol led to economically viable oil yields. In fact, further studies on pre-treatment variables of the enzymatic treatment should be carried out for more relevant results in relation to lipid compound extraction. Given the experimental data obtained here, it was concluded that the use of alcoholic solvents in oil extraction of spent coffee grounds is technically viable. However, the conditions of the process should be carefully analyzed for high yields of oil with greater levels of CGA to be obtained.

Este trabalho objetivou explorar o óleo de macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata) como matéria prima para produção de biodiesel, propondo uma via através da qual se possibilite a produção do biodiesel apesar da alta acidez do óleo. O processo proposto ocorreu em duas etapas de catálise homogênea, a primeira foi a reação de esterificação etílica dos ácidos graxos livres, catalisada por H2SO4; e a segunda é a transesterificação dos triglicerídeos remanescentes catalisada por álcali (KOH). A utilização das ondas ultrassônicas também foi investigada neste trabalho como potencializador do processo. Para determinação das melhores condições reacionais foi utilizado o delineamento experimental e para validação dos resultados utilizou-se análise de variância do modelo para as variáveis respostas índice de acidez na etapa de pré-tratamento e conversão de ésteres etílicos na etapa de transesterificação alcalina. Os resultados foram avaliados utilizando o software MINITAB 16. Na etapa de pré-tratamento os resultados demonstram que utilizando quantidades de H2SO4 de 2% (em massa), razão molar óleo:etanol de1:9 e temperatura de 50 ºC o índice de acidez foi reduzido de 19,25 mgKOH/g para 1,46 mgKOH/g em 2 h de reação. Com estes resultados foi possível a aplicação da reação de transesterificação alcalina. Na etapa etapa de transesterificação alcalina com agitação mecânica as melhores condições determinadas pelo delineamento experimental foram de 1,5% (massa) de KOH, razão molar de 1:6 e temperatura de 45 ºC em 30 min de reação as conversões alcançadas foram em torno de 100%. As reações processadas em banho ultrassônico e sonda ultrassônica apresentaram como principal vantagem a redução de tempo, sendo em que 10 min foram atingidas conversões próximas a 100%. As análises efetuadas nos ésteres etílicos de amêndoa de macaúba, obtidos a partir do processo em duas etapas, mostram que a viscosidade cinemática e densidade estão dentro dos parametros estabelecidos pela ANP. Os níveis de glicerina total e livre também estão dentro do estabelecido pelas normas e indica que a purificação dos produtos de reação foi adequada. / This study aimed to explore Macauba oil (Acrocomia aculeata) as an alternative raw material to the production of biodiesel, despite the high acid value of the oil. It was proposed a two-step process of homogeneous catalysis. The first step is the ethylic esterification of free fatty acids, catalyzed by H2SO4; the second is the transesterification catalyzed by alkali (KOH). The use of ultrassonic irradiation was also investigated in this work. Factorial design was used to determine the best reaction conditions and analysis of variance was used to evaluate the mathematical model for the variable responses, such as the acid level in the pre-treatment and conversion of ethyl esters in alkaline transesterification step. The results were evaluated using the software MINITAB 16. In the first step, the acid catalyzed reaction was carried out with 9:1 molar ratio ethanol-to-oil in the presence of 2% w/w H2SO4 at 50 ºC for 2 hours and the acid value of Macauba oil was reduced from 19 mgKOH/g to 1,46 mgKOH/g. With these results, it was possible the application of alkaline transesterification reaction. In the alkaline transesterification under mechanical stirring, the optimal experimental conditions were 1.5% (mass) of KOH molar ratio of 1:6 and temperature of 45 ºC in 30min. Conversions of approximately 100 %. were achieved in this process The reactions that were processed in ultrasonic bath and probe presented as the major advantage the reduction of the time, conversions of approximately 100% were achieved in 10 min. The analysis of the ethyl esters obtained from this two-step process show that the kinematic viscosity and density are within the parameters established by the ANP. The levels of total and free glycerol are also within the established standards and indicate that purification of products were adequate.

Bio-refining of renewable resources such as waste biomass into value added products has increased rapidly over the last decades. The aim is to find new environmentally friendly yet economically feasible ways of replacing current utilization of non renewable resources. It can be expected that a commercially viable next generation bio-ethanol will be produced from lignocellulosic feedstock in the near future.This master thesis set out to look at a specific Canadian company in depth (Pure Lignin Environmental Technology Ltd), known as PLET henceforth. PLET has a new approach in pre-treatment of biomass, with a recently patented environmentally friendly technology, which could be extremely lucrative if applied in the right context. It is desirable to look at the possibility of using the master thesis as a take-off platform to launch a consulting bio-tech company directly after completion.There are several different ways to process biomass into higher value added products. In this master thesis focus is laid upon biomass waste, but the same principles could be applied on biomass processing in general. That is the separation and purification of products. In order to put the technology of PLET into a context, other company approaches are used as a comparison, such as SEKAB E-Technology, Lignoboost and Borregaard Lignotech.It is however hard to find suitable examples equivalent to the PLET approach since the technology of PLET considers all the three constituents of wood as raw material for production of three stand alone commercial products; pure lignin, pure cellulose and hemi-cellulose. These three products are separated and purified in the pre-treatment process at high yield and practically no formation of by-products. Process parameters are only moderately adjusted depending on what raw material is used.The catalytic reactor process (=CRP), is performed by PLET as a pre-treatment in a continuous and batch system, in which lignocellulosic material (= wood chips, saw dust or other waste biomass) undergo acid catalyzed hydrolysis by dilute nitric acid. The impregnated wood chips are partially depolymerised from the lignin matrix when heated in the low pressure catalytic reactor. After that, follows distillation, condensation and almost complete recovery of dilute nitric acid. After CRP, the cellulose pulp is separated from the black liquor by an alkaline solution (=NaOH). The obtained black liquor is pumped to a separation tank to precipitate lignin and sweet liquor through filtration. The final step is to dry the lignin, while the sweet liquor is utilized by Torula yeast (=Candida utilis) in order to produce unicellular protein.It would be interesting to see if the pre-treatment that PLET provides, could be exploited in a context of production of next generation of cellulosic ethanol from the cellulosic part of waste biomass. In this master thesis, an evaluation of producing next generation ethanol from dilute-nitric acid pre-treated cellulose rich softwood was performed and dilute sulphuric acid pre-treated hemi-cellulose rich hardwood birch pulp was used as a comparison.The technical part of this master thesis was conducted on a laboratory scale, using samples from two companies, referred to as PLET and SEKAB E-technology (Sweden). The strategy of PLET is currently to find a commercial platform to produce value added products from waste biomass generated by saw mills and pulping industries, while SEKAB E-Technology mainly works with Swedish softwood as a raw material.ivExperiments of this master thesis includes a series of fermentation trials using either SSF (= Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation) or SHF (= Separate Hydrolysis and Fermentation). Yields of the enzymatic hydrolysis and subsequent fermentations were estimated with HPLC measurements complemented with dry weight measurements.Obtained experimental data support the potential to make lignocellulosic ethanol out of either softwood or hardwood. Ethanol yield from dry material from SEKAB E-Technology hardwood birch slurry was 0.43 (g ethanol / g dry raw material), whereas samples supplied by PLET achieved the following results. The ethanol yield from dry material from softwood pine washed cellulose was 0.33 g (ethanol / g cellulose). The ethanol yield from dry material obtained for softwood pine unwashed cellulose in the three SHF was 0.47; 0.34 and 0.19 (g ethanol / g cellulose) respectively, while the yield in the two SSF was 0.45 and 0.46 (g ethanol / g glucose).The economical part of this master thesis includes the use of Business Model Canvas and the NABC- model (= Need, Approach, Benefit and Competition) to define the basic topics and tasks that need to be addressed in the start up phase of a small consulting bio-tech company.At least 6 million US dollars is needed as a minimum starting capital to be able to construct a small commercially viable pilot plant, according to PLET. This investment would cover the basic requirements and is scalable. The construction could preferably be done in Sweden in the vicinity of an existing saw mill or paper pulp industry or elsewhere, where a steady supply of cheap raw material could be assured. The size of the operation envisioned, depends greatly on location and adjacent businesses. Large pulp mills in the range of 400-500 MWh would be preferred, the largest pulp mills in Canada process 5000 ton per day which is equivalent to a capacity of 1 GW wood per day (GW = giga watt), but the concept of the technology of PLET must first prove its value on a smaller scale.According to PLET, a future full scale production plant could be designed for processing 56 tons of wood chips per day of wood chips would generate annual revenues of ≈ 7500000 US dollars. The annual profit would be ≈ 2500000 US dollars, and capital cost (equipments) ≈ 5000000 US dollars, while the payback time on investment would be 2-3 years. According to PLET, the products are estimated to have the following values; 25 tons/day of pure cellulose with a market value of 400-500 US dollars/ton, 10 tons/day of pure lignin with a market value of 1000-1200 US dollars/ton and finally 21 tons/day of sweet liquor with a market value of 50-100 US dollars/ton. / Program: Masterutbildning i Energi- och materialåtervinning - industriell bioteknik

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a fermentabilidade do hidrolisado enzimático do bagaço de cana pré-tratado com sulfito alcalino, visando a produção de etanol por leveduras. Inicialmente, o bagaço de cana foi pré-tratado com sulfito alcalino para remover parcialmente a lignina e alterar a estrutura da celulose e hemicelulose. Os efeitos deste pré-tratamento foram avaliados em termos da composição química dos materiais obtidos: um material lavado (BPL) e outro não lavado (BPNL) após tratamento. A digestibilidade enzimática dos materiais obtidos foi testada empregando dois extratos enzimáticos comercias e 3 cargas de enzimas, de acordo com um planejamento experimental 22. A partir destes resultados foi selecionado o extrato Cellubrix suplementado com ?-glicosidase na carga de 18 FPU/g de biomassa, e nesta condição os rendimentos de conversão de celulose e xilana foram cerca de 70% e 65%, respectivamente. Os hidrolisados enzimáticos do BPL e BPNL porém suplementados com nutrientes (2,0 g/L de (NH4)2SO4, 1,0 g/L de KH2PO4, 0,3 g/L de MgSO4.7H2O, 5,0 g/L de extrato de levedura), e avaliados quanto a produção de etanol por K. marxianus Y-6860 a 40°C. Os resultados mostraram que a levedura produziu etanol apenas a partir de glicose, e os parâmetros fermentativos obtidos com o hidrolisado BPNL QP = 3,7 g/L.h e YP/S = 0,40 g/g foram 20 e 5%, respectivamente superior ao BPL. O hidrolisado enzimático do BPNL foi então selecionado, para avaliar o efeito da suplementação nutricional nos parâmetros fermentativos da levedura K. marxianus Y-6860, em três temperaturas diferentes (30, 35 e 40°C) de acordo com um planejamento experimental 22. Para efeito de comparação, foi também avaliada a fermentabilidade do hidrolisado BPNL pelas leveduras S. cerevisiae PE-2 e S. stipitis Y-7124. Os resultados mostraram que para as três leveduras estudadas, os valores dos parâmetros fermentativos, foram favorecidos a 30 °C na presença nutrientes. Nesta condição, as leveduras apresentaram valores de YP/S similares (~ 0,48 g/g), em quanto que o QP foi de 3,25; 2,17 e 0,95 g/L.h para K. marxianus, S. cerevisiae e S. stipitis, respectivamente. Ressalta-se ainda que nesta condição, a S. stipitis Y-7124 foi a única levedura, capaz de consumir completamente ambos os açúcares (glicose + xilose) e produzir uma concentração de etanol 46% maior comparado as outras leveduras. Foi avaliado também a fermentabilidade das três leveduras no hidrolisado enzimático BPNL com alta concentração de glicose (100 g/L), nas condições anteriormente selecionadas. Os resultados mostraram que, as três leveduras apresentaram potencial para produção de etanol a partir da glicose, com uma eficiência de conversão de etanol superior a 70%, no entanto deveriam se implementar estratégias para estimular o consumo de xilose. Com os resultados do presente trabalho se pode concluir que o hidrolisado enzimático do bagaço de cana pré-tratado com sulfito alcalino suplementado com nutrientes, é um meio com grande potencial para a produção de etanol com características favoráveis para ser eficientemente fermentado por diferentes espécies de leveduras. / The present work had the objective to evaluate the fermentability of the enzymatic hydrolyzate of sugar cane bagasse pre-treated with alkali sulfite process, aiming the ethanol production by yeasts. Initially, sugarcane bagasse was pretreated with alkaline sulfite process to remove lignin partially. The effects of this pre-treatment, were evaluated in the chemical composition of the materials: one material washed after treatment (WB) and another unwashed material (UWB). The enzymatic digestibility of the obtained materials was tested using two commercial enzymatic extracts and three enzyme loads according to an experimental design 22. From these results, the Cellubrix extract supplemented with ?-glucosidase, was selected in the load of 18 FPU/g of biomass, in this condition the cellulose and xylan conversion yields were about 70% and 65%, respectively. The enzymatic hydrolysates of WB and UWB supplemented with nutrients (2,0 g/L (NH4)2 SO4, 1,0 g/L KH2 PO4, 0,3 g/L MgSO4 .7H2O, 5,0 g/L yeast extract), were evaluated for ethanol production by K. marxianus Y-6860 at 40°C. The results showed that the yeast produced ethanol only from glucose, and the fermentative parameters obtained with the UWB hydrolyzate QP= 3,7 g/L.h and YP/S= 0,40 g/g, were 20 and 5% respectively higher to WB. The UWB hydrolyzate, was selected to evaluate the effect of nutritional supplementation, in the fermentative parameters of K. marxianus, at three different temperatures (30, 35 and 40°C) according to an experimental design 22. For comparison, were also evaluated fermentability of S. cerevisiae PE-2 and S. stipitis Y-7124 in the hydrolyzate. In the three yeasts, the results showed that the values of the fermentative parameters, are favored when the hydrolyzate is supplemented with nutrients to 30°C. In this condition , yeasts showed similar YP/S value (~0,48 g/g), whereas the QP was of 3,25; 2,17 and 0,95 g/L.h for K. marxianus, S. cerevisiae and S. stipitis, respectively. It is also worth noting that in this condition S. stipitis was the only yeast able to completely consume both sugars (glucose+xylose) and produce a concentration of ethanol of 46% higher than other yeasts. In the previously selected condition, the fermentability of the hydrolyzate with high glucose concentration (100 g/L) was also evaluated. The results showed that the three yeasts presented potential for the production of ethanol from glucose, with an ethanol efficiency of over 70%, however strategies should be implemented to stimulate the consumption of xylose. With the results of the present work it can be concluded that the enzymatic hydrolyzate of sugar cane bagasse pretreated with alkaline sulfite process supplemented with nutrients is a medium with great potential for the production of ethanol with characteristics favorable to be efficiently fermented by different species of yeasts.