Orientador: Sérgio Vicente Serrano / Banca: Lígia Maria Kerr / Banca: Luciano de Souza Viana / Resumo: Os medicamentos antineoplásicos são uma das classes de produtos farmacêuticos com maior potencial para causar efeitos negativos no ambiente. Várias fontes contribuem para a potencial contaminação do ambiente com esses medicamentos, como emissões da indústria ou descarte direto de produtos farmacêuticos nos domicílios, mas a principal fonte de compostos citostáticos no esgoto ou no ambiente são excreções (urina e fezes) de pacientes em tratamento. Neste estudo foi analisada a presença do antineoplásico 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) e sua quantificação nos efluentes de um hospital oncológico de grande porte e na rede municipal de tratamento de esgoto. Foram analisadas 10 amostras obtidas de um ponto distinto (A), a partir dos efluentes do Hospital de Câncer de Barretos (HCB) e 5 amostras foram obtidas de dois pontos diferentes (B e C) do efluente da Estação de Tratamento de Esgoto (ETE) da cidade de Barretos (ETEB), que tem como destino final o Ribeirão Pitangueiras. Observou-se a presença do fármaco na concentração de 26,7 a 733 μg/L em todas as 10 amostras de água residuária do HCB analisadas, os resultados foram muito superiores aos encontrados em outros trabalhos semelhantes realizados em outros hospitais. Também foi realizado o cálculo das concentrações previstas do agente citostático na água residuária do HCB, utilizando-se parâmetros como o consumo de 5-FU, o consumo de água e a fração de droga excretada na forma não metabolizada. Encontrou-se uma baixa correlação entre a concentração prevista e a concentração medida analiticamente. Esse baixo índice de recuperação pode ter ocorrido decorrente da excreção do fármaco realizada fora do ambiente hospitalar, de uma possível degradação da droga decorrente da instabilidade da molécula ou a perda de uma porção da droga adsorvida na matéria em suspensão dos efluentes. O impacto do descarte de 5-FU no meio ambiente foi avaliado através ... / Abstract: Anticancer drugs represent one of the classes of pharmaceuticals with the greatest potential to cause negative effects on the environment. Contamination of the environment with these drugs may occur from several sources, such as emissions from industry or direct disposal of pharmaceuticals in households, but the main source of cytostatic compounds in the environment occur through sewage emission or excreted fluids (feces and urine) of patients receiving treatment. In this study we analyzed the presence of the antineoplastic 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and its quantification in the effluents originated from a large oncology hospital and in the local municipal wastewater system. We analyzed 10 samples obtained from a distinct collection site (A), from the effluents of the Barretos Cancer Hospital (HCB). Also, 5 samples were obtained from two different sites (B and C) in the effluent from the Sewage Treatment Plant in Barretos (ETEB), whose final destination is the stream known as Ribeirão Pitangueiras. Presence of 5FU was observed in concentrations ranging from 26.7 to 733 μg/L in all 10 samples of the wastewater originated at the HCB collected at site A. These results were far superior to those found in similar studies performed at other hospitals. The predicted concentrations of the cytostatic agent in the wastewater from HCB was calculated using parameters such as 5-FU consumption, water consumption and the fraction of drug excreted unmetabolized. We found a low correlation between the predicted concentrations and the measured concentrations. This low recovery rate may have occurred due to probable excretion of the drug occuring outside the hospital facilities, since the majority of the patients were ambulatory. Other possibilities are drug degradation due to instability of the molecule and loss of a portion of the drug adsorbed in suspended solid matter of the effluent. The possible impact of the emission of 5-FU to the ... / Mestre

Orientador: Lúcia Helena Sipaúba Tavares / Banca: Antônio Fernando Monteiro Camargo / Banca: Claudinei da Cruz / Banca: Marta Verardino De Stefani / Banca: Rodrigo Ney Millan / Resumo: O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de um "wetland" construído no setor de ranicultura para o tratamento do efluente em duas fases da criação de rã-touro. Foram analisadas as variáveis limnológicas e a eficiência de remoção dos nutrientes, a retenção de nutrientes no sedimento e nas macrófitas utilizadas (Eichhornia crassipes, Typha domingensis e Cyperus giganteus), bem como o ganho de biomassa. O tratamento foi eficiente na remoção de nitrato, nitrito, turbidez, fósforo total, sólidos totais suspensos, demanda bioquímica de oxigênio, coliformes termotolerantes, sólidos totais dissolvidos e clorofila a. As maiores cargas de nutrientes foram encontradas na fase de maior quantidade de biomassa de rãs estocada, com menores remoções de fósforo. As macrófitas utilizadas apresentaram ganho de biomassa satisfatório, com concentrações de nutrientes superiores ao do sedimento. As três espécies estocaram mais nutrientes na fase de maior biomassa de animais, com maior carga de nutrientes. Eichhornia crassipes foi a espécie que mais armazenou nitrogênio e fósforo em ambas as fases e com maior ganho de biomassa na fase de maior biomassa de rãs. Das espécies emersas, T. domingensis foi a que apresentou maior ganho de biomassa em ambas as fases, estocando todos os nutrientes na fase de maior biomassa. Ocorreu tendência de diminuição da matéria orgânica do sedimento em ambas as fases da entrada para a saída do "wetland" em função da presença das macrófitas. Este mesmo padrão de redução foi observado em relação aos nutrientes do sedimento. Concluiu-se que o sistema de tratamento implantado foi eficiente na melhoria da qualidade do efluente, com redução de nutrientes e de coliformes termotolerantes. As macrófitas desempenharam papel importante na redução destes componentes e podem ser utilizadas para tratar efluentes da ranicultura / Abstract: The aim of the work was to evaluate the performance of the constructed wetland in frog culture sector for the effluent treatment in two phases of bullfrog culture. Limnological variables and the removal efficiency of nutrients were analyzed, the nutrients retention in the sediment and macrophytes used (Typha domingensis, Cyperus giganteus e Eichhornia crassipes) as well as biomass gain of the same. The treatment was efficient in a nitrate, nitrite, turbidity, total phosphorus, total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, thermotolerant coliforms total, total dissolved solids and chlorophyll a. The high nutrients loads found in the phase of the high biomass frog storage, with lower phosphorus removals. The macrophytes used presented biomass gain satisfactory, with nutrient concentrations above the sediment. The three species stocked more nutrients during the phase of the high biomass frog storage, which high nutrients load. Eichhornia crassipes was the specie that most stored nitrogen and phosphorus in both phases and greater biomass gain in the phase of the high biomass frog storage. From the emerged species, T. domingensis showed the higher biomass gain in both phases, stocking all nutrients in the phase of the high biomass frog storage. There was a tendency of reduction of the organic matter in the sediment in both phases of the inlet to the outlet of wetland due to the presence of macrophytes. This same pattern of reduction was observed relation to the sediment. It was concluded that the treatment system implanted was efficient in improving the quality of the effluent, reducing nutrient and fecal coliform. The macrophytes played an important role in the reduction of such components and may be used to treat effluents of the frog culture / Doutor

Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / More than 70% of the earth's surface is covered by water, only a small part of which is suitable for either human consumption or agricultural use. Due to pollution from agriculture, households and industry reaching rivers, lakes and seas it is Important for wastewater to be properly treated in order to remove harmful substances before it reaches the environment. Strict environmental and health regulations together with a demand for cost effective ways of wastewater treatment have made control technology in wastewater Treatment Plants an important priority. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is the amount of oxygen in the effluent and it plays a vital role of controlling VV\YTP. Oxygen dissolves in water through mixing water surface with the atmosphere, The dissolved oxygen concentration in the aerobic part of an activated sludge process should be sufficiently high to supply enough oxygen to the microorganisms in the sludge. an excessive high DO leads to high energy consumption and may also deteriorate the sludge quality, A high DO concentration in the internally recirculated water also makes the denitrification less efficient Hence, both for economical and process reasons, it is of interest to control the DO. The used controllers are normally linear controllers, proportional integral (PI) or proportional integral derivative (PID) ones. The work of these controllers leads to bad system performance, because, the process of dissolving oxygen into the wastewater is a nonlinear process and requires nonlinear control. The aim of the research project is to develop methods for design of linear and nonlinear controllers of the concentration of the DO in the aeration tank of the WWTP and to implement the designed controllers in the frameworks of PLC. The nonlinear linearizing controller based on a reference model and Lyapunov second method is designed. Additionally a linear controller is developed in a form of PI controller based on pole placement method to improve, the performance of the closed loop system. The resultant controller is to be on a PLC as a part of Adroit SCADA system. The developed programmes are used to control the wastewater treatment process in laboratory scale plant and can be applied as a part of SCADA software for control of the wastewater treatment plants.

Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / This project was started as a result of strict environmental and health regulations together with a demand for cost effective operation of wastewater treatment plants (WNTPs). The main aim of this project is how to keep effluent concentration below a prescribed limit at the lowest possible cost Due to large fluctuations in the quality and quantity of the influent concentrations, traditional control methods are not adequate to achieve this aim The major drawback with these methods is that the disturbances affect the process before the controller has time to correct the error (Olsson and Newell, 1999: 454). This problem IS addressed through the use of modern control systems Modern control systems are model based predictive algorithms arranged as feed-forward controllers (Olsson and Newell, 1999: 454) Normally a controller is equipped with a constant set point; the goal In this project IS to calculate an optimal DO trajectory that may be sampled to provide a varying optimal set-point for the Activated Sludge Process. In this project an optimal control problem is formulated usmq 00 concentration as a control variable This requires a model of the process to be controlled, a mathematical expressions of the limitations on the process input and output variables and finally the objective functional which consists of the objectives of the control. The structures of the Benchmark plant (developed within the COST 682 working group) and the Athlone WWTPs are used to implement this optimal control strategy in MATLAB, The plant's full models are developed based on the mass balance principle incorporating the activated sludge biological models. ASM1, ASM2 ASM2d and ASM3 (developed by the IWA. working groups) To be able to develop a method that may later on be used ~or online control. the full models are reduced based on the technique in Lukasse (1996) To ensure that the reduced models keep the same prediction capabilities as the full models paran-eters of the reduced models are calculated based on the Least Squares principle. The formulated optimal control problem IS solved based on the decomposition-coordination method that involves time decomposition 111 a two layer structure, MATLAB software is developed to solve the problems for parameter estimation full and reduced model simulation and optimal control calculation for the considered different cases of plant structures and biological models, The obtained optimal DO trajectories produced the effluent state trajectories within prescribed requirements. These DO trajectories may be implemented in different SCADA systems to be tracked as set points or desired trajectories by different types of controllers.

Thesis (MTech (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Polymers used as flocculants in the secondary sludge dewatering process are one of the most expensive inputs in these plants. The disadvantage is that these polymers cannot be recycled. Currently, controlling of polymer dosing rate is done by trial and error method. It has been shown that huge savings can be made by optimising the polymer dosing using rheological properties. It is not an easy task to optimise this process because of changing sludge characteristics on a daily, seasonal and annual basis. To try and optimise polymer dosing and polymer concentration, the variation in rheological properties needs to be understood first. The correlation between the process parameters and the rheological properties needs to be determined. There is currently no database of rheological properties of secondary wastewater sludge feeding belt filter presses available. To address these issues, a 12 week assessment of the rheological properties of the sludge feed to the belt filter press before and after conditioning in four wastewater treatment plants in Cape Town was conducted. The rheological properties were determined using an MCR-51 rheometer with parallel plate geometry under controlled temperature. After concluding the assessment, a 3-level Box-Behnken factorial trial was conducted at Plant K wastewater treatment plant to statistically analyse the correlation and/or interactions between the process parameters (sludge feed flow rate, polymer dosing concentration, polymer dosing rate and belt press speed) and the rheological properties of the sludge to optimise the plant performance.

Thesis (DTech (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The high rate of industrialisation in most developing countries has brought about challenges of wastewater management especially in the mineral processing industry. Cyanide has been used in base metal extraction processes due to its lixiviant properties thus, its presence in wastewater generated is inevitable. Furthermore, partial and/or the use of unsuitable treatment methods for such wastewater is a potential hazard to both human and the environment. There are several reports on biotechnological treatments of cyanide containing wastewater but few mineral processing industries have adopted this approach. Hence, the thermodynamic study of biodegradation of cyanide containing wastewater was undertaken. The primary aim of this study was to explore the application of bioenergetic models and biological stoichiometry to determine the functionality and thermodynamic requirements for cyanide degrading isolate (Fusarium oxysporum EKT01/02), grown exclusively on Beta vulgaris, for a system designed for the bioremediation of cyanidation wastewater. Chapter 2 reviews some of the applicable thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy, entropy, heat of combustion, heat capacity, Gibbs energy, including stoichiometry models in relation to their applicability for microbial proliferation in cyanidation wastewater. The chapter places emphasis on the application of agro-industrial waste as a suitable replacement for refined carbon sources for microbial proliferation in bioremediation systems because such systems are environmentally benign. The choice of using agro-industrial waste is due to organic waste properties, i.e. agro-industrial waste is rich in nutrients and is generated in large quantities. Chapter 3 presents the materials and various standardised methods used to address the research gaps identified in chapter 2. For an organism to degrade free cyanide in wastewater, it must be able to survive and perform its primary function in the presence of such a toxicant. Chapter 4 exemplifies both molecular and biochemical characteristics of Fusarium oxysporum EKT01/02 isolated from the rhizosphere of Zea mays contaminated with a cyanide based pesticide. The molecular analyses confirmed the fungal isolate to be Fusarium oxysporum EKT01/02 and the nucleotide sequence of the isolates were deposited with National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) with accession numbers KU985430 and KU985431. The biochemical analyses revealed a wide substrate utilisation mechanism of the isolate dominated by aminopeptidase including nitrate assimilation capabilities. A preliminary investigation showed free cyanide degradation efficiency of 77.6% (100 mg CN-/L) after 5 days by the isolate. The excess production of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) was attributed to the isolates’ strive to protect itself from cyanide toxicity.

Thesis (DTech (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Industrial wastewater management pertaining to the mining industry has become increasingly stringent, with companies being required to develop environmentally benign wastewater management practices worldwide. The industries that utilise cyanide compounds for the recovery of precious and base metals in a process known as the cyanidation process, have contributed substantially to environmental deterioration and potable water reserve contamination due to the discharge of poorly treated, or untreated, cyanide containing wastewater. Hence, a biotechnological approach was undertaken in this study to remediate free cyanide (CN-) and thiocyanate (SCN-), which are the major chemical contaminants which are normally found in cyanidation wastewaters. Furthermore, this biotechnological approach was investigated to understand the fundamental aspects of using this approach such that the information gathered can be utilized in pilot plant studies. Therefore, bioprospecting of potential CN- and SCN--degrading organisms was undertaken using two approaches; (i) culture-dependent approach and (ii) culture-independent approach. Using the culture-dependent approach, Pseudomonas aeruginosa STK 03, Exiguobacterium acetylicum and Bacillus marisflavi were isolated from an oil spill site and river sediment samples, respectively. STK 03 was evaluated for the biodegradation of CN- and SCN- under alkaline conditions. The organism had a CN- degradation efficiency of 80% and 32% from an initial concentration of 250 and 450 mg CN-/L, respectively. Additionally, the organism was able to degrade SCN-, achieving a degradation efficiency of 78% and 98% from non- and CN- spiked cultures, respectively. Furthermore, the organism was capable of heterotrophic nitrification but was unable to denitrify aerobically, with the autotrophic degradation of CN- by STK 03 being abortive.

Thesis (MTech (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The poultry industry is one of the largest industries in the South African agricultural sector. To sustain their various operations, this industry utilises a large quantity of potable water to process slaughtered birds in order to satisfy hygiene and sanitation requirements in processing facilities. Thus, the consumption of potable water during poultry slaughterhouse operations results in the production of high-strength poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (PSW), which is laden with a variety of pollutants, including fats, oil and grease (FOG), carcass debris, feathers and organic matter, including proteins, that should be removed from the wastewater, or at least reduced in concentration, prior to the PSW being discharged into the environment. This is to avoid and/or minimise levies and non-compliance penalties from monitoring institutions in charge of controlling the quality of effluents in the area from which the PSW was collected for this study. Furthermore, the option of treating and recycling the PSW to address the current issue of water scarcity in the Western Cape (South Africa), and to minimise possible harmful effects on the environment, will reduce the overreliance on slaughterhouses in the region on potable/drinking water, thus also lessening running costs associated with water procurement for operations. Various technologies, involving physical, chemical or biological processes, have been evaluated for the treatment of PSW, with this study focusing on anaerobic treatment (part of the biological treatment) of PSW, using a high-rate anaerobic bioreactor system (HRABs), which provides for low production of sludge, the production of biogas as a source of energy and the provision of high performance in terms of organic matter removal. Moreover, HRABs are cheaper, when compared to other aerobic treatment technologies. However, numerous potential challenges were encountered when using HRABs, such as low production of biogas due to gas entrapment, head losses across the granular bed, sludge washout in upflow HRABs, uneven wastewater distribution, and thus poor dispersion of the organic matter, which impacts on the adequacy of treatment, poor release of toxic substances contained in the entrapped biogas (NH3 or H2S), clogging of the underdrain system for down-flow HRABs, or the formation of dead zones within the granular bed, resulting in short-circuiting.

(DTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / The problem for effective and optimal control of wastewater treatment plants is very important recently because of the increased requirements to the quality of the effluent. The activated sludge process is a type of wastewater process characterized with complex dynamics and because of this proper control design and implementation strategies are necessary and important for its operation. Since the early seventies, when a major leap forward was made by the widespread introduction of dissolved oxygen control, little progress has been made. The most critical phase in the solution of any control problem is the modelling stage. The primary building block of any modern control exercise is to construct and identify a model for the system to be controlled. The existing full Activated Sludge Model 1 (ASM1) and especially University of Cape Town (UCT) models of the biological processes in the activated sludge process, called in the thesis biological models, are highly complex because they are characterised with a lot of variables that are difficult to be measured on-line, complex dependencies and nonlinear interconnections between the biological variables, many kinetic parameters that are difficult to be determined, different time scales for the process dynamics. The project considers reduction of the impact of the complexity of the process model over the methods for control design and proposes a solution to the above difficulties by development of a reduced model with small number of variables, but still with the same characteristics as the original full model for the purposes of real time control design. Then the research problem can be stated in the following way: To develop mathematical methods, algorithms and programmes for transformation of the complex biological and mass balance models of the activated sludge process into simpler reduced models of the process convenient to be used for optimal parameter estimation, control design and control implementation in real- time.

Thesis (DTech (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The process of anaerobic digestion (AD) is one of the most cost-effective and environmentally sustainable technologies to treat wastewater in the agricultural sector. In South Africa, in some industries in the agricultural sector, such as the poultry industry in particular, slaughterhouses have the highest consumption of potable water, culminating in the production of a large quantity of high strength wastewater. This high consumption of potable water has become a concern in South Africa due to water scarcity and reduced rainfall attributed to global warming, including weather changes. Furthermore, the generation of a large volume of wastewater poses environmental pollution concerns. The wastewater from poultry slaughterhouses can be quite easily treated to a suitable quality for reuse, using various bioreactor systems that utilise low cost anaerobic digestion processes. However, as this wastewater contains a high quantity of biodegradable organic matter – with the primary pollutants being proteins, blood, fats, oil and grease (FOG) – selecting a suitable anaerobic reactor configuration (up-flow vs down-flow) plays an important role in achieving high reactor performance. In this study, both the up-flow, (i.e. Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactor) and the down-flow (i.e. Static Granular Static Granular Bed Reactor), were studied to quantitatively determine their performance in treating poultry slaughterhouse wastewater. Firstly, the feasibility of treating poultry slaughterhouse wastewater with an up-flow Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactor (EGSB) coupled with anoxic and aerobic bioreactors was investigated at an HRT of 7 (168 hr), 4 (96 hr) and 3 (72 hr) days using organic loading rates of 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 gCOD/L.day. The averaged tCOD removal for the EGSB reactor was 40%, 57% and 55%, respectively, at the various OLRs and HRTs investigated. The overall tCOD removal of the system (EGSB-anoxic/aerobic) at high OLR of 1.0 gCOD/L.day was increased to 65%. The redundant performance of the up-flow EGSB reactor was attributed to the periodical sludge washout experienced during its operation due to high FOG and TSS concentrations in the influent. Due to the periodic sludge washout, the reactor required continuous re-inoculation resulting in the EGSB being operated for a short period (i.e. 26 days). As a result of such system deficiency, it was recommended that to improve the performance of the up-flow EGSB reactor in treating poultry slaughterhouse wastewater, a pre-treatment system – such as a Dissolved Air Floatation system (DAFs) or a FOG skimmer – is required to reduce the FOG and total suspended solids (TSS) load prior to the wastewater fed to the EGSB. This will minimise system failure and the need for a continuous re-inoculation of the system (see Appendix C for improved operation strategy of the EGSB reactor). Furthermore, a system redesign was recommended, thus the use of the SGBR. Secondly, after the EGSB system evaluation, the performance of a down-flow system (i.e. SGBR) for the new design, the following were deemed appropriate for improved system (SGBR) design: 1) reduced HRT for high wastewater treatment through-put rates; 2) the ability to adequately treat the wastewater with higher organic loading rates; and 3) reduction of the plant footprint by using a membrane filtration system (i.e. a single process unit) to effectively reduce process requirements needed for the anoxic/aerobic bioreactors (i.e. n=2 process unit) used with the EGSB. Similarly, for large-scale operations, it is advisable to have a backwash system to adequately handle declogging processes (i.e. these systems modifications were evaluated in the SGBR). The SGBR, coupled with an ultra-filtration (UF) membrane system, was then investigated for treating the poultry slaughterhouse wastewater at an HRT of 55 hrs and 40 hrs, including average OLRs of 1.01 and 3.14 gCOD/L.day, respectively. The average maximum performance of the SGBR in terms of tCOD, TSS and FOG removal was > 90% at the OLRs and HRTs investigated. The UF membrane system used as a post-treatment system further yielded a system performance improvement for tCOD, TSS and FOG of 64%, 88% and 60%, respectively. The overall performance of the combined system (SGBR and UF membrane system) in terms of tCOD, TSS and FOG removal was 98%, 99.8% and 92.4%, respectively. The highest performance for the down-flow SGBR was attributed to its ability to retain granulated sludge in the reactor while maximizing the digestion of the organic matter fed into the reactor, even at higher OLRs. Furthermore, for effective declogging, the implementation of a periodic backwash system to effectively remove dispersed fine sludge particles in the underdrain and excessive suspended solids entrapment was observed to ease the system operational deficiencies.