The crescent number of scientific articles published per year shows that research on biodiesel continues to play an important role to support the growing demand for this biofuel. The second edition of Biodiesel: An Overview presents the worldwide research in the last 15 years. Microalgae biomass is the most studied raw material alternative in this period and several studies have been carried out to develop basic heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production. Concerning to production technologies, supercritical conditions and intensification process have been extensively investigated. The development of new antioxidants additives has focused mainly on biomass-derived formulations and there are few studies on biocide candidates. In terms of pollutant emissions, in general, the studies showed that the addition of biodiesel generates lower concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), CO and n-alkanes pollutants, but carbonyl compounds, major ions and NOx are emitted in a higher concentration compared to pure diesel.

The study of quality indicators in the process of obtaining ozonized vegetable oils is useful for monitoring the ozonation reaction. The Brazilian oils “dendê”, soy, corn, rice and sunflower were studied, all of them were ozonated applying different doses of ozone. Ozonized oils were evaluated by determining the physicochemical indexes of peroxide, acidity, iodine and density in addition viscosity, fatty acid composition and microbiological activity were determined. The results showed that of the five ozonized oils evaluated, “dendê” oil exhibited a higher peroxide index, approximately 1746 mmol-equiv kg-1, using an applied ozone dose of 97 mg g-1, during an hour and a half of the ozonation reaction. This result could be explained by its chemical composition, rich in oleic acid that facilitates the reaction with ozone due to its spatial conformation. It was also demonstrated that “dendê” oil exhibits a greater antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 1.9 to 4.75 mg mL-1 against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. It is suggested that the ozonated “dendê” oil presents greater possibilities to be used in the preparation of pharmaceutical or cosmetic formulations.

The essential w-3 and w-6 fatty acids have important physiological functions, such as prevention of cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis, and are commercially sold as fish oil capsules. In the present work, a method previously described in the literature, based on the derivatization of polyunsaturated fatty acids and their gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis in the form of methyl esters, was partially modified and optimized for determination of w-3 and w-6 fatty acids in fish oil capsules. In addition, the w-9 fatty acid oleic acid was also determined with the optimized method, despite the lack of information about its quantities in the acquired products. The method exhibited good linearity and precision, limits of detection and quantification in the ranges from 0.16 to 0.18 mg g-1 and 0.46 to 0.63 mg g-1, respectively, and recoveries above 76%. The method was applied to analyze ten brands of encapsulated fish oil marketed in Salvador, BA, Brazil. Amongst the results, it was shown that one brand had significantly high amounts of linoleic acid, which indicates a probable adulteration of the product.

In this work, a method was developed, based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) and analysis by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector (UFLC-DAD), to simultaneously determine ten antibiotics of two different classes in honey, as well as to evaluate their degradation kinetics in this matrix. The extraction was optimized by a Box-Behnken design and the method provided good linearity and precision, limits of detection (LODs) in the range of 3.1-6.8 µg kg-1 and recoveries between 82.9 and 105.7%. The decay velocities along the storage period have followed a first order model for nine antibiotics, while one has fitted a zero order model. In the analysis of 33 samples, sulfadimethoxine and tetracycline were found in four samples of the same year and type of blooming, freshly produced in different places, at concentrations, respectively, below and 79% higher than the established by the Brazilian legislation. This suggests an application of those drugs to the beehives, probably shortly before the samples were taken.

A indústria siderúrgica brasileira consome grandes quantidades de carvão vegetal. As carvoarias são responsáveis por emissões atmosféricas de compostos orgânicos voláteis tais como compostos carbonílicos (CC). Neste trabalho, foram determinados o perfil e as concentrações de CC em fase vapor durante a produção de carvão vegetal a partir de eucalipto. As amostras foram coletadas próximas aos fornos, em cartuchos de sílica revestidos com 2,4-dinitrofenilidrazina e, em seguida, extraídas e analisadas por HPLC-DAD-MS (cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência acoplada a detector de arranjo de diodo e espectrômetro de massas). Doze CC foram identificados e quantificados, entre eles acetaldeído e os pares coeluídos furfural/propanal, acroleína/propanona e 2-pentenal/pentanal. Estes três pares tiveram seus picos resolvidos por meio de espectrometria de massas para doze amostras e individualmente quantificados. Os perfis obtidos indicaram uma maior abundância do par furfural/propanal nas três fases de carbonização, seguido do acetaldeído na primeira fase e do 2-oxobutanal nas segunda e terceira fases. Furfural/propanal e acetaldeído se destacaram dentre os CC determinados nas proximidades dos fornos, com concentrações médias de 4948 e 2558 µg m-3 e concentrações máximas de 11655 e 4805 µg m-3, respectivamente.

Brazilian steel industry consumes huge amounts of charcoal. The charcoal plants are responsible for atmospheric emissions of volatile organic compounds such as carbonyl compounds (CC). In this work, the profile and the concentrations of CC in the vapor phase were determined during the charcoal production from eucalyptus. Samples were collected near kilns on silica cartridges coated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine, and then extracted and analyzed by HPLC-DAD-MS (high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector and mass spectrometry). Twelve CC were identified and quantified, amongst them acetaldehyde and the co-eluting acrolein/propanone, furfural/propanal and 2-pentenal/pentanal pairs. These three pairs were peak resolved by mass spectra for twelve samples and thus individually quantified. The profiles obtained indicated the furfural/propanal pair as the most abundant in all three carbonization stages, followed by acetaldehyde in the first stage and 2-oxobutanal in the second and third stages. Furfural/propanal and acetaldehyde stood out among CC determined near the kilns, with average concentrations of 4948 and 2558 µg m-3 and maximum concentrations of 11655 and 4805 µg m-3, respectively.

O conceito de eficiência energética em equipamentos está cada vez mais em pauta com os desdobramentos do aquecimento global e, dentre os equipamentos industriais, os queimadores possuem um dos maiores impactos nesta discussão por se tratar de um equipamento de combustão industrial. A procura por queimadores mais eficientes energeticamente é imprescindível para o adequado uso de combustíveis fósseis durante a fase de transição entre esta fonte de energia para as energias alternativas, a qual pode durar mais de cinquenta anos. O presente trabalho traz uma avaliação do uso da técnica de combustão enriquecida com oxigenio (OEC), identificando importantes pontos, especialmente na transferência de calor e na emissão de poluentes, para a aplicação desta técnica na indústria de petróleo e sua cadeia, na qual a utilização da OEC é raramente usada. Não foi identificada na literatura uma revisão crítica do uso da OEC e as implicações do seu uso na indústria de petróleo e gás.

The concept of energetic efficiency in equipments is highlighted nowadays, due to its implication with the global warming issues. Amongst industrial equipments, burners have one of the greatest impacts on this discussion, since they are large scale combustion devices. The search for more efficient burners is of paramount importance, toward a more adequate use of the fossil fuels, during the transition phase between this energy source and new alternatives, which may last more than fifty years. The present work brings an evaluation of the Oxygen Enhanced Combustion technique (OEC), identifying important issues, especially those related with the heat transfer and emission of pollutants, and discussing its application in the oil industry and its supply chain, where the OEC is barely used. As far as the authors could search in the literature, there are no published critical reviews regarding the use of OEC and its implications in the oil and gas industry.