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- Pre-treatment experiments for the use of Cynara Cardunculus L. as a substrate for the production of biogasPublication . Oliveira, I. D. B.; Lageiro, Manuela; Di Berardino, Santino; Gominho, Jorge; Duarte, E.The purpose of the present study was to explore and evaluate the influence of different pretreatments on Cynara stalks over anaerobic digestion and potential methane production. Different pre-treatments followed by anaerobic digestion batch experiments, were carried-out to Cynara stalks feedstock in order to select the most effective combination. After selecting the most suitable inocullum/substrate (I/S) ratio, different pre-treatments: mechanical, thermal, thermal chemical and enzymatic were studied to enhance the biogas and methane yield in correlation with volatile solids (VS) reduction. The most promising pre-treatment was submitted to a final experiment, in order to set up optimized operational parameters. The thermal chemical pre-treatment applied to the substrate, in the final assay, doubled the cumulative methane yield in comparison with the trial conducted with the untreated one. The methane yield achieved was 0.59 l/g VSadded and 0.31 l/g VSadded for the pre-treated and untreated substrate respectively. The enhancement achieved is also shown in terms of VS reduction. Enzymatic pre-treatment can contibute to an improvement of untreated substrate hydrolyses and also an increase in methane yield of 18% in comparison with the one without enzymatic addition. Mechanical pre-treatment combined with the addition of enzymes enhance hydrolyses of the substrate improving inoculums efficiency however, more experiments are required within higher incubation times.
- Avaliação da resistência à exposição atmosférica de madeiras termo-modificadasPublication . Godinho, Delfina; Araújo, Solange; Paiva Luís, Teresa; Ferreira, Cristina; Quilhó, Teresa; Gominho, Jorge; Cunha Diamantino, TeresaRESUMO: Em sentido lato pode-se afirmar que a madeira sofre biocorrosão, o que constitui um fator limitante para a sua aplicação no exterior, caso não haja uma proteção adequada. A termo-modifcação é um dos métodos utilizados para aumentar a durabilidade da madeira. Uma das vantagens deste processo é que não requer qualquer tipo de adição de químicos. A temperatura utilizada no processo induz a alterações químicas dos constituintes da matriz celular que promovem o aumento da durabilidade aos agentes bióticos e abióticos, mas também provoca alterações nas propriedades mecânicas, nomeadamente a diminuição do módulo de elasticidade (MOE) e de rotura (MOR). O presente trabalho teve como objetivo a avaliação da durabilidade da madeira termo-modificada de 3 espécies: o pinheiro-bravo (Pinus pinaster), a principal espécie utilizada pela indústria portuguesa de madeira sólida, a acácia (Acacia melanoxylon) e o freixo (Fraxinus excelsior). Amostras destas madeiras termomodificadas foram depois, expostas durante 2 anos em duas estações de ensaio representativas de dois ambientes diferentes, no Lumiar (ambiente urbano) e em Sines (ambiente marítimo/industrial). A avaliação da resistência da madeira à exposição atmosférica, incluiu a recolha de amostras ao longo de 24 meses de exposição e a análise das superfícies das amostras por espetroscopia de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR) com acessório de refletância total atenuada (ATR) e por microscopia eletrónica de varrimento (SEM) com um espectrómetro de raios X de energia dispersiva (EDS) associado. Os resultados preliminares indicam um comportamento semelhante para todas as madeiras expostas em ambas as estações. Verificou-se, contudo, que embora se tivesse observado o aparecimento de fendas e de inúmeras partículas na superfície de todas as madeiras, houve uma maior incidência nas expostas em Sines (zona com maiores variações de humidade e temperatura), nomeadamente nas amostras de 9 meses, onde se observaram na superfície cristais de NaCl, devido à proximidade desta estação da orla marítima. Os espetros de FTIR-ATR indicam ter ocorrido diminuição do teor em hemiceluloses e de lenhina na superfície das amostras principalmente nas amostras recolhidas após os 24 meses de exposição, tanto em Sines como no Lumiar.
- Thermally modified wood exposed to different weathering conditions: a reviewPublication . Godinho, Delfina; Araújo, Solange; Quilhó, Teresa; Cunha Diamantino, Teresa; Gominho, JorgeABSTRACT: Outdoor wood applications are exposed to several different biotic and abiotic factors, and for that reason, they require protection to increase their service life. Several technologies of wood protection are already commercialized. One of these technologies is thermal modification, which refers to the structural, mechanical, and chemical transformations occurring in the lignocellulosic material when gradually heated up to specific temperature ranges. In the past few years, several researchers have undertaken weathering resistance evaluations on different wood species. Some cases have considered natural exposure in different countries with different climatic conditions, while others focused on artificial exposure under UV and xenon radiation tests. Most works evaluated the weathering effects on the chemical, mechanical and physical, and anatomical shifts compared to the original characteristics of the material. This review has established a considerable lack of studies in the bibliography focusing on abiotic factors, such as the industrial and maritime environment, or even isolated climatic factors such as salt spray (simulating maritime environments) or pollutant gases (simulating industrial environments). This lack of information can be an opportunity for future work. It could help to understand if thermally modified wood is or is not sensitive to pollutant gases or salinity, or to a combination of both. By knowing the degradation mechanisms caused by these factors, it will be possible to study other forms of protection.
- Anaerobic digestion experiment using Cynara Cardunculus L. StalksPublication . Oliveira, I. D. B.; Di Berardino, Santino; Gominho, Jorge; Duarte, E.
- The behavior of thermally modified wood after exposure in maritime/industrial and urban environmentsPublication . Godinho, Delfina; Ferreira, Cristina; Lourenço, Ana; Araújo, Solange; Quilhó, Teresa; Cunha Diamantino, Teresa; Gominho, JorgeABSTRACT: Natural and thermally modified Pine, Ash, and Acacia woods were exposed in two different environments: urban and maritime/industrial. The weathering effects were evaluated during 24 months regarding color, chemical, and structural changes. In all wood species, thermal modification induced color, chemical, and structural changes. All woods became darker (Pine Delta L*: -32.01; Ash Delta L*: -36.83; Acacia Delta L*: -27.50), total extractives content increased (Pine: 19 %; Ash: 32 % and Acacia: 18 %), and the samples presented deformation and damaged cells. Total lignin was not significantly changed, although there were detected changes in lignin, namely the reduction of G -units in Pine (approximate to 2 %) and reduction of S/G ratio in Acacia (approximate to 0.04 %). Ash remained almost the same. After weathering, modified woods suffered fewer color changes, indicating that the thermal modification could improve the resistance to color change. Acacia wood, when exposed to maritime/industrial conditions, revealed a higher color change (Delta E: 35.7 at 24 months) when compared with urban conditions (Delta E: 23.5 at 24 months). Delignification, possibly caused by photodegradation, occurred in all wood samples, and the loss of extractive happened, perhaps caused by rain. Modified woods were slightly less resistant to weathering in maritime/ industrial environments. Some structural damage, namely cracked cells, the appearance of molds, blue staining, and particle deposition, was observed. The thermal modification enables color stabilization but does not seem to improve the weathering resistance in all studied wood species. Exposure to the different environments did not lead to significant differences in the morphology and chemical composition of the three natural and modified wood species.