Microalgae such as Chlorella vulgaris contain sufficient fatty acids to suggest their use as feedstocks for biodiesel production. Their capacity to remove nitrogen, phosphate, and other nutrients from a culture medium makes them a potentially useful element in urban wastewater treatment systems. A two-stage process was used to grow Chlorella vulgaris under mixotrophic and autotrophic conditions in artificial wastewater and urban wastewater media. Growth rate, nutrient removal, and lipids accumulation were quantified. Initially, the media were nitrogen-enriched (90 mg−1; Stage I), and then nitrogen limited (30, 20, and 10 mg l−1; Stage II). Growth was not inhibited under either of the culture conditions, and nitrogen uptake rates were above 90%. Total organic carbon removal was higher (56.2%–86%) under mixotrophic conditions than under photoautotrophic conditions (15.2%–69%). Lipids productivity was 2.7 times higher under mixotrophic conditions and nitrogen limitation than under photoautotrophic conditions and nitrogen limitation. Palmitic acid and linoleic acid accounted for 25.0% of total fatty acids contents, which is an adequate profile for biodiesel production. Culture of C. vulgaris in urban wastewater can improve the efficiency of nitrogen and total organic carbon removal, and water reuse, while simultaneously producing algal biomass with sufficient lipids content and an acceptable fatty acids profile for use as a biodiesel feedstock.

A simultaneous treatment of BOD, phosphorous and ammonia in artificial wastewater was carried out in biofilm reactors with Luffa cylíndrica as organic support and compared with PVC's support under variations of dissolved oxygen of 1.5 a 3.0 mg l −1 in the same reactor. During semicontinous treatment, the removal of BOD (92.5%) with Luffa cilíndrica was higher than PVC support (80%). Nitrification only existed at levels of oxygen of 3 mg l −1 , showed in the effluent a final concentration of ammonium of 17 and 19 mg l −1 for Luffa cilíndrica and PVC support, respectively. In reactors with Luffa cilíndrica a higher percentage of P removal (40%) was reached, while no elimination in reactors with PVC was observed. The formation of anaerobic-aerobic zones inside the natural support probably allowed the increase in the efficiency of removal of phosphorous. Oxidation of organic matter, P removal and nitrification can be achieved with the variation of oxygen inside of the same biofilm reactor using L. cylindrical as support material.

A short-cut method for batch distillation columns working at constant reflux was applied to solve a problem of four components that needed to be separated and purified to a mole fraction of 0.97 or better. Distillation columns with 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 theoretical stages were used; reflux ratio was varied between 2 and 20. Three quality indexes were used and compared: Luyben's capacity factor, total annual cost, and annual profit. The best combinations of theoretical stages and reflux ratio were obtained for each method. It was found that the best combinations always required reflux ratios close to the minimum. Overall, annual profit was the best quality index, while the best combination was a distillation column with 30 stages, and reflux ratio's of 2.0 for separation of benzene (i), 5.0 for the separation of toluene (ii), and 20 for the separation of ethylbenzene (iii) and purification of o-xylene (iv).

Seven aromatic polyamides and copolyamides were synthesized from two different aromatic diamines: 4,4′-(Hexafluoroisopropylidene)bis(p-phenyleneoxy)dianiline (HFDA) and 2,4-Aminobenzenesulfonic acid (DABS). The synthesis was carried out by polycondensation using isophthaloyl dichloride (1SO). The effect of an increasing molar concentration of the sulfonated groups, from DABS, in the copolymer properties was evaluated. Inherent viscosity tests were carried out to estimate molecular weights. Mechanical tests were carried out under tension, maximum strength ( σ max), Young’s modulus (E), and elongation at break (εmax) to determine their mechanical properties. Tests for water sorption and ion exchange capacity (IEC) were carried out. Proton conductivity was measured using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results indicate that as the degree of sulfonation increase, the greater the proton conductivity. The results obtained showed conductivity values lower than the commercial membrane Nafion 115 of 0.0065 S cm−1. The membrane from copolyamide HFDA/DABS/1S0-70/30 with 30 mol DABS obtained the best IEC, with a value of 0.747 mmol g−1 that resulted in a conductivity of 2.7018 × 10−4 S cm−1, lower than the data reported for the commercial membrane Nafion 115. According to the results obtained, we can suggest that further developments increasing IEC will render membranes based on aromatic polyamides that are suitable for their use in PEM fuel cells.

-A dynamic batch distillation study of the non-ideal mixture Ethanol-Water is presented. The objective of the study was to calculate an average thermodynamic efficiency of the process under an optimal constant reflux policy and the objective function includes a given production time in order to obtain the desired product quality (measured as the average mole fraction of the accumulated product). An expression for computing the thermodynamic efficiency is presented. The simulation of the column uses a mathematical model considering the complete dynamics of the operation and the problem of optimal control resulting in a non-linear programming problem. A dynamic optimization technique based on a SQP method was used to solve the problem. The average thermodynamic efficiency for the separation process under the conditions presented was 37.95%.