João Peres Ribeiro

University of Aveiro | UA · CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials

In this work, the potential of industrial biomass fly ash (BFA) granules as a waste-derived catalyst for gasification reactions, namely the water-gas-shift (WGS) reaction for H2 production, was evaluated. Response Surface Methodology was used to assess the effect of the temperature (T) and water steam to Carbon monoxide molar ratio (S/CO) on the H2...

This work reviewed the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to the treatment of wastewaters by Fenton processes. The goal was to identify the major environmental hotspots of the different Fenton processes-conventional homogeneous, intensified homogeneous, and heterogeneous-and assess how LCA can contribute to help industries select the most s...

The raw materials for the tanning industry, namely hides and skins, are preserved (curing stage) and carried with common salt, i.e., sodium chloride (NaCl). Proceeding to conversion into leather, pickling is a key stage of the tannery process, which entails high demand of water and salt. In this work, the salt-derived brine (SdB) generated from the...

The work describes the combination of granulated biomass fly ash (GBFA) with Fenton process to enhance the removal of adsorbable organic halides (AOX) from pulp bleaching wastewater. At optimal operating conditions, wastewater's chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD5, respectively) and colour was also quantified, and operating cost of...

In this work, the performance of residual iron dust (RID) from metallurgic industry was assessed as Fenton catalyst for the treatment of real pulp bleaching wastewater. The focus was on the removal of recalcitrant pollutants AOX (adsorbable organic halides), by a novel, cleaner, and cost-effective circular solution based on a waste-derived catalyst...

This work aimed to test and optimise reactive Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) methods for the visualisation of the micromixing regions in chemical reactors using standard PLIF and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) equipment with the laser source 512 nm. Two methods were tested: (i) an acid–base reaction with fluorescein as the reaction-sens...

This work studied the incorporation of Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Mn²⁺ as Fenton co-catalysts, seeking synergetic effect that could allow for overall reduction of chemical demand. Focus was on removing recalcitrant pollutants AOX from pulp bleaching wastewater, but side effect on wastewater COD and colour was also assessed, and operating cost of treatment was...

This study reviews the recent developments in the application of Fenton processes in real industrial wastewater treatment, focusing on heterogeneous catalysts and catalyst regeneration/reuse. This article presents the features, inherent advantages or drawbacks, and primary experimental results obtained on established and emerging Fenton processes,...

AOX emissions to water are a key environmental aspect in the pulp and paper industry being limited by EU Ecolabel criteria. In this work, response surface methodology was used to optimise Fenton and photo-Fenton processes for AOX removal from a kraft pulp mill bleaching wastewater. Focus on the specific stream where AOX is higher reduces the wastew...

This work aimed to: (i) assess the performance of Novozyme® 435 for FAME production from waste cooking oil (WCO) under different oil acid values and enzyme-to-oil ratios; (ii) test different regeneration methods and assess the regenerated enzyme’s performance; and (iii) determine FAME yield in continuous operation regime. Oil acid values up to 104...

D0bleaching wastewater from E. globulus Kraft pulping industry was treated by Fenton and photo-Fenton processes. The aim was to optimize the operational conditions for adsorbable organic halides (AOX) removal, namely oxidant concentration, [H2O2], catalyst concentration, [Fe2＋], and treatment time, using the central composite experimental design (C...

This work aimed to study and improve two test reactions used in some mixing studies, based on optical methods of quantification. The test reactions were: an acid-base reaction with uranine as a fluorophore, and Fenton reaction, with quenching of Rhodamine-B's emission as probe for reaction recording. Laboratory tests were conducted in a stopped-flo...

Purpose This work aimed to study the effect of the application of biomass fly ash in the soil profile and percolate water, which is a novel feature. The results produced by this work pose a useful contribute for by-products’ valorization for the pulp and paper industry, namely fly ash and sludge, diverting them from landfills and achieving signific...

An experimental study was conducted at field conditions in order to evaluate the effect of application of ash from biomass combustion on some soil fertility characteristics and plant growth. Application of 7.5 Mg ha(-1) industrial fly ash (IA), domestic ash (DA), and a 50:50 mix of domestic ash (DA) and spent coffee grounds (SCG) was made in differ...

Combustion of residual forest biomass (RFB) derived from eucalypt (Eucalyptus globulus), pine (Pinus pinaster) and golden wattle (Acacia longifolia) was evaluated in a pilot-scale bubbling fluidised bed reactor (BFBR). During the combustion experiments, monitoring of temperature, pressure and exhaust gas composition has been made. Ash samples were...

This study presents continuous measurements of size-segregated particulate matter, total volatile organic compounds, ozone, formaldehyde, comfort parameters (temperature and relative humidity), CO and CO2 at two copy centres (A and B) in Aveiro, Portugal. PM10 samples collected with low-volume samplers were used to determine the carbonaceous conten...

The influence of residual forest biomass characteristics on the performance of a pilot-scale BFBC was studied. The biomass leaching with water can improve its characteristics as fuel. Combustion of RFB from pine shows better performance than eucalyptus, e.g., traduced by lower CO and CH4 concentration in exit flue gases. The concentration of N2O, S...