Unravelling the relation between processed crude oils and the composition of spent caustic effluents as well as the respective economic impact.

Spent caustic discharges are responsible for increasing oil and grease (O&G) matter in refineries wastewater, leading to increasing treatment costs due to low water quality and environmental constraints associated with high O&G concentration discharges. As a way to settle and optimize treatment technologies for such complex effluents, more insight regarding the effluents impact and deeper characterization is necessary. The present study intends to assess the possibility of a relationship between the processed crude oils with the polar O&G concentration in naphthenic spent caustic as well as in the final wastewater; Sines refinery was considered as case-study. Also, in order to get insights about the nature of the polar O&G compounds, their structures and their prevalence in the effluent treatment system was carried out through detailed analytical characterization studies. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were chosen. It was found that, for the Sines refinery, spent caustic discharges may increase the refinery effluent management cost up to 3 €/ton of processed crude oil, every time a high kerosene cut acid crude oil is processed. It was also found that the typical spent caustic O&G effluents are composed by organic contaminants with low molecular weight (MW), with aromatic and polar arrangements, like phenolic groups and naphthenic acids. This outcome is crucial for subsequently establishing the best technologies able to deal with such complex effluents.

Effects of CCA (copper-chrome-arsenic) preservative treatment of wood on the settlement and recruitment of barnacles and tube building polychaete worms.

The effect of the anti-marine-borer treatment of wood using CCA (a pressure impregnated solution of copper, chromium and arsenic compounds) on non-target fouling animals was investigated. Panels treated to target retentions of 12, 24 and 48 kg CCA m(-3) of wood, together with untreated controls were exposed for 6, 12 and 18 months at coastal sites in Greece, Portugal, France and Sweden. General linear model (GLM) analysis revealed significant increases in numbers of certain fouling organisms (the serpulids Ficopomatus enig-maticus, Hydroides spp., Pomatoceros lamarkii and an unidentified species, three species of spirorbid, and the balanids Balanus perforatus and Elminius modestus) with increase in retention of CCA. The effect of CCA on the numbers of recruits may be due to effects on their settlement and survival, but may also be due to suppression of competitors. Significant differences in settlement density of barnacle spat occurred on newly exposed wood and on wood that had been exposed for 6 and 18 months. The relationships between settlement density and retention could be described by logarithmic curves of the form settlement density = a 1n(l + retention)+b. The effects of CCA on settlement are ascribed either to modification of wood surface chemistry leading to changes in surface charge, the availability of Cu, Cr or As at the wood surface, or to modifications to the microbial film. Barnacle settlement was between 6.5 and 14 times more intense on latewood than on earlywood, an effect that was evident in both untreated and preservative-treated wood.

Screening for inborn errors of metabolism in high-risk children from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

From 1988 to 1995, our laboratory at the Institute of Chemistry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in Rio de Janeiro, screened 2650 samples from 2000 high-risk patients (mostly children) for Inborn Errors of Metabolism (IEM). Chemical tests, various chromatographic techniques and enzyme assays were performed on urine, plasma and in some cases, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A total of 145 cases of IEM (7.2%) was identified. These were related to: the metabolism of amino acids (41) and carbohydrates (17), organic acids (7), lysosomal enzymes (61), membrane transport system (16), metals (2), intestinal disaccharidases (1) and porphyrin metabolism (3). Furthermore, a relevant number of patients with abnormal findings is still under investigation. Biochemical results and clinical symptoms are presented and the importance of reference laboratories for the detection of IEM is stressed.