Avaliação da utilização da Moringa oleifera Lam no tratamento de efluentes da produção de biodiesel

Abstract

In 2018, Brazil broke a record in relation to biodiesel, with a production of 5.350.000 m3. In its synthesis, it is necessary a purification process, which among others, results in the generation of effluent. There are estimates that for each liter of biodiesel produced 3 liters of effluent are generated. In general, the biodiesel effluent presents characteristics that are in disagreement with the Brazilian legislation for its disposal. Given that Brazil is one of the largest biodiesel producers in the world, with a large volume of effluent generated, the aim of the present study was to propose the treatment of this effluent by evaluating the potential use of Moringa oleifera Lam as a natural adsorbent. For this purpose three effluent samples were studied using experimental design with the variation of three components, namely the concentration of moringa seed, dilution in water and contact time. The results of the determinations of the evaluated parameters showed that, except in relation to the turbidity of the samples L1 and L2, they were above the Maximum Permitted Values (MPV) in CONAMA Resolution 430/2011, which provides for effluents in water copor. After the tests foreseen in the experimental planning it was observed adequacy of the samples, in relation to the legislation, except for the pH of the sample L1 that remained below 5.0. The values obtained for COD showed a reduction of up to 97%, as well as turbidity that presented a reduction of over 99%. Given the results, it can be considered efficient the use of moringa as a natural adsorbent for the effluent treatment of biodiesel production.