Browsing by Author "Amarelo Santos, Carla Manuela"
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- Energetic valorization of a heterotrophic microalga residue from biodiesel production through anaerobic digestionPublication . Amarelo Santos, Carla Manuela; Pinheiro, Helena M.; Reis, Alberto; Marques, Isabel P.The production of biodiesel from the oil fraction of the heterotrophically grown microalga Chlorella protothecoides generated two waste streams: defatted microalga residues and crude glycerol. These wastes were anaerobically digested separately and in admixture to quantify their energy potential. The defatted microalga residues (from the oil extraction process) were shown to be a suitable substrate for anaerobic digestion since they provided a methane yield of 498.4 mL CH4/g volatile solids (VS). On the other hand, because glycerol acted as an inhibitory agent for methanogenesis, anaerobic co-digestion of defatted microalga residues and crude glycerol resulted in the diversification of the produced energy carrier. By using glycerol at a ratio of 1.24 g glycerol/g volatile solids of inoculum in admixture with microalga residues, hydrogen was obtained instead of methane. The resulting yield was 39.9 mL H2/g VS of microalga residues. Based on these results, both effluents can be valorized through simple and sustainable methods in order to recover their energy potential in the form of methane or hydrogen.
- Evaluation of group work in the Chemistry and Biotechnology laboratory: Case studyPublication . Amarelo Santos, Carla Manuela; Gomes, Ana Gabriela
- Pretreatments applied to microalgae residues to enhance anaerobic digestionPublication . Rodrigues, M.P.; Eusébio, A.; Amarelo Santos, Carla Manuela; Marques, I. P.Biomass of microalga Chlorella protothecoides, grown under autotrophic and heterotrophic conditions and subjected to pretreatments, were energetically valorized through anaerobic digestion process according to the substrates: autotrophic algae (A), heterotrophic algae (H), heterotrophic algae extracted (HE), autoclave pretreated heterotrophic algae (HPA), enzyme pretreated heterotrophic algae (HPE), ultrasound pretreated heterotrophic algae (HPU), and inoculum (I). Despite the application of pretreatments, the highest methane production was obtained in the algae extracted digestion with 172 mL CH4, against 153, 126 and 142 mL obtained in HPA, HPE and HPU, respectively. The COD removal capacity was higher in the HPA sample while the TS and VS removal reached higher values in the autotrophic alga.
- Teamwork skills in the chemistry and biotechnology laboratoriesPublication . Santos, C A; Amarelo Santos, Carla Manuela; Gomes, Ana GabrielaNowadays, it is increasingly necessary not only to develop good technical skills, but also communication and team work skills, which are not formally taught in engineering courses. Among these, the authors focused on the ability to work as a team, in laboratorial classes of a Bachelor course in biotechnology, and to know how to relate to others and work collaboratively, which are competences that have been increasingly appreciated by employers. Therefore, in the present paper the authors intend to make an analysis of the self and peer-assessment of students, as members of a given group and to demonstrate some aspects of group dynamics in the chemical and biological area, to identify dysfunctional groups, and to establish the conditions to reduce them, and, lastly, to develop the critical thinking and working constructively in a team. The approach adopted employed the online tool SparkPlus, which presents a survey regarding teamworking skills to be answered by all team members. The data was obtained from laboratory group teams of students from the second year of Biotechnology Bachelor at polytechnic institute of Setúbal in Portugal for three academic years. Results identified students’ larger difficulties: as writing the lab report; secondly the leadership problems, and thirdly the number crunching. These skills need to be developed in future work during the course. On the other hand, students registered less difficulties in efficient functioning of a group. Also, results from group dynamics, have identified over-rating and under-rating students in the assessment. These findings will allow actions to be taken in order to balance a given team, namely in terms of identification of the role of each member for a given task.
- The Design Thinking Method Applied in the Context of the EUDRES I Living LabsPublication . Pereira, Ana; Amarelo Santos, Carla Manuela; Soares, Célia Cristina Casaca; Simões, Helena Maria Espada; Moreira, Sandrina Berthault; Heliodoro, Paula; Fernandes, João Francisco dos Santos; Caria, Helena; Macedo, Patricia