Environment – Revista Arco-55BET Pro

Revista Arco — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 20:17:14 +0000

Technology, Science, Innovation, Arts and Humanities in Southern Brazil

Scientific and Cultural Journalism

Environment – Revista Arco-55BET Pro

Revista Arco — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 19:54:07 +0000

Did you know that the concentration of nutrients in crop soils can be corrected? Improved computer technologies, sensors and GPS applied to agricultural practices help farmers increase the probability of guaranteeing a productive harvest. Precision farming techniques work by attaching devices to farm machines, such as seeders and harvesters, so they are able to withdraw a sample of soil, verify the variability of nutrients present and make any necessary corrections using fertilizers.

What stands out in precision farming is not only its benefits for the rural producer, but for the environment as well. By enabling the control of all interventions on an agricultural property, fertilizer and pesticide dosages can be accurately calculated and applied, reducing environmental contamination and increasing productivity. In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, about 30% of agribusinesses use precision agriculture. In some regions of the state, such as the North, this number is even more expressive, reaching around 50%. This is the case in the city Não-Me-Toque, known as the National Capital of precision agriculture, and also in Carazinho.

The renaissance

At the turn of the millennium, new perspectives emerged for Brazilian agriculture and agribusiness. The Aquarius Project, an initiative taken by the Massey Ferguson and Stara companies, marked the beginning of the development of precision agriculture in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and in Brazil. The project got under way in the city of Não-Me-Toque, in two locations: the Schmidt area, with 124 hectares, and the Lagoa area, with 132 hectares. Today, it occupies 16 areas, distributed along the Alto Jacuí region, with a total of 729 hectares. UFSM got in on the project in 2003, when the Agronomy course became a participant. Renowned throughout Brazil, the Aquarius Project has received international recognition in countries such as Paraguay, Argentina and Colombia.

Utilized by the farm machinery, fertilizer and seed industries, as well as by agricultural cooperatives, precision farming requires technology and innovation. The Project currently articulates activities among diverse partners, including the private companies Fazenda Anna and Cotrijal, UFSM and several agricultural producers in the state. “Today, we define the project as a technological showcase, because we work together with companies and they often develop a product, which the University and the producers test, and the suggest modifications and adaptations. In other words, we test all the innovations. The project counts on financing from private companies at the University”, affirms professor of Agronomy at UFSM, Telmo Amado Neto, the coordinator of the Aquarius Project. Currently, participants in the Project include agribusinesses Stara (agricultural machinery), Pioneer (seed manufacturer), Yara (world leader in fertilizers) and Cotrijal (agricultural cooperative in the northern region of Rio Grande do Sul).

On-farm research

The Aquarius Project uses a research strategy called On-Farm Research, in which farmers provide one hectare of their land for UFSM Agronomy students to test equipment and develop new technologies. “Normally, a work plan is first made for the project to be carried out by the students. They come up with ideas and let me check the feasibility of setting it up in the area. What is feasibility? Accuracy, time and space, and machinery”, explains the agricultural producer Rogério Pacheco, landowner in Carazinho, who contributes to Aquarius Project tests on his property. “As soon as we determine that we have the physical conditions necessary for the studies, we carry it out. They bring the theory, and we come in with the practice, the staff, the equipment and the inputs”, says the producer.

"We try to put the right amount of nutrients in the right place, at the right place, at the right time and from the most efficient source. This involves the concept of space-time"

Thus, instead of the research being carried out on an experimental field on the campus, it is carried out on actual agricultural crops provided by farmers. After analyzing the results, farmers decide whether to adopt the tested equipment or not and the tools developed through a project carried out by students and farmers end up getting adopted by other producers as word gets out. “In this process, the farmer often proposes solutions and adaptations. And, while we are conducting the project, the farmer is already making observations about whether it is something that will be valuable for the farm or not”, says Dr. Amado.

Rogério Pacheco adopted a precision agriculture system over five years ago, motivated by the principle of productivity and the rationalization of inputs. The N-sensor was one of the devices acquired by Rogério, after it was tested by the Aquarius Project, and, according to him, it has been one of the most used devices recently. “We experimented with precision planters, comparing the latest models on the market with traditional mechanical planters. Nitrogen variation in areas of high and average fertility was also analyzed using the N-Sensor” recalls the farmer.

Academic workforce

The experiments carried out on the agricultural property and the laboratory analyses are tasks performed by undergraduate and graduate students from the course in Agronomy. After students conclude the work carried out on the farm, in contact with the earth, grains and leaves, it is time to return to the academic environment. There, at UFSM laboratories, the materials collected are observed by the students in order to generate data for master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.

No pre-requisites

The new technologies developed by computer and information researchers and applied to farming are used on a large scale within the agro-industry, due, on the one hand, to the demand of its consumer market and, on the other, to the fact that the sector is financially able to acquire the technologies.

Precision agriculture can be adopted by both small and large producers. The agricultural engineer, Giordano Schiochet, who owns a small farm in the north of the state and uses machinery lent by the Cotrijal Cooperative, believes that precision farming is feasible for properties of all sizes, as long as it is adjusted to the investment capacity of each property. “I see precision farming as a tool that can contribute to the sustainability of small farms, making them competitive and strong” says Schiochet.

According to Dr. Amado, the size of the property is not restrictive, as in the case of family farming. To demonstrate, he points out that precision farming is widely used on small farms in Europe. “The whole issue comes down to whether you’re open to adopting new technologies or not,” he says.

Partnerships for services that generate inclusion

One of the ways to make precision farming reach family farmers is through cooperatives. Within Aquarius, there is a secondary project called Apecop (Precision Agriculture in Cooperatives), which involves 16 agricultural cooperatives in Rio Grande do Sul and adopts precision agriculture for its members. “In this case, the farmer doesn’t buy any machines, it is the cooperative that provides services and, in some cases, he pays for services provided only at the time of the harvest. Today, 50% of Cotrijal Cooperative members, for example, benefit from precision agriculture” says Dr. Amado.

Giordano Schiochet notes that the equipment used in precision agriculture is expensive, and therefore, partnerships with cooperatives make it feasible for members to have access to the tools. “I see being able to outsource the application of inputs as an advantage, because it would not be viable for small properties to acquire the machines needed to perform the service. In the case of our cooperative, the technical department, together with the precision agriculture sector, provides guidance on the best way to carry out the investment and work” says the agricultural engineer.

A way to manage their own

Many management principles are employed to establish a precision farming strategy on a property. One of its key features is its focus on management. The first step is to sort all the production processes on the farm. The next step is planning and organizing crop rotation, and, last of all, thinking about buying new machines, and considering the need to purchase new seeders, or a more powerful harvester. “Precision agriculture should not only be associated with the acquisition of new machines, it is much more than that,” says Dr. Amado. In other words, there are cases where precision agriculture consists of managing the resources that are already available on the property.

Embrapa defines precision agriculture as a new way of managing agricultural activities. In the opinion of Dr. Amado, precision agriculture is the management of agricultural properties, respecting the existing soil and plant variability and seeking to increase the efficiency of all processes.

"Precision agriculture should not only be associated with the acquisition of new machines, it is much more than that"

Evolution with benefits

Farm machines now come equipped with GPS signals that direct them in the crops when correcting variability of soil nutrients. The technological evolution of these mechanisms has minimized positioning errors in the application of fertilizers. As Dr. Amado reports: “When we started, we had a 6-meter positioning error and with the technology today, the error is only 2 centimeters.”

The gains achieved for producers and the environment by using precision in agricultural practices are clear to the Aquarius project coordinator: “When you have such a small positioning error, you can reduce the volume of agrochemicals applied to the crop by up to 10%, simply by avoiding excess applications”. Thus, reducing the positioning error and having electronic control of the machines also reduces the environmental impact.

Reporter: Cibele Zardo;

Illustration: Evandro Bertol;

Graphic Design: João Vitor Bittencourt and Projetar Industrial Design Company;

Photography: Aquarius Project Collection.

Published 2015

Environment – Revista Arco-55BET Pro

Revista Arco — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 19:49:43 +0000

You may have heard that 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. But did you know that many properties of ocean waters strongly impact the atmosphere? For example, El Niño is a phenomenon characterized by abnormal warming of surface waters in the Tropical Pacific Ocean that may affect the regional and global climate–and also your vacation.

There are several factors that affect global climate change, including the process of heat exchange between the sea surface and the atmosphere and the effect of carbon dioxide on this process. With a coastline of more than 8,000 km² on the South Atlantic Ocean, Brazil had few resources until recently to study the impact that ocean waters have on the climate of the country and the South American continent. However, that changed in 2004 when the National Institute of Space Research (INPE) launched a project to study large scale ocean-atmosphere interactions in the South Atlantic Ocean. That was only possible after the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR) acknowledged that the region in the South Atlantic Ocean bordering the Southern Ocean (the ocean that surrounds Antarctica) is a key region for modulating the weather and climate of South America because of its significant contrasts in sea surface temperature: in that region, warm waters coming from the Equator mix with cold waters coming from the Southern Ocean.

The 2004 project Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction in the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence Zone (INTERCONF) is part of the National Institute for Science and Technology of the Cryosphere. INTERCONF is coordinated by INPE researchers Ronald Buss de Souza and Luciano Ponzi Pezzi and is currently the only project in the Brazil-Malvinas region studying ocean-atmosphere coupling and its impact on the weather in South America. The initiative acts as an umbrella for a number of studies and engages undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students from several institutions, including INPE, the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG).

The INTERCONF project works in partnership with the Brazilian Navy. PROANTAR and the navy provide operational support for Brazilian Antarctic researchers and four navy ships with all the equipment needed to collect research data: the research vessels Cruzeiro do Sul (H38) and Vital de Oliveira (H39), the Oceanographic Support Ship Ary Rangel (H44) and the Polar Ship Almirante Maximiliano (H41). The vessels carry a crew of about 90 to 100 people, which includes around 20 researchers and navy personnel.

The collected data are used for research carried out at INPE in the most diverse areas of Oceanography and Meteorology. That includes studies on the physical and biological processes of the carbon dioxide (CO2) and water cycles and on heat fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere and their role in regional and global climates and in climate change. “These measurements provide important information for Southern Brazil, because the movement of cold fronts over the state of Rio Grande do Sul is directly affected by variations in sea surface temperature and vertical heat and humidity fluxes” explains Ronald.

On board

Every year, the INTERCONF project utilizes Brazilian Navy ships passing through the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence region, to take oceanographic and meteorological measurements that had not been taken before, even by the Navy. Professor Ronald’s team goes to sea to measure variables such as sea water salinity and temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and intensity and ocean current direction and intensity. These measurements enable calculations of heat, momentum and gas transfers between the ocean and the atmosphere, which are used to improve weather and climate models.

The last INTERCONF research cruise was held in October and November of 2018, when INPE’s team participated in the 37th Antarctic Operation onboard the Polar Ship Almirante Maximiliano. After making measurements in the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence region, the ship sailed to the Southern Ocean where the group took new measurements contributing to an international initiative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) called the “Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP)”.

According to Ronald, the INTERCONF operation begins long before boarding the ship, with the preparation of the data collection instruments, which must be assembled and undergo a period of testing. Once prepared, the equipment is loaded onto the ship and properly installed. Along the route between Brazil and Antarctica, several devices are used for taking measurements, including atmospheric radiosondes, current meters and oceanographic equipment to measure water temperature and salinity, an automatic weather station and a micro-meteorological tower equipped with sensitive meteorological equipment to measure air-sea heat, momentum and gas fluxes.

To understand better

The physical variables involved in the ocean-atmosphere interface are studied by observing the sea surface temperature variation between the Brazil Current, which comes from the Equator and is characterized by warm saline waters, and the Malvinas Current, which comes from the South and is characterized by cold waters with lower salinity. In the area where these two bodies of water meet, there can be a sea surface temperature variation of more than 10ºC within just a few miles.

Reporter: Diossana da Costa;

Graphic Design: João Vitor Bitencourt and Projetar Junior Industrial Design Company;

Photography: Personal archive/ Ronald Buss de Souza.

Published 2016

Environment – Revista Arco-55BET Pro

Revista Arco — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 19:48:17 +0000

Diesel oil, a derivative of petroleum, is a fuel composed of hydrocarbons, which are chemical compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Diesel is used in vehicles such as buses and trucks, since diesel-powered engines have a lifespan about 30% longer than their gas-powered counterparts and also consume less fuel. On the other hand, the diesel engine is more expensive and less responsive.

Given the alarming state of the environment, a great deal of research has focused on ways to reduce pollution. One of the main issues involving diesel is the harmful nitrogen and sulfur emissions from its combustion. Diesel releases a larger amount of these molecules into the atmosphere than fuels such as gasoline and alcohol, which means it pollutes more. These molecules cause problems for the environment, such as acid rain.

Weighing the benefits and drawbacks, one thing is certain: if using diesel is necessary, reducing its damage in nature is just as important.

Towards that end, Petrobras, the Brazilian oil and gas company, launched a project in 2006 in partnership with the Industrial and Environmental Chemical Analysis Laboratory at UFSM (LAQIA). The project between the public company and the University research group aims to create alternatives to improve diesel oil, focusing on reducing its sulfur and nitrogen compounds.

Reduce and Remove

When working with chemical reactions, temperature and pressure are very important factors. While raising pressure and temperature can speed up reactions, it can also make them more difficult to perform. In the industry, a hydrogenation process has traditionally been used to remove sulfur from diesel oil. This process requires a temperature of around 300 degrees centigrade and a pressure of 200 atmospheres. The result is diesel containing between 100 and 500 parts per million (ppm) of sulfur. According to Dr. Érico Marlon Moraes Flores, professor of the UFSM Department of Chemistry and coordinator of the project, hydrogenation does not remove the most resistant sulfur compounds, which remain in the diesel oil.

The LAQIA team proposed a change. Instead of removing the pollutants from the fuel through hydrogenation, they attempted an ultrasound-assisted oxidative process. Using this process allowed them to work with a temperature of 90 degrees at atmospheric pressure, that is, without needing to add hydrogen. The result was surprising: even working at a low temperature and pressure, they were able to reach a level of only five parts per million.

Why ultrasound?

Ultrasound energy is used to accelerate chemical reactions. In this case, it facilitates the process by eliminating the need for high temperature and pressure. Because it increases the efficiency of the reaction, while decreasing the use of chemical agents, solvents and reagents, it is considered an alternative technology. It reduces both the energy used in the process and the severity of the working conditions.

According to Dr. Flores, ultrasound has some singularities when compared to other types of energy, such as the formation of cavitation bubbles, which are small bubbles of gas that arise in liquid, speeding up the process. Under the action of ultrasound, these bubbles begin to pulsate and increase in size until they implode. At that point, they create high-pressure and high-speed jets in the liquid medium, which reach up to 400 meters per second. As the temperature rises, there is intense agitation in the medium, facilitating contact between the reactants and phases, thus accelerating the reaction.

Without ultrasound, the reaction to extract sulfur and nitrogen molecules from diesel takes about six hours. With the use of ultrasound, this time drops to about fifteen minutes, making the reaction twenty-four times faster.

Closer than you might think

Improving diesel quality has resulted in a number of benefits. The LAQIA team started on the project in 2006 with the objective of developing a method to effectively remove sulfur and nitrogen, in order to ensure the production of fuel that would meet a series of new specifications and recommendations of the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels.

By the end of 2012, in addition to common diesel fuel, which contains 500 ppm of sulfur, Brazilian gas stations began offering a less polluting diesel, called S50. The letter ‘S’ stands for sulfur, and the number stands for 50 mg of sulfur per liter of diesel. In order to comply with the Brazilian Program for Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control, the S50 diesel was later replaced by S10, with an even lower sulfur content.

Walter Mendes Mucha, a lawyer who uses the new diesel to power his truck, says he can tell the difference between the fuels because S10 diesel has a much less pungent smell than regular diesel. Even if he wanted to fill up on common diesel, Walter couldn’t because his truck was designed only to run on S10.

Reflecting these changes in the fuel supply, small diesel trucks have begun to be manufactured to run only on this type of diesel and these engines can sustain damages if they are fueled with common diesel. The inverse situation, however, offers no risks. Engines manufactured prior to 2012 and designed to use regular diesel can be fueled using S10 without any drawbacks.

Another advantage of using S10 diesel is that the engine oil doesn’t have to be changed as often, since S10 reduces contamination. It also improves the cold start system, which boosts the operation of vehicles on cold days and decreases the emission of white smoke, which is harmful to the environment.

All of these advantages are a result of the decreased amount of sulfur in the formula. However, this depends on a complex fuel refinement process, which is expensive. The outcome is reflected in the final consumer price: S10 diesel is more expensive than common diesel.

We have to purify

Many industrial processes rely on the use of fuels at some stage. Factories, power plants and vehicles need them to function. However, the burning of fossil fuels, which enabled industrial development, has also led to environmental pollution

Sulfur is released into the atmosphere from the burning of diesel oil, its raw material, petroleum, and also coal. Once in the air, it comes in contact with oxygen, causing the smog that hangs over large urban areas.

In the air, sulfur molecules cause numerous health problems. Continued exposure to this pollution can cause irritation to the nose and throat, coughs and shortness of breath, as well as aggravate cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, such as asthma and bronchitis.

When sulfur reacts with the water present in the atmosphere, it forms sulfuric acid, resulting in acid rain. Rain naturally contains a small degree of acidity, but the emission of gases such as sulfur intensifies this effect to the point of causing harm to the environment. The main problems caused by this phenomenon are destruction of vegetation cover, such as forests and crops, alteration of ecosystems present in lakes and rivers, contamination of drinking water and destruction of monuments and buildings. In addition, acid rain can fall far from the location where the pollution originated, because winds can carry it up to several miles away.

The project to reduce sulfur in diesel oil by ultrasound is still underway. The research has already yielded a patent for the project with Petrobras, an honorable mention from the Capes Thesis Award and a Petrobras Inventor Award. In addition, the Center for Studies on Petroleum, CEPETRO, has been established at UFSM to carry out this research. Through alternative technologies, diesel is being improved so that the final product results in cleaner air for the environment and the population.

Reporter: Natascha Carvalho;

Photographer: Pedro Porto;

Graphic Design: Tayanne Senna and Projetar Industrial Design Company.

Published 2013