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Browsing by Author "Olivero Verbel, Rafael"

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    El Nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) como coagulante natural complementario en la clarificación de agua
    (Corporación Universitaria Lasallista, 2015-08-03) Contreras Lozano, Karen Paola; Yelitza Aguas Mendoza, Jairo; Salcedo Mendoza, Guadalupe; Olivero Verbel, Rafael; Mendoza Ortega, Gean Pablo
    Introduction. Clarification is a process performed before purifying water, and consists in applying a coagulant that groups the suspended particles and makes them flocculate. They are, then, separated by means of filtration. Vegetables are being explored as a clean and inexpensive option to replace the primary coagulants, which are inorganic compounds. Objective. Evaluate the efficiency of the mucilage extracted from the nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a natural coagulant that complements aluminum sulfate in the clarification of water from the Magdalena river. Materials and methods. The clarification process was performed by the use of the jar test, taking into account factors such as the concentration and the proportion of the coagulants, the pH and the agitation speed, in order to evaluate the turbidity (NTU), the color (UPC), the total dissolved solids (mg/L), the pH and the electric conductivity (μS/cm) in the water treated. Results. By applying a maximum quantity of 20 % of nopal mucilage in the proportion of coagulants and an agitation speed of 200 rpm, the turbidity of the water can be reduced to values below 2 NTU, achieving efficiencies above 50 % in the removal of the turbidity. The most effective efficiencies achieved are between 96-98 %. The color was totally reduced to zero UPC and the STD content was reduced to values below 200 mg/L. The natural coagulant did not significantly affect the pH of the water treated and the conductivity increased in some of the treatments, perhaps due to the primary coagulant. Conclusion. The mucilage of nopal as a coagulant to complement the aluminum sulfate is effective to clarify water.
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    Evaluación de una mezcla para coagulantes naturales, Opuntia ficus y Moringa oleífera en clarificación de aguas
    (Corporación Universitaria Lasallista, 2017) Olivero Verbel, Rafael; Florez Vergara, Alexy; Vega Fellizola, Luis; Villegas de Aguas, Glenda
    Introduction. In this research project, natural coagulants Opuntia ficus-indica and Moringa oleifera were used, and their performance against aluminum sulfate (Alum) was compared. Objective. Evaluate the performance of three coagulants for the removal of suspended and dissolved solids to treat the water of the Magdalena River. Materials and Methods. Initially, unit operations such as peeling, drying, crushing and sieving (6 mm mesh) were used to convert Moringa oleifera and Opuntia ficus into powders. The main variables to be analyzed were turbidity and the correlation of turbidity and absorbance, which were found with the help of a turbidimeter and a spectrophotometer, respectively. The dose of clarifiers to be used for the samples was determined using an experimental design of 8x3x2. Results. The results were compared with the coagulants, both separately and mixed, to verify if the use of aluminum sulfate in the given percentages alters the clarification. We compared the acceptable values of the physicochemical parameters for drinking water of 2 UNT for turbidity and between 0.10 and 0.20 for absorbance, indicated in the Colombian regulations. Conclusion. The obtained results allowed to conclude that mixing Moringa oleifera and Opuntia ficus can remove a percentage of turbidity greater than 90.0 %, in comparison with the mixture of alum and natural coagulants, which can remove at least 99.0 % of turbidity in the water. In turn, it was possible to evidence a decrease in the solids by means of absorbance.