ESTUDO DA COMPOSTAGEM DE TABACO DE CIGARROS CONTRABANDEADOS MISTURADO A LODO DE ETE POR MEIO DE ANÁLISES CONVENCIONAIS E ESPECTROSCÓPICAS

Abstract

The present work aimed to study the composting of the tobacco of the cigarettes smuggled mixed with industrial sewage sludge into five piles. In three piles were used wood shavings as bulking agents and other two piles, gardening pruning. During the process, were performed physical and chemical analysis (temperature, humidity, pH, C/N ratio, ash content), biological (seed germination index) and spectroscopic (Ultraviolet-Visible and Infrared). Furthermore, they were verified the granulometry of the waste (tobacco, gardening pruning and wood shavings) to see if the particle sizes thereof were within the recommended range for composting processes. It was observed that the granulometry of the residues were adequate for achieving composting. All piles had temperatures in the thermophilic stage considered ideal for the elimination of pathogens. Phytotoxicity tests and analyzes of the C/N ratio showed that the compounds were matured at 180 days of the process. The increase in the ash content of the compounds over the course of the composting time indicated the mineralization of organic matter. The results of the spectroscopic analysis indicated that the composting process has occurred properly for all piles, because showed the degradation of the simple structures and the formation of complex groups (humic substances). The ratios E2/E4 suggested that initially occurred lignin degradation in the piles studied and that, especially in the curing phase, occurred the formation of non-condensed aromatic structures linked to oxygen function. The results of the ratios E4/E6 indicated that the piles had final values of these ratios similar to those observed for humic acids of the soil. The infrared results showed absorptions in the region 1647-1652 cm-1, this being a characteristic of humic compost. The set of results indicates that the composting using the tobacco of the contraband cigarettes and industrial sewage sludge, in the conditions developed in this work, is an environmentally suitable alternative for the treatment/reuse as much tobacco as sewage sludge.