bioprocesso

Divulgação

Quim. Nova, Vol. 28, No. 2, 296-305, 2005
APLICAÇÃO DE LIPASES NO TRATAMENTO DE ÁGUAS RESIDUÁRIAS COM ELEVADOS TEORES DE
LIPÍDEOS
Adriano Aguiar Mendes e Heizir Ferreira de Castro*
Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia Química de Lorena, CP 116, 12606-970 Lorena - SP
Ernandes Benedito Pereira e Agenor Furigo Júnior
Departamento de Engenharia Química e Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, CP 476,
88040-900 Florianópolis - SC
Recebido em 12/12/03; aceito em 14/9/04; publicado na web em 4/2/05

APPLICATION OF LIPASES FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT CONTAINING HIGH LEVELS OF LIPIDS. The process of anaerobic digestion has been greatly developed during the last decades for the treatment of wastewater from food industries as for example, wastewaters from sugar and starch manufacturing and from breweries. However, for wastewaters which contain high amounts of fats and proteins, such as those from slaughterhouses and dairies, anaerobic digestion was found to be troublesome, due to the potential of sludge flotation, the formation of scum layers of lipids at the surface of the reactor, which are not digested and the toxicity of the intermediate compounds (long chain fatty acids) generated during the anaerobic digestion of the wastewater.
The addition of hydrolytic enzymes, such as lipases prior to the anaerobic digestion can minimize these problems. In this work, this strategy is reviewed and the technical issues that must be considered in determining its feasibility are discussed.
Keywords: wastewater; lipids; lipase and enzymatic treatment.

INTRODUÇÃO
A adoção de um maior rigor nos padrões de descarte de águas residuárias tem motivado a realização de pesquisas, cujo objetivo é reduzir o impacto ambiental, especialmente em efluentes contendo elevados teores de lipídeos, como os provenientes de laticínios, matadouros e avícolas, enlatados, extração de óleos, entre outros. A
Política Nacional de