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The objective of this study was to develop a method for the direct determination of residual CO3(2-) in acid soil using a flow system coupled with pervaporation. The gas released from the acidified sample was separated though a hydrophobic membrane and detected by conductivimetry. The detection limit was 0.054 mmol c kg-1 for CO2/CO3(2-) with relative error of 3.1%. The analytical frequency was 20 samples per hour. The method is recommended for studying the reactions and kinetics of lime applied in acid soils.

This paper describes the use of the open source hardware platform, denominated "Arduino", for controlling solenoid valves for solutions handling in flow analysis systems. System assessment was carried out by spectrophotometric determination of iron (II) in natural water. The sampling rate was estimated as 45 determinations per hour and the coefficient of variation was lower than 3%. Per determination, 208 µg of 1-10-phenanthroline and ascorbic acid were consumed, generating 1.3 mL of waste. "Arduino" proved a reliable microcontroller with low cost and simple interfacing, allowing USB communication for solenoid device switching in flow systems.

When doing researches on solute dynamics in porous medium, the knowledge of medium characteristics and percolating liquids, as well as of external factors is very important. An important external factor is temperature and, in this sense, our purpose was determining potassium and nitrate transport parameters for different values of temperature, in miscible displacement experiments. Evaluated parameters were retardation factor (R), diffusion/dispersion coefficient (D) and dispersivity, at ambient temperature (25 up to 28 ºC), 40 ºC and 50 ºC. Salts used were potassium nitrate and potassium chlorate, prepared in a solution made up of 5 ppm nitrate and 2.000 ppm potassium, with Red-Yellow Latosol porous medium. Temperature exhibited a positive influence upon porous medium solution and upon dispersion coefficient. No estudo da dinâmica de solutos num meio poroso, é de suma importância o conhecimento das propriedades do meio e dos líquidos percolantes, bem como de fatores externos. Um fator externo relevante é a temperatura e, nesse sentido, teve-se como objetivo determinar os parâmetros de transporte dos íons potássio e nitrato para diferentes valores de temperatura em experimentos de deslocamento miscível. Os parâmetros avaliados foram o fator de retardamento (R), o coeficiente de difusão/dispersão (D) e a dispersividade (λ ), e as temperaturas utilizadas foram a ambiente (25 a 28 ºC), 40 ºC e 50 ºC. Os sais utilizados foram nitrato de potássio e cloreto de potássio, preparados em solução composta de 50 ppm de nitrato e 2.000 ppm de potássio, sendo o meio poroso um Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo, textura média. A temperatura apresentou influência positiva na velocidade da solução no meio poroso e no coeficiente de dispersão.