Agricultural and Environmental Engineer (PhD). Professor in the Engineering Department (Institute of Technology) at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). Research interest on: waste and wastewater treatment, biogas / biomethane production, microalgae (biomass and bioremediation) and fertigation/biofertilizers.
EDUCATION
Graduated in Agricultural and Environmental Engineering with a PhD in Ecology.
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, Bioengineering, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
37
Scopus Publications
1052
Scholar Citations
16
Scholar h-index
21
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Integrated Pilot-Scale Approach for Effective Treatment of Dried Meat Industry Wastewater Henrique Vieira de Mendonça, Mônica Silva dos Santos, Conan Ayade Salvador Water Air and Soil Pollution, 2026 The dried meat industry generates high-strength wastewater containing organic matter, fats, proteins, and salts, which poses environmental risks if untreated. This study evaluated a pilot-scale integrated treatment system comprising equalization (EQ), grease trap (GT), anaerobic filter (AF), two sequential activated sludge reactors (AS), and coagulation/sedimentation (CT). The system was operated for six months under batch conditions, with monitoring of COD, BOD₅, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), total phosphorus (Pt), pH, and electrical conductivity (EC). Kinetic analyses indicated that COD and BOD₅ removal in both anaerobic (AF) and aerobic (AS) stages followed first-order decay models, with high determination coefficients (R 2 > 0.98). The AS stage achieved 85.7% BOD₅ and 91.9% COD removal, and the coagulation/sedimentation process contributed to additional reductions of 64.0% and 61.5%, respectively, in addition to removing micro-sludge that could not be settled by gravity in the activated sludge system. Overall, the integrated system provided global efficiencies of 97.6% for BOD₅ and 98.5% for COD. Nutrient removal was also significant, reaching 93.8% for TKN and 95.8% for total phosphorus, with effluent pH maintained within regulatory limits. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) confirmed the correlation between treatment stages and water quality parameters, highlighting the robustness of the sequential configuration. The results demonstrate that the proposed pilot-scale system is efficient, resilient to high salinity, and a promising solution for wastewater management in the dried meat industry.
Ozone Treatment for Pesticide-Contaminated Water Tatyane Pereira dos Santos, Sérgio Rabello Alves, Ana Cristina Simões Rosa, Ruan Victor Ferreira Soares, Lilian Mendonça Penna, et al. Water Air and Soil Pollution, 2025
Treatment and bioenergy recovery from livestock wastewater in UASB reactor: novel approaches for engineering projects Henrique Vieira de Mendonça, Mônica Silva dos Santos Brazilian Journal of Biosystems Engineering, 2025 This study presents an innovative approach for energy recovery and treatment of cattle wastewater, exploring the performance of a UASB reactor operated at 40°C, a condition that has received scant attention in the extant literature. The experiment was conducted using a semi-continuous feeding regime, with hydraulic retention times of 6, 5, 3, and 2 days, and organic loading rates of 4, 5, 7, and 11 kg COD m-3 d-1. The range of organic matter removal for total COD was 60% to 80%, and for soluble COD, it was 50% to 75%. These values resulted in methane yields ranging from 0.20 to 0.34 m³ CH4 per kilogram of total COD removed and from 0.4 to 0.5 m³ CH4 per kilogram of soluble COD removed. The findings underscore the efficacy of operating the reactor under these conditions, not only in achieving substantial biogas production but also in ensuring the efficient removal of organic matter. This reinforces the potential of the processes as a sustainable and effective alternative for treating effluents with high pollutant loads, thereby combining environmental mitigation and clean energy generation.
Development of a Methodology for Sizing Activated Sludge Reactor Volumes for Treating Wastewater from the Recycled Paper Industry Henrique Mendonça, Conan Ayade Salvador, Monica Silva dos Santos Acta Scientiarum Technology, 2025 Although the activated sludge system has been in use since the last decade, many industrial typologies still lack a precisely adjusted equation for sizing the optimal volume of these reactors. In response to the need for obtaining size parameters for activated sludge reactors used for treating effluents from the recycled paper industry, a new procedure, in batch mode, reactors were tested at 20°C under different hydraulic retention times (HRT) and 3 ranges of mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) concentrations. Kinetic equations for removing BOD5 and COD were obtained, along with a model equation for calculating the volume of activated sludge reactors. Removals above 90% for BOD5 and COD were achieved with 72 hours of aeration and MLVSS concentrations above 4 g L-1. This new method with standardized equations specific to recycled paper industry wastewater can be considered validated and ready for use by users such as undergraduates and graduates, as well as wastewater treatment plant designers. Finally, it is advisable to use aerobic biological sludge from textile mills for inoculation of activated sludge systems in the paper industry.
Agroindustrial wastewater bioremediation and carbon biofixation using the cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis DRH 20 Cecília de Mello Mattos da Silva, Mônica Silva dos Santos, Jacob Santana de Lima Neto, Daniel Fonseca de Carvalho, Everaldo Zonta, et al. Revista Em Agronegocio E Meio Ambiente, 2025 A biomassa microalgal oferece benefícios notáveis como matérias-primas promissoras para produção sustentável devido às suas macromoléculas. No presente estudo, a microalga Arthrospira platensis DHR 20 foi cultivada em dois conjuntos interconectados de fotobiorreatores de painéis planos verticais (FBRPs), utilizando água residuária de gado digerida anaerobiamente (ARGDA) como substrato. O processo foi dividido em 5 fases com variações no volume operacional do substrato de 1 L, 5 L, 10 L, 15 L e 20 L. A biomassa seca atingiu um máximo de 5,7 g L-1, e a produtividade atingiu o pico em 0,74 g L-1. A taxa mais alta de biofixação de CO2 atingida foi 1.213,46 mg L-1 d-1, demonstrando um alto potencial para purificação do ar. A taxa específica de crescimento máximo e o tempo de duplicação mais curto foram encontrados quando os FBRPs foram alimentados com 15 L a cada 2 dias. Em relação à biorremediação, as porcentagens de assimilação da biomassa foram entre 65,8% e 87,1% de demanda química de oxigênio, 82,2% e 85,8% de carbono orgânico total, 62,5% e 93% de NO3-, 90,4% e 99,7% de NH4+, e 86,5% e 98,5% de nitrogênio total. Em termos gerais, essa representa uma nova abordagem sustentável no que diz respeito à redução de CO2, com a vantagem adicional de realizar simultaneamente a biorremediação da água residuária.
Sugarcane growth with cattle biofertilizer and urea Henrique Vieira de Mendonça, Jean Pierre Henry Balbaud Ometto, Wadson Sebastião Duarte da Rocha, Carlos Eugênio Martins, Marcelo Henrique Otenio, et al. Revista Em Agronegocio E Meio Ambiente, 2016
Integrated Pilot-Scale Approach for Effective Treatment of Dried Meat Industry Wastewater HV de Mendonça, MS dos Santos, CA Salvador Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 237 (13), 739 , 2026 2026
Bioenergy Recovery in Full-Scale Anaerobic Co-digestion of Swine Wastewater and Pig Bedding Material HV de Mendonça, MS dos Santos Acta Scientiarum. Technology 48, e75183 , 2026 2026
Energy recovery from the anaerobic co-digestion of ricotta cheese whey and dairy cattle manure. LAR Santana, GH da Silva, JC CARNEIRO, IGB da Motta, ... 2026
APPLICATION OF OZONE FOR TREATMENT OF WATER CONTAMINATED WITH PESTICIDES TP dos Santos, ANACS ROSA, SR ALVES, LM PENNA, RVF SOARES, ... IV Congresso Latino-americano de Toxicologia Clínico-laboratorial 5 , 2025 2025
Ozone Treatment for Pesticide-Contaminated Water TP dos Santos, SR Alves, ACS Rosa, RVF Soares, LM Penna, ... Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 236 (15), 1002 , 2025 2025
Recycling in livestock: Reuse of corral washing water and reduction of the release of pathogenic microorganisms into the environment J Kassis, TG Carpanez, AM de Melo Junior, HV de Mendonça, MH Otenio, ... Journal of Water Process Engineering 76, 108217 , 2025 2025
Cultivation of Chlorella sp. in photobioreactors: Potential for bioremediation of synthetic soy milk effluents and biofuel production J Santana, C de Mello, MS dos Santos, RV Boas, L Lucchetti, MF Mendes, ... Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 117996 , 2025 2025
Treatment and bioenergy recovery from livestock wastewater in UASB reactor: novel approaches for engineering projects HV de Mendonça, MS dos Santos Revista Brasileira de Engenharia de Biossistemas 19 , 2025 2025
Decade-long performance of constructed wetlands in the dairy industry following an aerated facultative pond HV de Mendonça, CM de Carvalho, AG Costa, MC Ribas, JF Euriques Chemosphere 376, 144271 , 2025 2025 Citations: 2
Dairy effluent treatment with ozone reactor, zeolite and porous membrane in sequential filtration MS dos Santos, C de Mello Mattos, HV de Mendonça Journal of Water Process Engineering 71, 107184 , 2025 2025 Citations: 6
Microalgae Spirulina platensis in livestock bioremediation: a tool for pollution reduction with the production of economically valuable macromolecules MS dos Santos, DS de Souza, HV de Mendonça Revista Brasileira de Engenharia de Biossistemas 19 , 2025 2025
Spirulina platensis in livestock wastewater bioremediation: pollutioncontrol by obtaining macromolecules. DS Souza, MS Santos, HV Mendonça Revista em Agronegócio e Meio Ambiente 18 , 2025 2025
Uso de microalga Spirulina platensis no tratamento de águas residuárias e produção de biocombustíveis. DL Cordeiro, RNV Bôas, MF Mendes, HV Mendonça Revista em Agronegócio e Meio Ambiente 18, 1 , 2025 2025
Development of a Methodology for Sizing Activated Sludge Reactor Volumes for Treating Wastewater from the Recycled Paper Industry. HV Mendonça, CA Salvador, MS Santos Acta Scientiarum: Technology 47 , 2025 2025
Biorremediação de água residuária agroindustrial e biofxação de carbono com cianobactéria Arthrospira platensis DHR 20 C Mattos, M Santos, J Santana, DF de Carvalho, E Zonta, ... Revista em Agronegócio e Meio Ambiente 18 (1), 1-13 , 2025 2025
Biorremediação de água residuária agroindustrial e biofixação de carbono com cianobactéria Arthrospira platensis DHR 20 CMM da Silva, MS dos Santos, JS de Lima Neto, DF de Carvalho, E Zonta, ... Revista em Agronegócio e Meio Ambiente 18, e12205-e12205 , 2025 2025
Microalgae Cultivated in Cattle Wastewater as a Biofertilizer: Tests on the Production of Arugula ( Eruca vesicaria ) and the Benefits for Sustainable Agriculture LS Dagnaisser, DVB de Campos, ÉFM Pinheiro, DG da Silva, ... Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 235 (11), 740 , 2024 2024 Citations: 1
Pollution control and biodiesel production with microalgae: new perspectives on the use of flat panel photobioreactors regarding variation in volume application rate C de Mello Mattos, MS Dos Santos, J Santana, DF de Carvalho, ... Environmental Science and Pollution Research 31 (49), 58973-58987 , 2024 2024 Citations: 1
Assessment of biofuel production yield using microalgae biomass in cattle wastewater LT Soares, RN Vilas-Bôas, MF Mendes, HV de Mendonça Sustainable Water Resources Management 10 (4), 135 , 2024 2024 Citations: 3
Treated cattle wastewater affects the growth, quality and water productivity of Dalbergia nigra seedlings produced with shading and irrigation levels LO Silva, HV Mendonça, BAAF Conforto, PSS Leles, DF Carvalho Scientia Agricola 81, e20230058 , 2024 2024 Citations: 1
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Combining biotechnology with circular bioeconomy: From poultry, swine, cattle, brewery, dairy and urban wastewaters to biohydrogen A Ferreira, P Marques, B Ribeiro, P Assemany, HV de Mendonça, ... Environmental research 164, 32-38 , 2018 2018 Citations: 171
Microalgae in a global world: new solutions for old problems? HV De Mendonca, P Assemany, M Abreu, E Couto, AM Maciel, RL Duarte, ... Renewable Energy 165, 842-862 , 2021 2021 Citations: 166
Microalgae-mediated bioremediation and valorization of cattle wastewater previously digested in a hybrid anaerobic reactor using a photobioreactor: comparison between batch and … HV de Mendonça, JPHB Ometto, MH Otenio, IPR Marques, AJD Dos Reis Science of the Total Environment 633, 1-11 , 2018 2018 Citations: 91
Biofuel recovery from microalgae biomass grown in dairy wastewater treated with activated sludge: The next step in sustainable production HV de Mendonca, MH Otenio, L Marchao, A Lomeu, DS de Souza, A Reis Science of The Total Environment 824, 153838 , 2022 2022 Citations: 62
Microalgae as bio-fertilizer: a new strategy for advancing modern agriculture, wastewater bioremediation, and atmospheric carbon mitigation LS Dagnaisser, MGB Dos Santos, AVS Rita, J Chaves Cardoso, ... Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 233 (11), 477 , 2022 2022 Citations: 53
Microalgae biomass production for biofuels in Brazilian scenario: a critical review MGB dos Santos, RL Duarte, AM Maciel, M Abreu, A Reis, ... BioEnergy Research 14 (1), 23-42 , 2021 2021 Citations: 48
Remoção de nitrogênio e fósforo de águas residuárias de laticínios por sistemas alagados construídos operando em bateladas HV Mendonça, CBM Ribeiro, AC Borges, RR Bastos Revista Ambiente & Água 7 (2), 75-87 , 2012 2012 Citations: 44
Biofertilizer Application on Corn ( Zea mays ) Increases the Productivity and Quality of the Crop Without Causing Environmental Damage A de Matos Nascimento, AM Maciel, JBG Silva, HV Mendonça, ... Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 231 (8), 414 , 2020 2020 Citations: 41
Production of energy and biofertilizer from cattle wastewater in farms with intensive cattle breeding HV de Mendonça, JPHB Ometto, MH Otenio Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 228 (2), 72 , 2017 2017 Citations: 39
Ozone reactor combined with ultrafiltration membrane: a new tertiary wastewater treatment system for reuse purpose V Clem, HV de Mendonça Journal of Environmental Management 315, 115166 , 2022 2022 Citations: 37
Enhanced Arthrospira platensis Biomass Production Combined with Anaerobic Cattle Wastewater Bioremediation DS de Souza, RC Valadão, ERP de Souza, MIMJ Barbosa, ... Bioenergy research 15 (1), 412-425 , 2022 2022 Citations: 36
Sistemas Alagados Construídos em Batelada: remoção de Demanda Bioquímica de Oxigênio e regulação de pH no tratamento de efluentes de laticínios HV Mendonça, CBM Ribeiro, AC Borges, RR Bastos Revista Ambiente & Água 10, 442-453 , 2015 2015 Citations: 31
Optimization of ozone application in post-treatment of cattle wastewater from organic farms DS de Souza, AM Maciel, MH Otenio, HV de Mendonça Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 231 (7), 362 , 2020 2020 Citations: 30
Bioenergy recovery from cattle wastewater in an UASB-AF hybrid reactor HV de Mendonça, JPHB Ometto, MH Otenio, AJD Dos Reis, IPR Marques Water Science and Technology 76 (9), 2268-2279 , 2017 2017 Citations: 27
Biofertilizer replace urea as a source of nitrogen for sugarcane production HV de Mendonça, CE Martins, WSD da Rocha, CAV Borges, ... Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 229 (7), 216 , 2018 2018 Citations: 17
New methods to increase microalgae biomass in anaerobic cattle wastewater and the effects on lipids production DS de Souza, A Lomeu, OB de Oliveira Moreira, MAL de Oliveira, ... Biomass and Bioenergy 176, 106915 , 2023 2023 Citations: 16
Crescimento de cana-de-açúcar sob aplicação de biofertilizante da bovinocultura e ureia HV De Mendonça, JPHB Ometto, WSD Da Rocha, CE Martins, MH Otenio, ... Revista em agronegócio e meio ambiente 9 (4), 973 , 2016 2016 Citations: 16
Post-treatment of an aerated facultative pond with constructed wetland: First two years of operation in a dairy industry HV de Mendonça, MH Otenio, AA Lomeu, AV Santa Rita Ecological Engineering 179, 106623 , 2022 2022 Citations: 13
Biomass Production of the Tropical Forage Grass Pennisetum purpureum (BRS Capiaçu) Following Biofertilizer Application M de Oliveira Gonçalves, TG Carpanez, JBG Silva, MH Otenio, ... Waste and Biomass Valorization 13 (4), 2137-2147 , 2022 2022 Citations: 10
Digestão anaeróbia para produção de energia renovável HV de Mendonça, MH Otenio, VR de Paula Revista em Agronegócio e Meio Ambiente 14 (3), 1-16 , 2021 2021 Citations: 10