Bugs and veggies as a progressive dewatering technology for untreated tailings

昆虫和蔬菜作为未经处理尾矿的渐进式脱水技术

• 批准号: 548373-2019
• 负责人: Bajic, Jelena
• 金额: $ 5.46万
• 依托单位: Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 2
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=700278
• 关键词: Bugs; veggies; progressive; dewatering; technology

The oil sands industry is saddled with a tailings inventory exceeding 1.21 Bm3 (osip.alberta.ca). The majority of this volume is stored as mature fine tailings (MFT), a stable slurry suspension containing ~30% solids that can persist for decades. Reducing the volume of stored tailings by accelerating the rate of dewatering and densification is a high priority for oil sands operators. Several tailings treatment technologies have been developed to address this problem, however, current costs of implementation limit their deployment at scale. Previous studies have suggested that plants can be employed as a cost effective tailings capping or dewatering technology by accessing water trapped in suspension and releasing it to the environment through evapotranspiration, thereby increasing solids content and shear strength. The proposed study builds on previous work whereby native, upland, Boreal plant species were successfully augmented with amendments such as bacteria and hydrolyzed proteins to dewater thickened tailings and centrifuge cake. With the objective of targeting untreated MFT, the proposed study aims to develop a progressive, plant mediated dewatering technology capable of supporting plants on the surface of the fluid MFT. In addition, we will optimize a microbial and organic amendment to augment plant growth and investigate the mechanism by which plant growth is enhanced by examining nutrient content in the plant and soil, and gene expression from root associated microorganisms. We will also seek to understand how treatments affect the uptake of salts, metals, and hydrocarbons from the tailings into the plants. This highly interdisciplinary project combines expertise from the Centre for Boreal Research, the Applied Bio-Nanotechnology Industrial Research program, and the Centre for Oil Sands Sustainability within the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), the molecular biology unit at the Laurentian Forestry Centre, and Canadian Natural. If successful, this project will result in a cost effective, progressive dewatering prototype capable of passively transforming tailings into a soil system suitable for reclamation, and will be scalable for field deployment

油砂行业的尾矿库存超过1.21 BM3（OSIP.ALBERTA.CA）。多数 该体积的存储为成熟的细尾矿（MFT），这是一种稳定的浆液悬浮液，含有〜30％的固体 可以持续数十年。通过加速脱水速率和 致密化是油砂运营商的高度优先级。几种尾矿治疗技术已经 但是，为解决这个问题而开发的目前的实施成本限制了其大规模部署。 先前的研究表明，植物可以用作具有成本效益的尾矿上限或脱水 通过获取被困在悬浮悬浮的水并将其释放到环境中的技术 蒸散量，从而提高固体含量和剪切强度。拟议的研究基于以前的 在这种工作中，本地，高地的北方植物物种成功地增强了修正案，例如 细菌和水解的蛋白质可脱水增厚的尾矿和离心蛋糕。以 针对未经处理的MFT，拟议的研究旨在开发一种渐进的植物介导的脱水 能够在流体MFT表面支撑植物的技术。此外，我们将优化 微生物和有机修正案，以增强植物的生长并研究植物的机制 通过检查植物和土壤中的养分含量来增强生长，以及根源的基因表达 相关的微生物。我们还将寻求了解治疗方法如何影响盐，金属， 和尾矿中的碳氢化合物进入植物。这个高度跨学科的项目结合了专业知识 从北方研究中心，应用的生物 - 纳米技术工业研究计划和 北艾伯塔省理工学院（NAIT）内油沙可持续性中心，分子 Laurentian林业中心和加拿大自然的生物学单位。如果成功，这个项目将导致 具有成本效益，进行性脱水的原型，能够被动地将尾矿变成土壤系统 适用于开垦，将可扩展用于现场部署