US-Turkey Cooperative Research: Flotation Technology for the Trona Industry

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0096920Miller Description: This award is for support of a cooperative project by Professor Jan D. Miller, Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah at Salt Lake City, Utah and Dr. Mehmet S. Celik, Mining Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Istanbul, Turkey. They plan to study the application of a new floatation technique in the processing of trona ore to remove insoluble contaminants. Trona is the source of soda ash, which is widely used in many consumer products. Current methods of recovery involve extraction of trona by conventional underground or solution mining methods, and in both cases the ore is dissolved to remove impurities. Preprocessing by floatation has not been possible until recently, when a unique flotation process was discovered at the University of Utah to allow for such preprocessing. Utilizing this process for preconcentration of trona, will make efficient use of trona resources, and will minimize the environmental impact of the process operations.Scope: The collaborators will combine their expertise in this research and will build on earlier successful collaboration in the area of soluble salt flotation. The proposed work should result in a procedure, for trona extraction, that is more efficient, and more environmentally benign than existing methods. The project has potential benefits to the United States and Turkey, because the United States is the largest producer of trona and Turkey ranks second in terms of trona reserves. The researchers and institutions involved in the project are well known for their contribution in the area of soluble salt flotation. The project meets INT criteria for support of cooperative projects that are mutually beneficial. This project is funded by the Division of International Programs and the Division of Chemical and Transport Systems.