STTR Phase I: Chemical Sensors for In situ Monitoring of Collector Chemicals in Complex Copper Mine Effluents

STTR 第一阶段：用于原位监测复杂铜矿废水中捕收剂化学品的化学传感器

• 批准号: 0930087
• 负责人: Jon Thompson
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: United Science LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0930087&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STTR; Phase; Chemical; Sensors; situ

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project addresses unmet analysis needs of froth flotation, a separations process widely used in the mining industry to separate worthless gangue from desired mineral particles. The goal of this Phase I is the preparation of sensors that permit the measurement of collector chemicals used in flotation suspensions. Our proposed sensors are expected to be ideally suited for these measurements since they are not affected by turbidity, have a collector selectivity that can be tuned with specific receptors, and require no off-stream sample handling. The project will take advantage of the highly selective and fouling-resistant fluorous perfluoropolymer membranes introduced by the academic partner Phil Buhlmann. The broader impacts of this research are significant as it will enable the mining industry to be more sustainable in its approach to mineral recovery. Specifically, our research aims to significantly reduce the amount of toxic chemical waste associated with froth flotation and its inevitable environmental impact. The method has the potential of making the US copper industry more competitive by saving over $200 M in wasted collector while simultaneously improving mining sustainability by eliminating an estimated 891,000 kg of unnecessary chemical discharges. In addition to these benefits, the multidisciplinary aspects of this project will train students in synthetic and analytical techniques, involving concepts from chemistry, materials science, and engineering. A graduate student will have the opportunity to mentor an undergraduate students involved in this project through directed research studies and through the NSF-REU programs at the UMN.

该奖项根据 2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法 111-5）提供资金。这个小型企业技术转让 (STTR) 第一阶段项目解决了泡沫浮选未满足的分析需求，泡沫浮选是采矿业广泛使用的一种分离过程，用于将无价值的脉石与所需的矿物颗粒分离。第一阶段的目标是制备传感器，以测量浮选悬浮液中使用的捕收剂化学品。我们提出的传感器预计将非常适合这些测量，因为它们不受浊度的影响，具有可以通过特定受体调节的收集器选择性，并且不需要流外样品处理。该项目将利用学术合作伙伴 Phil Buhlmann 推出的高选择性和抗污染含氟全氟聚合物膜。这项研究的更广泛影响是重大的，因为它将使采矿业的矿物回收方法更加可持续。 具体来说，我们的研究旨在显着减少与泡沫浮选相关的有毒化学废物的数量及其不可避免的环境影响。该方法可节省超过 2 亿美元的废料收集器，从而使美国铜业更具竞争力，同时通过消除估计 891,000 公斤不必要的化学品排放来提高采矿可持续性。 除了这些好处之外，该项目的多学科方面还将培训学生的合成和分析技术，涉及化学、材料科学和工程学的概念。研究生将有机会通过定向研究和 UMN 的 NSF-REU 项目来指导参与该项目的本科生。