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Resource recovery and remediation of alkaline wastes

碱性废物的资源回收与修复

基本信息

批准号：
NE/L01405X/1
负责人：
Ian Burke
金额：
$ 39.91万
依托单位：
University of Leeds
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2014
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2014 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FL01405X%2F1
关键词：
Resource recovery remediation alkaline wastes

项目摘要

Over half a billion tonnes of alkaline (i.e. bleach-like) wastes are produced globally each year by industries such as steel production, alumina refining and coal-fired power generation. These wastes are currently stored in piles or landfill and can pose serious environmental hazards. Water that filters through the waste is toxic to aquatic life and dust generated as it is moved and stored is a public health hazard. It can take decades for these risks to fade. On the other hand, alkaline wastes contain large quantities of materials we would like to recover for re-use, particularly metals important to the technologies of the future, such as vanadium, used in steel manufacture for offshore wind turbines, lithium and cobalt for vehicle fuel cells and rare earth elements crucial for next-generation solar power systems. The obvious solution: using the profits from recovering resources locked in the waste to pay for remediation of the pollution, is hampered by the environmental damage caused by digging up stored waste piles and the expense of extracting the metals from the waste using existing technology.Ground-breaking pilot research recently conducted by the team proposing this project shows that harnessing the power of low-cost, low-energy natural processes could solve the problem. We are developing a unique 'biomining' approach to increase the rate at which resources stored in the waste dissolve into water passing through it. Our pilot tests have shown that covering the waste pile with a layer of 'solid municipal waste' (compost) is very effective in driving this process. As water flows through waste treated with compost, metals like vanadium leach out to levels over twice those of untreated piles. The metal solution then flows out of the bottom of the waste pile under gravity. The high concentrations mean that extracting metals from this solution becomes viable using existing technology which we propose to implement as part of this project. In effect the valuable resources are extracted without digging up the waste.The resource recovery benefits are matched by benefits to the environment. The layer of compost reduces dust generation from the site, and allows more CO2 to penetrate into the pile where it is locked away in significant quantities by reacting to form solid carbonate minerals. As elements like vanadium are pollutants as well as resources, recovery will eliminate the pollution alkaline waste weathering causes. Furthermore, the weathered waste piles have ideal conditions for nationally-scarce, orchid-rich plant communities to become established, making them suitable for restoration to create habitat of high conservation value.In order to turn the extremely promising results of our pilot studies into optimised, industry-ready processes we must better understand the specific mechanisms which control the biomining and develop a road map for negotiating the economic, legislative, environmental and societal challenges to the implementation of a new technology in an established industry with strict requirements for environmental protection. Our proposed research will tackle both these aspects in parallel. The combined package: recovery of the metal resources while suppressing dust, increasing carbon sequestration and treating the pollution caused, would be hugely beneficial to partners in our project from both industry (Tata Steel, Rio Tinto and the Minerals Industry Research Organisation) and environmental protection (Environment Agency).The project will bring together key commercial partners with a multi-disciplinary team of environmental scientists, waste policy experts and specialists in systems analysis and stakeholder engagement to pave the way for transforming resource recovery and environmental remediation. This team will investigate the key obstacles to this transformation and identify potential remedies, such as lobbying for legislative change or making a clear business case for resource recovery.

每年全球钢铁生产、氧化铝精炼和燃煤发电等行业产生超过5亿吨碱性（即漂白剂类）废物。这些废物目前被堆放或填埋，可能对环境造成严重危害。通过废物过滤的水对水生生物有毒，在移动和储存时产生的灰尘对公共卫生有害。这些风险可能需要几十年才能消退。另一方面，碱性废物含有大量我们希望回收再利用的材料，特别是对未来技术至关重要的金属，例如用于海上风力涡轮机钢铁制造的钒，用于汽车燃料电池的锂和钴，以及对下一代太阳能系统至关重要的稀土元素。显而易见的解决方案：利用回收废弃物中的资源所获得的利润来支付污染修复费用，受到挖掘储存的废弃物堆所造成的环境破坏以及使用现有技术从废弃物中提取金属的费用的阻碍。最近，提出该项目的团队进行了开创性的试点研究，表明利用低成本，低能耗的自然过程的力量可以解决这个问题。我们正在开发一种独特的“生物采矿”方法，以提高废物中储存的资源溶解到流经废物的水中的速度。我们的试点测试表明，在废物堆上覆盖一层“固体城市废物”（堆肥）对推动这一过程非常有效。当水流过经过堆肥处理的垃圾时，钒等金属的浸出量是未经处理的垃圾的两倍多。然后金属溶液在重力作用下从废物堆的底部流出。高浓度意味着从该溶液中提取金属是可行的，使用现有技术，我们建议实施作为该项目的一部分。实际上，宝贵的资源是在没有挖掘废物的情况下被提取出来的，资源回收的好处与环境的好处相匹配。堆肥层减少了现场产生的灰尘，并允许更多的二氧化碳渗透到堆中，通过反应形成固体碳酸盐矿物，大量二氧化碳被锁定。由于钒等元素既是污染物又是资源，回收将消除碱性废物风化造成的污染。此外，风化的垃圾堆为国家稀缺的、富含植物的植物群落的建立提供了理想的条件，使它们适合恢复，以创造具有高保护价值的栖息地。为了将我们的试点研究的极有希望的结果转化为优化的、工业化的过程，我们必须更好地了解控制生物采矿的具体机制，并制定一个谈判经济、环境和社会发展的路线图。在对环境保护有严格要求的成熟行业中实施新技术所面临的立法、环境和社会挑战。我们建议的研究将同时解决这两个方面。组合包：回收金属资源，同时抑制粉尘，增加碳封存和处理所造成的污染，将对我们项目中来自两个行业的合作伙伴非常有利（塔塔钢铁、力拓和矿产工业研究组织）和环境保护（环境署）。该项目将汇集主要的商业伙伴和一个多学科的环境科学家小组，废物政策专家以及系统分析和利益攸关方参与方面的专家，为转变资源回收和环境补救铺平道路。该小组将调查这一转变的主要障碍，并确定可能的补救措施，如游说立法改革或为资源回收提出明确的商业理由。