Novel Approaches for the Remediation of Mercury

修复汞的新方法

• 批准号: 1843663
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-1843663
• 关键词: Novel; Approaches; Remediation; Mercury

Mercury, is a potent neurotoxin, and can present a risk to both humans and the wider environment. Historically mercury has entered the environment by numerous processes these include: coal burning, cement production, smelting, incineration, acetaldehyde production, chloralkali production and the manufacture of various items including batteries, lights and pesticides. These mercury related industrial activities are covered by the Minamata Convention, a multilateral environmental treaty agreed by over 140 countries in 2013 and its uses are gradually being phased out. These historic uses have the potential to contaminate land and water resources on and around the associated sites. These sites may require remediation to reduce the risks associated with mercury poisoning and bring them back into beneficial reuse.The focus of this EPSRC CASE PhD is to develop and apply novel approaches for the investigation of mercury speciation in the environment, its environmental impact and remediation. It will focus on applying state of the art techniques to identify the chemical speciation and fate of mercury in different environmental settings (for example sludge's, soils and marine sediments) dependent on the industrial scenario and developing novel remediation systems for mercury using (1) microbial processes and (2) novel nano and micron scale particles and (3) other allied novel treatment strategies.Initial tasks will include a comprehensive review of recent contamination problems where mercury has been the main contaminant of concern, and risk assessment protocols used for land contaminated by this toxic metal (see Phipps et al 2013). The application of novel microbial based remediation methods and microbially synthesised iron materials will then be assessed in batch and column studies, comparing performance for mercury remediation with other commercially available materials and approaches. A detailed understanding of the fate of mercury in these experiments will be undertaken, using state of the art mineralogical and surface science techniques, including synchrotron approaches, and finally a cost appraisal of the effectiveness of any remediation method will be developed against existing technologies, with help from the industrial partners.This project will have benefit of the extensive experience gained by staff at the University of Manchester on the investigation of microbial-metal interactions and on the development of novel biotechnological processes for the remediation of metals in soil and groundwater. The project will build upon the success of recent UK and EU funded projects, including the flagship EU project "Nanorem" (www.nanorem.eu/), addressing the long-term performance of novel, highly reactive microbially-synthesized iron nanoparticles, compared to synthetic analogues and other biotechnological processes (e.g. in situ biostimulation). The ultimate aim of this project will be to provide further knowledge on the biogeochemical cycling of mercury in the environment and strategies to enable its appropriate risk assessment and remediation for field deployment. The impact of the research has the potential to be significant, with the industrial support of both WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff and Akzo Nobel, preparing the student for a career in academia, consultancy or industry.The student will join a vibrant, cross-disciplinary team (25+ active researchers) working in recently refurbished and newly equipped laboratories in the Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science. The opportunity will also exist to spend time with the industrial partners during this project.

汞是一种强效神经毒素，可能对人类和更广泛的环境构成风险。历史上，汞通过多种过程进入环境，包括：燃煤、水泥生产、冶炼、焚烧、乙醛生产、氯碱生产以及电池、灯和杀虫剂等各种物品的制造。这些与汞相关的工业活动均受到《水俣公约》的保护，该公约是 140 多个国家于 2013 年达成的一项多边环境条约，其使用正在逐步淘汰。这些历史用途有可能污染相关地点及其周围的土地和水资源。这些场所可能需要进行修复，以减少与汞中毒相关的风险，并将其重新投入有益的再利用。该 EPSRC CASE 博士项目的重点是开发和应用新方法来调查环境中的汞形态、其环境影响和修复。它将侧重于应用最先进的技术，根据工业场景确定不同环境环境（例如污泥、土壤和海洋沉积物）中汞的化学形态和归宿，并使用（1）微生物过程和（2）新型纳米和微米级颗粒以及（3）其他相关新型处理策略开发新型汞修复系统。初步任务将包括对最近的污染问题进行全面审查 其中汞一直是人们关注的主要污染物，以及针对受这种有毒金属污染的土地使用的风险评估协议（参见 Phipps 等人，2013 年）。然后，将在批量和柱研究中评估新型微生物修复方法和微生物合成铁材料的应用，将汞修复性能与其他市售材料和方法进行比较。将利用最先进的矿物学和表面科学技术，包括同步加速器方法，对这些实验中汞的命运进行详细了解，最后在工业合作伙伴的帮助下，根据现有技术对任何修复方法的有效性进行成本评估。该项目将受益于曼彻斯特大学工作人员在微生物-金属相互作用和 开发用于修复土壤和地下水中金属的新型生物技术工艺。该项目将建立在最近英国和欧盟资助项目的成功基础上，包括欧盟旗舰项目“Nanorem”（www.nanorem.eu/），与合成类似物和其他生物技术过程（例如原位生物刺激）相比，解决新型高反应性微生物合成铁纳米颗粒的长期性能问题。该项目的最终目标是提供有关环境中汞的生物地球化学循环的更多知识以及策略，以便对其进行适当的风险评估和现场部署修复。在 WSP 和 WSP 的工业支持下，该研究的影响可能会很大。 Parsons Brinckerhoff 和阿克苏诺贝尔，为学生在学术界、咨询业或工业界的职业生涯做好准备。学生将加入一个充满活力的跨学科团队（超过 25 名活跃研究人员），在威廉姆森分子环境科学研究中心最近翻新和配备新设备的实验室工作。在此项目期间还将有机会与工业合作伙伴共度时光。