Deep eutectic solvents for the leaching of technology metals from oxide minerals

在高密度污泥(LD-HDS)工艺中投加石灰是全世界应用最广泛的酸性矿山废水(AMD)处理工艺之一。LD-HDS工艺的一个固有问题是形成一种含有赭石废料的生态毒性金属(LOID)。这类废物是一项重大责任，需要长期管理，以防止对环境和/或人类健康造成重大影响。仅在英国，每年就产生约4500吨赭石(干)，其中大部分被丢弃在垃圾填埋场。在固体含量为50%的情况下，赭石的垃圾处理成本在每吨79-129 GB之间(Sapsford等人，2015年)。类似的情况在世界各国都存在。因此，缺乏技术是一个重大的环境问题，也是阻碍采矿作业获得在全球经营的社会许可证的障碍。该博士项目将致力于开发新的技术，利用“绿色”溶剂从LD-HDS矿石中提取特定的金属/类金属，以生产具有经济价值的金属和工业材料。LD-HDS开发不足，迄今仅限于很少的初步研究(例如，Crane&Stewart，2020)。许多工业合作伙伴(First Quantum Minerals、威立雅(Veolia)和煤炭管理局(Coal Authority))都表示需要在这一重要领域进行新的研究。这一博士学位使我能够在这一初步研究的基础上，将其与我在抗坏血酸研究方面的背景相结合，在化学工程领域开辟一个新的领域。

Lime dosing in a high-density sludge (LD-HDS) process is amongst the most widely applied acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment process worldwide. An intrinsic issue of the LD-HDS process is the formation of an ecotoxic metal(loid) bearing ochre waste product. Such waste is a major liability and requires long-term management to prevent major environmental and/or human health impact. In the UK alone approximately 4500 tonnes of ochre (dry) are produced per year, most of which are disposed in landfill. Landfill disposal costs for ochre are between £79-129 per tonne at 50% solids (Sapsford et al., 2015). Similar situations exist in countries around the world. This lack of technology is therefore a major environmental issue and barrier stopping mining operations from gaining a social licence to operate worldwide. This PhD project will aim to develop novel techniques utilising "green" solvents to extract specific metals/metalloids from LD-HDS ochres to produce metals and industrial materials of economic value. LD-HDS is underexplored and to date is limited to few preliminary studies (e.g. Crane & Stewart, 2020). A number of industrial partners (First Quantum Minerals, Veolia, and the Coal Authority) have stated a demand for new research in this important area. This PhD enables me to build on this preliminary research and combine this with my background in ascorbic acid research to open up a new area in chemical engineering.