Biofilm technology for the remediation of oil sands tailing ponds

阿尔伯塔油砂是加拿大重要的能源资源，具有巨大的经济效益。然而，从沥青中生产合成原油需要大量的水，即使水是循环使用的。循环利用减少了用水量，但它将毒素和金属集中在这些“尾矿”水中。因此，需要对尾矿水进行广泛的修复，以使水和固体废物安全地返回自然环境。第一个成功的尾矿库的复垦花了20多年的时间。如果不提高修复速度，继续目前的工艺，甚至是使尾矿水变稠，将导致有毒废物的数量不断增加，这再次引起人们对环境风险的担忧。

The Alberta Oil Sands, Canada's great energy resource, holds great economic benefit for the country. However the production of synthetic crude oil from bitumen requires vast amounts of water even when water is recycled. Recycling reduces the amount of water used but it concentrates the toxins and metals in these "tailings" waters. Therefore extensive remediation of thee tailings water is required in order to safely return the water and solid waste back to the natural environment. It has taken more than 20 years for the first successful reclamation of a tailings pond. Continuing with the current process or even the thickening the tailings water without increasing the rate of remediation will result in ever increasing volumes of toxic waste, which again raises concerns about the risks to the environment.