Engineered bacteria for treating mature fine tailings generated from bitumen mining processes

目前，尾矿的产生是加拿大油砂工业中使用的沥青开采过程的不可避免的后果。目前的处理策略不能使成熟细粒尾矿快速沉降或有效脱水。此外，目前絮凝策略的广泛部署既昂贵又有可能对环境产生负面影响。随着越来越多的尾矿产生的需要一个完整的，环境友好的和经济上可行的处理变得更加迫切。本文提出，已经原生于尾矿池的细菌将被工程化以主动引起尾矿的沉降和脱水。通过对这些细菌表面进行工程改造，以模仿传统聚合物的特性，这种聚合物已经被证明在尾矿处理中是有用的，预计这些自我复制的细菌将为聚合物絮凝剂提供一种既环保又便宜得多的替代品。此外，由于工程改造的细菌将与悬浮固体一起沿着，并在死亡后自然沉降，预计将形成更致密的成熟细粒尾矿。最后，通过基因工程的安全性已经被认为是使用最佳实践原则，以确保使用这些细菌不会造成环境危害。

Currently the production of tailings is an unavoidable consequence of the bitumen mining process used in theCanadian oil sands industry. Current treatment strategies are unable to cause rapid settling or the effectivedewatering of mature fine tailings. Moreover, the widespread deployment of current flocculation strategies isboth costly and has the potential to negatively impact the environment. As greater quantities of tailings areproduced the need for a complete, environmentally-friendly and economically viable treatment becomes moreurgent. It is proposed herein, that bacteria - already native to tailings ponds - will be engineered to activelycause settling and dewatering of tailings. By engineering these bacteria surfaces to mimic the properties ofconventional polymers, already shown to be useful in tailings treatment, it is expected that these self-replicatingbacteria will provide both an environmentally safe and significantly cheaper alternative to polymer flocculants.Moreover, as engineered bacteria will settle along with suspended solids and naturally dewater upon death, it isexpected that a more compact mature fine tailings will be formed. Finally, safety through genetic engineeringhas been considered using best practice principles to ensure no environmental harm occurs through the use ofthese bacteria.