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

目前，尾矿的产生是用于沥青开采工艺的不可避免的后果。 加拿大油砂工业。目前的治疗策略不能引起快速沉降或有效的治疗。 熟化细粒尾矿脱水。此外，当前絮凝策略的广泛部署是 既昂贵又有可能对环境产生负面影响。随着大量的尾矿 对一个完整的，环境友好的和经济上可行的处理的需要变得更加 紧急本文提出，已经原生于尾矿池的细菌将被工程化以主动地 导致尾矿沉降和脱水。通过改造这些细菌表面来模拟 常规聚合物已经显示出可用于尾矿处理，预期这些自复制聚合物 细菌将为聚合物絮凝剂提供环境安全且显著便宜的替代物。 此外，由于工程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，通过基因工程实现安全 已考虑使用最佳实践原则，以确保通过使用 这些细菌。

Currently the production of tailings is an unavoidable consequence of the bitumen mining process used in the Canadian oil sands industry. Current treatment strategies are unable to cause rapid settling or the effective dewatering of mature fine tailings. Moreover, the widespread deployment of current flocculation strategies is both costly and has the potential to negatively impact the environment. As greater quantities of tailings are produced the need for a complete, environmentally-friendly and economically viable treatment becomes more urgent. It is proposed herein, that bacteria - already native to tailings ponds - will be engineered to actively cause settling and dewatering of tailings. By engineering these bacteria surfaces to mimic the properties of conventional polymers, already shown to be useful in tailings treatment, it is expected that these self-replicating bacteria 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 is expected that a more compact mature fine tailings will be formed. Finally, safety through genetic engineering has been considered using best practice principles to ensure no environmental harm occurs through the use of these bacteria.