Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Titre : Ecofriendly Control of Mine Tailings Dust through Establishment of Biocrusts

Organismes NSF : CBET Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys

Durée : September 1, 2022 // August 31, 2025 (Estimated)

Résumé
Mine tailings in arid and semiarid areas are prone to wind erosion and the associated contaminants can be dispersed throughout the environment as dust particles, causing serious deleterious effects on the environment and human health. The overall goal of this research is to develop an ecofriendly and cost-effective method for sustainable mine tailing dust control. To achieve this goal, the proposed research takes a multi-scale and multi-disciplinary approach and will 1) conduct systematic laboratory studies to define and optimize the parameters for culturing cyanobacteria and growing biocrusts on mine tailings, 2) characterize the biocrust-stabilized mine tailings to relate the macro-scale behavior to the micro/nano-scale characteristics and understand the underlying mechanism of stabilization and dust control based on biocrust establishment, and 3) demonstrate and validate the integrated biopolymer stabilization and biocrust establishment technology dust control and other environmental benefits by conducting field tests. The proposed technology for ecofriendly mine tailing dust control is based on integrated biopolymer stabilization and biocrust establishment and may lead to a new paradigm for dust control and environmental protection. The study systematically investigates the effect of different factors on the establishment of biocrusts on mine tailings and evaluates the physical, chemical, mechanical, and environmental behavior of biocrust-stabilized mine tailings at multiple scales. Successful completion of this project will elucidate the fundamental science on biocrust-mine tailing interactions and lead to better understanding of the underlying mechanism of stabilization and dust control based on integrated biopolymer stabilization and biocrust establishment. Additional education and outreach activities include a summer camp for K-12 students through the Summer Engineering Academy at the University of Arizona, development, and display of an exhibit at Biosphere 2, and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students

Bureau de recherche parrainé  : University of Arizona

Financement : $381,962.00

National Science Foundation