Description du projet
Amélioration de la récupération des particules fines lors de la flottation par moussage
La flottation par moussage est sans doute le processus le plus important pour séparer les minéraux de la gangue. La technique tire parti des différences d’hydrophobicité des matériaux. Cependant, les technologies de flottation actuelles sont limitées dans leur capacité à récupérer des particules fines de moins de 20 µm. Le projet FineFuture, financé par l’UE, vise à faire progresser la compréhension fondamentale des phénomènes de flottation des particules fines, ce qui conduira au développement de solutions de récupération révolutionnaires. Cela aidera non seulement à débloquer de nouveaux gisements de matières premières critiques, mais également à augmenter l’efficacité des ressources et de l’énergie des opérations actuelles où les particules fines sont perdues dans les résidus.
Objectif
Froth flotation is arguably the most important mineral separation technique. By making use of differences in surface properties between minerals, valuable particles are concentrated in large tanks by attaching to bubbles, which form a froth phase that overflows as a mineral-rich concentrate. However, current flotation technologies do not work adequately for fine particles, below 20 µm in size. This is a serious challenge at present limiting the exploitation of deposits and proper recycling of end of life products containing Critical Raw Materials (CRM). This FineFuture project will advance the fundamental understanding of fine particle flotation phenomena, which will lead to the development of ground-breaking technological solutions. This will not only help unlock new CRM deposits but also contribute to increase the resource and energy efficiency of current operations where the fines are lost to tailings. FineFuture will also enable proper reprocessing of old tailings deposits and be technology-transferred to other raw material particle-based processes within the circular economy, thus leading the way in the sustainable use of resources. For the EU industry the ability to float fine particles will be fundamental in securing access to raw materials in the future, yet to date there is no large scale collaborative effort to achieve this. The FineFuture consortium brings together an industry- and user-driven multidisciplinary team with the skills and experience required to tackle the challenging objectives set up for this project. Through a first of its kind research approach, the consortium’s combined expertise in science, engineering and industrial practice will allow a robust and knowledge-based development of innovative fine particle flotation technologies. This project will thus help boosting EU technologies for sustainable raw material processing in Europe and abroad, contributing to energy- and resource-efficient processing in benefit of the future generations.
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RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinateur
01328 Dresden
Allemagne