Reference number : GC-2017-Q1-00346, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Ponnurangam, Sathish (University of Calgary), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Alberta, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Grants for Universities, program name french : Subventions d'engagement partenarial pour les universités, program purpose english : A major waste from surface mining operations of Alberta's energy industries is the tailings water. The tailings_x000D_
water contain suspended particles of ultra-fine sand, residual bitumen, and valuable heavy minerals. These_x000D_
stable suspensions take a long time to settle to the bottom of the ponds (> 10 years). In addition, the reclaimed_x000D_
land still has a poor mechanical strength for it to be returned to nature. Thus, faster reclamation of the tailings_x000D_
water and land is an important target that can make Alberta's energy sector more sustainable._x000D_
Currently, a lack of treatment technology that can reduce the reclamation period in a cost-effective manner_x000D_
poses a significant danger to the environment in northern Alberta's. Electrocoagulation offers a cleaner and_x000D_
faster method for treating tailings water. The electricity necessary to electrocoagulate the particles constitutes a_x000D_
major cost in this method. The electrocoagulation technology has been well developed and applied for_x000D_
treatment of wastewater in other industrial and residential sectors. However, it is at the infant stage for treating_x000D_
the oil sands tailings mainly due to the complexity of the tailings (bitumen coating of sand) and missing_x000D_
knowledge on the mechanistic details of particle settling. The proposed work, which is in collaboration with_x000D_
Stantec Inc., will address this issue by plugging the critical knowledge gaps on the relative settling of various_x000D_
components of tailings under electrocoagulation conditions. The ultimate goal of this work is not only to_x000D_
reclaim the land with sufficient strength in quicker and cleaner way but also to reduce the amount of fresh_x000D_
water intake by energy industries (through enhanced recycling of tailings water). If successful, this technology_x000D_
can propel Canada into a leader in the reclamation of polluted ecosystems., program purpose french : A major waste from surface mining operations of Alberta's energy industries is the tailings water. The tailings_x000D_
water contain suspended particles of ultra-fine sand, residual bitumen, and valuable heavy minerals. These_x000D_
stable suspensions take a long time to settle to the bottom of the ponds (> 10 years). In addition, the reclaimed_x000D_
land still has a poor mechanical strength for it to be returned to nature. Thus, faster reclamation of the tailings_x000D_
water and land is an important target that can make Alberta's energy sector more sustainable._x000D_
Currently, a lack of treatment technology that can reduce the reclamation period in a cost-effective manner_x000D_
poses a significant danger to the environment in northern Alberta's. Electrocoagulation offers a cleaner and_x000D_
faster method for treating tailings water. The electricity necessary to electrocoagulate the particles constitutes a_x000D_
major cost in this method. The electrocoagulation technology has been well developed and applied for_x000D_
treatment of wastewater in other industrial and residential sectors. However, it is at the infant stage for treating_x000D_
the oil sands tailings mainly due to the complexity of the tailings (bitumen coating of sand) and missing_x000D_
knowledge on the mechanistic details of particle settling. The proposed work, which is in collaboration with_x000D_
Stantec Inc., will address this issue by plugging the critical knowledge gaps on the relative settling of various_x000D_
components of tailings under electrocoagulation conditions. The ultimate goal of this work is not only to_x000D_
reclaim the land with sufficient strength in quicker and cleaner way but also to reduce the amount of fresh_x000D_
water intake by energy industries (through enhanced recycling of tailings water). If successful, this technology_x000D_
can propel Canada into a leader in the reclamation of polluted ecosystems., agreement title english : Selective electrocoagulation of tailing components, agreement title french : Selective electrocoagulation of tailing components, agreement number : EGP, agreement value : 25000.0, agreement start date : 2017-04-25, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2018-2019), additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2018-2019), owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada