Technology Access Centre for Sustainable Mining
(TACSM)
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT)
Edmonton, AB
ABOUT TACSM
ABOUT TACSM
The Technology Access Centre for Sustainable Mining (TACSM), part of the NAIT Applied Research group, is committed to advancing sustainability across Canada’s mining industry, encompassing oil sands, critical minerals, and water and tailings management. TACSM delivers applied research services across three technical pillars: 1) Resource Management, 2) Water Management, and 3) Tailings Management, and delivers knowledge mobilization services aligned with these service offerings, not available elsewhere in the region.
Resource Management
TACSM assists companies in better understanding their mineral resources and optimizing methods for recovering them (geometallurgy). We also support innovation in core scanning technologies, identifying value from waste streams and researching improvements to mineral processing unit operations.
Water Management
We assist partners in understanding water quality and develop treatment solutions to meet quality standards. For internal process streams, our research involves understanding the impact of water quality on key mineral processing and tailings treatment unit operations, enabling companies to evaluate and enhance water recycling technologies on-site. For water discharged off-site into the environment, we study the ongoing water quality and the environmental impacts on surrounding ecosystems.
Tailings Management
We help develop and evaluate tailings dewatering technologies, while also investigating the long-term geotechnical and geochemical impacts of additives used in product recovery, water management, or dewatering processes. A key strength is our ability to integrate our ore characterization expertise with process knowledge to predict tailings behaviour as early as the core investigation phase. This capability is vital as stringent regulatory requirements encourage operators to make tailings planning decisions earlier in the development process, often when limited samples preclude traditional geotechnical testing.
Knowledge to Practice Services
Canada’s mining and energy industries face complex challenges requiring innovative solutions and continuous professional development to build a skilled workforce. TACSM is uniquely equipped to address these needs by leveraging its expertise in Canada’s commodity sectors and understanding of regional technological trends. TACSM continues to create significant impact in knowledge mobilization by (1) raising awareness of tools and techniques to empower practitioners to make informed decisions, (2) equipping technology providers with the information needed to integrate their innovations into industry operations, (3) developing highly qualified personnel (HQP) to sustain and enhance industry expertise, and (4) demonstrating our expertise and services to attract new clients and partnerships.
Credit: NAIT
Contact TACSM
www.nait.ca/applied-research/about/centres/technology-access-centre-for-energy-and-environmen
10210 Princess Elizabeth Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB T5G 0Y2
Services offered in: English
Request Interactive Visit: http://interactivevisits.ca
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RESEARCH AND INNOVATION EXPERTISE
EXPERTISE
- Flocculation/coagulation testing (inline dewatering, thickener, centrifuging or filtration applications)
- Evaluation of natural dewatering technologies: freeze-thaw, evaporative drying, and plant assisted dewatering
- Evaluation of large-strain self weight consolidation
- Flotation – evaluation of chemical additives for bitumen extraction or other mineral flotation technologies using Denver cells and batch extraction tests.
- Geoenvironmental engineering
- Chemical engineering
- Membrane technology
- Rheology
- Geochemical characterization
Previous Research Projects:
- Resource evaluation and valorization of critical minerals of mine wastes
- In-situ and mine wastewater treatment using a pilot-scale membrane technology assessment skid
- Screening and evaluation of new technologies for tailings dewatering treatment
- Investigation of the potential quick clay behavior of treated tailings
- Investigation of tailings freeze-thaw dewatering
- Polymeric flocculants degradation
- In-situ rheology measurement of fluid fine tailings
- Bituminous ore scanning technology assessment
Fields of projects:
- Oil sands mining
- Coal mining
- Critical minerals
- Industrial water
- Knowledge mobilization
- Geotechnical and geochemical characteristics
TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
- Energy
- Environmental Technology
- Mining
- Natural Resources
EQUIPMENT AND LABS
| Equipment | Function |
|---|---|
| EQUIPMENT USED ON SOLID SAMPLES | |
| X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) | Used for materials characterization such as crystal structure, physical properties of materials and thin film. |
| Atomic Force Microscope – RAMAN (AFM-RAMAN) | Used to link the molecular information obtained by confocal Raman microscopy with the high-resolution surface information (structural and topographic surface imaging on the nanometer scale) acquired by AFM. Unique offering in Alberta. |
| Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA) | Utilized for thermal analysis in which physical and chemical properties of materials changes with temperature, such as decomposition, degradation mechanism, thermal stability, oxidation, combustion. |
| Metro Carbon Residue Analyzer (MCR) | Used for the characterization of coke formation tendency. |
| Organic Element Analyzer – CHNS | Determination of organic elements – Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur by combustion and Oxygen by pyrolysis. |
| Surface Area Analyzer – BET | Ability to measure surface area of particles. |
| Laser Scattering Particle Size Distribution Analyzer - PSD | Measures particle size distributions by measuring the angular variation in intensity of light scattered as a laser beam passes through a dispersed particulate sample. |
| EQUIPMENT USED ON SOLIDS OR LIQUIDS | |
| Bruker Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) | FTIR with fixed path; attenuated reflectance and diffuse reflectance cells for the analysis of wide variety of organic compounds, films and powders. Measurement of naphthenic acid content in process affected waters. |
| UV-VIS Spectrophotometer | Analyze a variety of samples by conventional spectroscopy but advanced techniques can be implemented using the fibre optic accessory. |
| Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF) | Capabilities include elemental analysis in different kinds of samples: solids, liquid or powder. |
| Brookfield Rheometers – LV, RV, HB, 5 HB, & RST (5 Pieces of Equipment) | Rheology and viscosity for tailings treatment technologies. Can measure vane yield stresses from 0.1 Pa to 120 kPa. |
| EQUIPMENT USED ON OILS | |
| Karl Fischer Titrator | Titration method in chemical analysis that uses coulometric or volumetric titration to determine trace amounts of water in a sample. |
| Anton Paar SVM 3000 Viscometer | Used to measure the dynamic viscosity and density of oily samples and is equipped with a 48-position auto-sampler. |
| The Benchmark S Heated Oil Centrifuge | Designed for determining basic sediment and water (BS&W) content in crude oil or refined petroleum products on benchtops at indoor locations without Class I, Division 2 requirements. Fully insulated to prevent heat loss and allow for more accurate temperature control. |
| EQUIPMENT USED ON WATER | |
| Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph With Quadruple Time-of-Light Mass Spectrometer (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS) | The QTOF is equipped with 3 different ion sources, electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) to enable a wide variety of samples to be analyzed. The UHPLC enables the separation of components in complex mixtures. |
| Ion Chromatography (IC) | Method for separating ions based upon their interactions with resin (stationary phase) and the eluent (mobile phase). Used for measuring major anions and cations in process affected waters. |
| Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) | Analytical technique used for the detection of chemical elements. |
| Dissolved and Total Organic/Inorganic Carbon Analyzer (DOC/TOC) | Measures the amount of dissolved or total organic/inorganic carbon present in a liquid or water sample. |
| Alkalinity Titrator | Alkalinity is a measure of the capacity of water or any solution to neutralize or “buffer” acids. This measure of acid-neutralizing capacity is important in figuring out how “buffered” the water is against sudden changes in pH. |
| Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer | Capabilities include characterization of homopolymer and copolymer molecular weight distributions, composition and deconvolution of homopolymer and copolymer mixtures, hydrocarbon analysis quantification and characterization. |
| EQUIPMENT USED ON SLURRIES | |
| Specific Resistance to Filtration – SRF | Used extensively as a measure of dewaterability. |
| Capillary suction timer (CST) | Commonly used method to measure the filterability and the easiness of removing moisture from slurry and sludge in numerous environmental and industrial applications. |
| Brookfield Rheometers – LV, RV, HB, 5 HB, & RST (5 Pieces of Equipment) | Rheology and viscosity for tailings treatment technologies. Can measure vane yield stresses from 0.1 Pa to 120 kPa. |
| EQUIPMENT USED ON GASES/HEADSPACE FROM LIQUIDS | |
| Gas Chromatograph | Four units specializing in sulfur, methane, and simulated distillation.
|
| Gas Chromatograph – Mass Spectrometer | Can perform investigative chemistry work using mass spectroscopy. Able to identify samples with unknown constituents using mass spectroscopy. |
- FUNDER: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- FUNDER: Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
- FUNDER: Alberta Innovates
- CanMET Energy: Canada’s leading research and technology organization in the field of clean energy.
- Water Technology Development Centre (WTDC) - for large-scale testing and evaluation of oil sands technology
- University of Alberta - for high-temperature reverse osmosis membrane development
- Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) - For expertise in in situ steam generation
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