Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 2

Accelerating the dewatering and consolidation process of fluid fine tailings and sediment management is a major challenge to the oil sands industry in Canada, and for mining and land reclamation industry world-wide. Much of the technology development in this space has focused on engineered solutions with less attention to biological options. The proposed study brings together and builds on multiple biology-based research streams aimed at tailings dewatering and densification. This study will introduce native plants and worms into thickened tailings in conjunction with treatments that improve plant development (and may also be of benefit to worms) such as bacterial inoculation and incorporation of carbon-based amendments. Previous studies showed that worms and vegetation can separately improve dewatering of oil sands tailings, comparably or beyond chemical flocculants. This study intends to build on these encouraging results testing the coupled effect of plants and worms together. In addition, effort will also be placed on understanding the mechanism behind dewatering and consolidation in this complex biological system through use of X-ray microtomography (µCT) imaging. This is a highly interdisciplinary project that combines areas of expertise from numerous engineering specializations, molecular biology and plant ecophysiology from three institutions including Deltares (Netherlands), Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT, Canada) and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, United Kingdom). Using natural processes provides oil sands operators with alternative tailings treatment technologies that are environmentally friendly, cost-effective and are aligned with other reclamation goals. Finally, this project represents an excellent opportunity for cross-exchange of knowledge and experience between North America and Europe. The knowledge gained in this project is instrumental in at least two iconic pilot projects on-going in the Netherlands (e.g. Marker Wadden and Kleirijperij) which focus on implementing nature-based concept to beneficial use of dredge (soft) sediments for flood protection (e.g. dike enhancement).