Project: Environmental footprint reduction through eco-friendly technologies of mine tailings recycling
| Acronym | RecMine (Reference Number: JTC-2021_116) |
| Project Topic | The aim of this project is the valorisation of high-volume mineral residues from mining and different industrial residues (such as coal combustion by-products (CCP) and demolition waste (DW)) for the development of (i) new geopolymers with low CO2 footprint, and (ii)advanced refractories, suitable for 3-D printing applications. This will be done through the development of two innovative processing techniques that will be able to make the mine tailings and the industrial wastes suitable for replacing the concrete based on Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), reducing the requirements of primary raw materials, the waste generation and landfilling. It will be ensured that the developed materials (the geopolymers and the refractories) match the technical and environmental criteria for its use in steel industry or civil engineering applications and develop appropriate business models to secure profitability and sustainability. Accordingly, the overall objective of the project is to use wastes from five different European countries (Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Turkey and Spain) for the obtaining of new green materials, considering the advantages introduced by 3D printing method. Therefore, it is expected to obtain technological progress in the manufacture of geopolymers and refractories which use mine tailings and industrial wastes (CCP and/or DW) as raw materials, due to the presence of a SME as end-user. Moreover, knowing that the synthesis of the materials with similar characteristics (Ordinary Portland cement-based materials) involves consumption of virgin raw materials (kaolin, limestone, sand, gravel, clays) or high temperatures for curing or calcination, the project aims the improvement of currently developed materials by obtaining ambient cured geopolymers with 100% recycled raw materials and self-flowing refractories (high-temperature ceramics)with low or ultra-low cement content that are suitable for 3D-printing. |
| Network | ERA-MIN3 |
| Call | ERA-MIN3 Joint Call 2021 |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gheorghe Asachi Technical University Iasi | Coordinator | Romania |
| 2 | Universidade da Beira Interior | Partner | Portugal |
| 3 | University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy | Partner | Bulgaria |
| 4 | Middle East Technical University | Partner | Türkiye |
| 5 | OBRAS Y SERVICIOS TEX, S.L. | Partner | Spain |