Projects
Blue Nodules - Breakthrough Solutions for the Sustainable Harvesting and Processing of Deep Sea Polymetallic Nodules
The project "Blue Nodules" funded by the EU as part of "Horizon 2020" deals with the topic of deep-sea mining. Fourteen international partners from industry, science and the service sector are developing a new, automated and technologically sustainable mining system for the mining of polymetallic nodules, also known as manganese nodules. In addition to the mining collector, the system also includes in-situ processing, vertical transport over 5000 metres and offshore processing. The impacts on the ecosystem are to be as reduced as possible.
In Blue Nodules, the Unit of Mineral Processing is mainly developing a sediment separation unit that separates manganese nodules from the sediment. This takes place immediately after mining on seafloor level and separated sediment remains there. Further research fields in the project are the crushing of manganese nodules under water and the dewatering on the mining vessel.
Contact: Jutta Lennartz M.Sc. RWTH
Partners: Royal IHC, DeRegt, Continental, DEME, IHC MTI, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Aarhus University, NTNU, RWTH Aachen, NIOZ, GSR, Seascape Consultans ltd, Bureau Veritas, Uniresearch
CO2MIN - CO2 capturing through mineral raw materials - production of marketable products with simultaneous sequestration of CO2 from the cement industry
The "CO2MIN" project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the funding measure for the material use of CO2, with an interdisciplinary consortium of scientists from RWTH Aachen University, HeidelbergCement, Green Minerals and IASS Potsdam, is working on CO2-capturing through mineral raw materials. CO2 is bound chemically stable in mineral raw materials and residues by a reaction in an autoclave, with the aim of using the resulting products as a substitute in the cement industry.
The department of mineral processing (AMR) at RWTH Aachen University is looking for processing routes to separate the silicates, carbonates and amorphous silica present in the products. Different processes, such as flotation, will be investigated in order to separate the fine-grained products.