Unit GEOMATERIALS AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
- Course
- Geosciences for risk and environment management
- Study-unit Code
- A002312
- Curriculum
- Geosciences for environmental sustainability
- Teacher
- Paola Comodi
- Teachers
-
- Paola Comodi
- Hours
- 42 ore - Paola Comodi
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2021
- Offered
- 2021/22
- Learning activities
- Affine/integrativa
- Area
- Attività formative affini o integrative
- Academic discipline
- GEO/06
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- English
- Contents
- The course takes into account the use of minerals as raw materials in many industrial fields. Different typologies of industrial minerals are studied in terms of structural characteristics, properties and industrial processes they are involved in. In particular, the course focuses on cement industry, ceramics, refractories, glass industry, paper, paint, abrasive industries and agriculture
The second part of the course will be devoted to sostenibili and circular economy concepts:
1)Critical Raw Materials (CRM)
2)upcycling of waste Materials, with respect to downcycling techniques
3)Analisys of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
4) design for disassembly (DFD - Reference texts
- Material provided by the teacher.
- Educational objectives
- The course “Industrial Minerals” has the aim to issue the direct relationship between mineralogy and industry. The student will deal with the principal industrial processes involving minerals. The student, at the end of the course, will be able to address mineralogical issues in industrial processes as well as to undertake experimental studies to improve the environmental sustainability of industrial processes.
The main knowledge acquired will be:
- principal features of cements, ceramics, refractories and glasses industrial production;
- use of minerals on paper, abrasives and paints industries;
- use of minerals on agricultural industries;
- knowledge about the mineralogical and crystallographic characteristics of minerals involved in the studied industrial processes;
- knowledge about some of the most used mineralogical and chemical analysis for the study of raw materials and products, their wastes and possibly re-uses;
Main competence will be:
- ability to reproduce in lab some of the studied industrial processes;
- ability to analyze and consequently to chose the appropriate raw materials for each one of the studied industrial processes;
- ability to use some of the most used analytical techniques to study the raw materials as well as the industrial products: optical and electronic microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. - Prerequisites
- The teaching needs the students to know the systematic mineralogy and the principal features of some of the most used mineralogical analysis (optical and electronic microscopy and X-ray diffraction). However, these arguments will be reviewed during the first part of the course.
In order to take the final exam, it is strongly recommended to have passed the final exam for the course "Mineralogy". - Teaching methods
- The course is arranged with frontal lessons and practical exercises in lab. Field trips are also scheduled. In more details:
- face-to-face lessons in class to give the knowledge about the course topics;
- practical training in lab to reproduce some of the studied industrial processes;
- practical training on electronic and optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses;
- practical training in the Raman spectroscopy lab;
- two daily field trips at industrial plants. - Learning verification modality
- The exam consist of an oral test
The first objective of the exam is to test the level of knowledge acquired by the student referring to both the theory and the practical aspects studied during the course. In particular, questions will be about (i) the studied industrial processes, (ii) the structures and characteristics of the minerals involved as raw materials in the studied industrial processes, (iii) the mineralogical processes occurring during the industrial processes, (iv) the studied analytical methodologies. Additionally, the grade will be assigned taking into account the student skills on linking between the characteristics of the industrial processes, the correct raw materials to be used and the suitable analytical techniques to study both the raw materials and the products. The oral test will be also evaluated depending on the student presentation skills and the adequacy of the technical language used. - Extended program
- The course takes into account the use of minerals as raw materials in many industrial fields. Different typologies of industrial minerals are studied in terms of structural characteristics, properties and industrial processes they are involved in. In particular, the course focuses on cement industry, ceramics, refractories, glass industry, paper, paint, abrasive industries and agriculture
The second part of the course will be devoted to sostenibili and circular economy concepts:
1)Critical Raw Materials (CRM)
2)upcycling of waste Materials, with respect to downcycling techniques
3)Analisys of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
4) design for disassembly (DFD