Unit APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MINERALOGY
- Course
- Geology for energy resources
- Study-unit Code
- A002118
- Location
- PERUGIA
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Azzurra Zucchini
- Teachers
-
- Azzurra Zucchini
- Hours
- 52 ore - Azzurra Zucchini
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2022
- Offered
- 2023/24
- 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 will introduce the fundamental concepts of mineralogy as a basis for characterizing and interpreting natural and anthropogenic processes with environmental implications.
Case studies:
1. Post-mining and industrial contamination.
Heavy metal release from mining and metallurgy. Acid mine drainage due to oxidation and weathering of debris deposits and mines. Remediation methods.
2. Micro- and meso-porous materials.
Clays, zeolites, clathrates. Crystal structure, crystallochemistry, adsorption properties, ion exchange properties, catalysis. Use in environmental and industrial applications.
3. Hazardous minerals.
Asbestos, free silica. Environmental monitoring, assessment, mineral quantification, disposal.
4. Mineral dust.
Origin and characterization.
5. Industrial processes and second-generation materials (e.g., fly and bottom ash from coal and biomass, synthetic gypsum).
Physico-chemical characterization and strategies for their reuse.
5. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
State of the art of CO2 capture, transport and storage methods with special reference to mineral carbonation as a method for safe and permanent CO2 sequestration. Reactions of CO2 with calcium or magnesium oxides or hydroxides to form stable carbonate material. - Reference texts
- Material provided by the teacher.
- Educational objectives
- Knowledge of the fundamental concepts of mineralogy as a basis for characterizing and interpreting natural and anthropogenic processes, with implications for the environment.
- Prerequisites
- Basic concepts of mineralogy and geochemistry
- Teaching methods
- frontal lessons, labs and field trips
- Learning verification modality
- oral examination
- Extended program
- Minerals are the main repositories of chemical elements in the Earth and are the main sources of elements necessary for the development of civilization, as well as contaminants and pollutants. These are released from minerals through natural processes (Ex: chemical weathering) and anthropogenic activities (Ex: mining, energy production, agriculture, industrial activities, careless waste disposal).
Minerals are of fundamental importance in the cycle of elements whose storage or release from primary minerals or production processes is related to structural and compositional transformations in response to physical, chemical, and biological processes that produce secondary minerals and soils. These processes lead to the release of toxic elements and gaseous emissions, which is having a major impact on the health of the environment and the world's population.
On the other hand, minerals can be unparalleled materials for solving increasingly stringent problems such as storage of CO2 (mineral carbonation) or CH4 (clathrates), as well as for reducing different types of wastes and converting them into secondary products.
The course will introduce the fundamental concepts of mineralogy as a basis for characterizing and interpreting natural and anthropogenic processes with environmental implications.
Case studies:
1. Post-mining and industrial contamination.
Heavy metal release from mining and metallurgy. Acid mine drainage due to oxidation and weathering of debris deposits and mines. Remediation methods.
2. Micro- and meso-porous materials.
Clays, zeolites, clathrates. Crystal structure, crystallochemistry, adsorption properties, ion exchange properties, catalysis. Use in environmental and industrial applications.
3. Hazardous minerals.
Asbestos, free silica. Environmental monitoring, assessment, mineral quantification, disposal.
4. Mineral dust.
Origin and characterization.
5. Industrial processes and second-generation materials (e.g., fly and bottom ash from coal and biomass, synthetic gypsum).
Physicochemical characterization and strategies for their reuse.
6. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
State of the art of CO2 capture, transport and storage methods with special reference to mineral carbonation as a method for safe and permanent CO2 sequestration. Reactions of CO2 with calcium or magnesium oxides or hydroxides to form stable carbonate material. - Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- Obiettivo 9: imprese, innovazione e infrastrutture;
Obiettivo 12: comsumo e produzione responsabili;
Obiettivo 13: lotta contro il cambiamento climatico