Unit APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MINERALOGY
- Course
- Geology for energy resources
- Study-unit Code
- A002118
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Azzurra Zucchini
- Teachers
-
- Azzurra Zucchini
- Hours
- 48 ore - Azzurra Zucchini
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2025
- Offered
- 2026/27
- Learning activities
- Affine/integrativa
- Area
- Attività formative affini o integrative
- Sector
- 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.
1. Secondary raw materials.
Industrial processes, by-products, and secondary raw materials.
Case studies: cement and ceramic industry. Fly and bottom ash from coal, biomass and municipal solid wastes. Physico-chemical characterization Toxic potential and strategy for reuse.
2. Micro and meso porous materials.
Clays and zeolites. Crystal structure, crystal chemistry, absorption properties, ion-exchange properties, catalysis. Their use in environmental and industrial applications.
3. Hazardous minerals in nature and in working places.
Asbestos, free silica. Environmental monitoring, assessment, mineral quantification, disposal.
4. Mineral dust.
Origin and characterization. Implications for the paleoclimatic and environmental reconstructions through investigations of mineral dust entrapped in polar ice.
5. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
State-of-the-art methods for CO2 capture, transport, and storage with a focus on mineral carbonation as a novel method for safe and permanent CO2 sequestration. Reactions of CO2 with calcium/magnesium oxides/hydroxides towards the formation of 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
- Other information
- Learning verification modality
- The student learning assessment consists of an oral exam divided into two parts.
Part 1 — Individual In-Depth Study (15/20 minutes)
The student presents an individual in-depth study on a topic of their choice, related to the course content. The presentation lasts 10–15 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of discussion.
Part 2 — Professor's Questions (10/15 minutes)
The professor poses 2–3 questions on topics covered during the course.
Evaluation Criteria
The assessment takes into account not only the student's scientific understanding of the subject matter, but also their presentation skills, the appropriateness of the technical-scientific language used, and their ability to connect different aspects of the subject.
For information on support services for students with disabilities and/or DSA, please refer to http://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa. - Extended program
- Minerals are the main repositories of chemical elements in Earth and they are the main sources of elements needed for the development of civilization as well as of contaminating and polluting elements. The elements are released from minerals through natural processes (Eg: chemical weathering) and anthropogenic activities (Es: mining and energy production, agriculture, industrial activities, and careless waste disposal). Minerals are of fundamental importance in the cycle of elements because their storage or release from primary minerals in crustal rocks is related to structural and compositional transformations in response to physical, chemical and biological processes that produce secondary minerals and soils, as well as gaseous emissions into the atmosphere, with a strong impact on the health of the environment and millions of people. On the other hand, minerals can represent unparalleled materials to solve increasingly pressing problems such as CO2 storage (mineral carbonation) or CH4 (clathrates), as well as to reduce different types of waste and convert 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. Secondary raw materials.
Industrial processes, by-products, and secondary raw materials.
Case studies: cement and ceramic industry. Fly and bottom ash from coal, biomass and municipal solid wastes. Physico-chemical characterization Toxic potential and strategy for reuse
2. Micro- and meso-porous materials.
Clays, zeolites, clathrates. Crystal structure, crystal chemistry, absorption properties, ion-exchange properties, catalysis. Their use in environmental and industrial applications
3. Hazardous minerals in nature and in working places.
Asbestos, free silica. Environmental monitoring, assessment, mineral quantification, disposal.
4. Mineral dust.
Origin and characterization. Implications for the paleoclimatic and environmental reconstructions through investigations of mineral dust entrapped in polar ice.
5. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
State-of-the-art methods for CO2 capture, transport, and storage with a focus on mineral carbonation as a novel method for safe and permanent CO2 sequestration. Reactions of CO2 with calcium/magnesium oxides/hydroxides towards the formation of stable carbonate material.
The principles of the main analytical methodologies needed to study minerals, such as X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, Raman and IR spectroscopy, and electron microscopy, will also be provided. - Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
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