Summer and Winter Research Programs for Undergraduates

Project title:

Comparison of impact and compression breakage devices for comminution characterisation.

Project Duration & Delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

The Sustainable Minerals Institutes' Julius Kruttschnitt Minerals Research Centre (JKMRC) is world-renowned for development of novel rock breakage characterisation devices for mining industry. Two new laboratory scale devices to characterise rock breakage considers compression and impact of the particles. These devices are part of the new generation of instrumented breakage test for improving practices in mining industry, which aims to offer a more accurate characterisation of the response of the rocks in the comminution mining process. The objective of the project is to assess whether the results from both tests can be related to each other by improving the testing methodology of the devices. The research requires the student conducting a series of breakage experiments under different pre-defined methodologies. The experimental plan includes sample preparation, measurement of the shape of the particles prepared for experimentation, the proper execution of the experiments and the analysis of the results.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The successful applicant will receive training in the safe use of the breakage devices to conduct experimental investigations, as well as gain skills in accurate data collection, analysis and reporting. You will be integrated into the research program of the JKMRC and receive instruction on minerals processing knowledge and common breakage characterisation techniques in mining industry. At conclusion of the project you will be expected to produce a written report and provide an oral presentation summarising the experimental observations and the results obtained.

Suitable for:

The project is well suited to UQ enrolled 3^rd or 4^th year Engineering students wishing to obtain experience in R&D procedures and practices for mining industry. Self-motivation and willingness to learn new skills are essential.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Pia Lois Morales and Dr Karina Barbosa

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Pia Lois Morales to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

SIMULIA Isight Proof of Concept as an Integrated Engineering Value Chain Simulation platform applied to a minerals extraction example.

Project Duration & Delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

The research project will trial Dassault Systemes SIMULIA Isight workflow simulation platform as a potential integrated mine value chain simulator. SIMULIA Isight can automate a process workflow by linking applications and automating their execution process in a user-defined order. It also allows bulk simulations through looping a workflow process. The project will utilise SIMULIA ISight to capture a geological mine block model and then pass blocks through applications that represent a a mine value chain, namely calling applications that perform duties to predict blast fragmentation (JKSimBlast or equivalent), Load & Hall (Excel spreadsheet calculation), Comminution (JKSimMet), and Flotation (JKSimFloat). This project will be a Proof of Concept (PoC) for ISight as a potential alternative to heavily integrated single platform value chain simulators that attempt to capture multiple minerals extraction activities in one solution, by leveraging ISight's power to call existing stand-alone applications and passing relevant data between them, thereby automating a mine value chain workflow using off-the-shelf applications.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The successful applicant will be required to gain an understanding of the operation of  Dassault Systemes’ (3DS) SIMULIA ISight workflow simulation platform. This will be supported by 3DS’ online support and expert support online.

The aim of the project is to prepare a working example of running SIMULIA ISight to automatically call JKSimBlast, JKSimMet and JKSimFloat, successfully translating and passing data flows between the applications using ISight functionality to run an integrated mine value chain simulation.

The project will involve liaisons with JKMRC and JKTech experts in JKSimBlast, JKSimMet and JKSimFloat as and when required.

The applicant will be integrated into the research program of the JKMRC and receive bespoke instruction on simulating engineering value chains and techniques. At conclusion of the project, you will be expected to produce a written report and provide an oral presentation summarising investigations and the results obtained.

Suitable for:

The project is well suited to UQ enrolled 3^rd or 4^th year Engineering or Computer Science/Information Technology students wishing to obtain experience in integrated engineering value chain simulation practices and techniques, with a focus on the minerals industry.

The project does not require minerals industry expertise, but familiarity with engineering simulators is beneficial. Key skills required include a level of familiarity with software, data structures, translation of data flows and command line initiation.

Self-motivation and willingness to learn new skills are essential.

Primary Supervisor:

Associate Professor Marcin Ziemski

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Assoc Prof Marcin Ziemski to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Novel flotation reagents for sulphide mineral flotation.

Project Duration & Delivery:

10 weeks duration, one student; the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

In mineral processing, the available ores are becoming more complex and decreasing in grade. Operating mines need to be able to process ores with lower grades; therefore, an improvement in the efficiency of mineral separation processes is vital. Flotation is an important operation in mineral processing, as it is where the valuable minerals are separated and recovered from the waste material. This project forms part of a larger project to develop novel, selective reagents for flotation of sulphide minerals and seeks to test the efficiency of new flotation reagents under varying operating conditions. The work involves laboratory work (crushing, grinding and batch flotation tests), data collection and analysis. The data collected will enable identification of the optimal operating conditions for the flotation of target sulphide minerals.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The successful applicant will gain skills in performing experimental work, data collection and analysis in the mineral processing context and may have an opportunity to generate publications from their research. You may also be asked to present work and write a report at the end of the project.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students in 3rd or 4th year, with a background preferably in chemistry and/or chemical engineering and/or metallurgical engineering. Students from engineering or science background in a relevant field may also apply.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Susana Brito e Abreu

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Susana Brito e Abreu to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Investigating SAG mill operational behaviour.

Project duration and delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

The SAG mill is one of the primary devices used to effect size reduction in the mineral processing industry. This project will explore the effect of the feed particle size distribution (F80) and lifter profile on SAG mill power draw and product size distribution.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The succesful applicant will be helping with preparing the feed to the SAG mill, running the mill, collecting representative samples, sizing and data analysis. These are crucial steps for understanding the operational behaviour of the SAG mill.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students who are willing to gain experience in mineral classification.

Primary Supervisor:

Conrad Ndimande

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Conrad Ndimande to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

An experimental study of the liquid-fluidisation properties of a range of granular materials in the presence of air bubbles.

Project duration and delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

Fluidised bed reactors are used in fields such as oil and gas, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals for applications requiring a large surface area contact between a powder and a fluid (liquid or gas). Fluidised beds have recently been adopted in the field of mineral processing where they are used to increase the contact area between particles in a slurry (a mixture of solids and liquid) and air bubbles. Many questions remain about the behaviour of such three-phase fluidised beds.

The aim of this project is to experimentally study the fluidisation behaviour of mixtures of particles of different sizes and densities in response to changes in fluid flow rate and composition (proportion of liquid and gas).

These experiments will include manual observations, the use of a specialist optical probe and a high-resolution camera, and online sensor measurements.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Once the data has been collected and analysed by the student, they will be asked to produce a final report. It is hoped that this report will form the basis of a journal publication, and that its findings will suggest further research questions.

In undertaking this project, you will have an opportunity to develop laboratory, data-analysis and report-writing skills. You will receive hands-on training in industry standard tools such as National Instruments LabVIEW, Mettler Toledo PVM and Mathworks MATLAB. And additionally, you will gain experience working to deadlines and specifications in a world-renowned industrially-focused research centre.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students with a practical and numerate background, particularly in engineering. Applicants should be familiar with the health and safety requirements of laboratory work, and comfortable conducting experiments with laboratory-scale equipment such as pumps and motors.

Processing the experimental data, particularly the image analysis, will require the use of a programming language such as Matlab or python. Training will be provided, but some familiarity would be beneficial.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Angus Morrison

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Angus Morrison to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

An experimental study of three-phase fluidisation behaviour in vessels of various designs.

Project duration and delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

Fluidised bed reactors are used in fields such as oil and gas, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, for applications requiring a large surface area contact between a powder and a fluid (liquid or gas). Fluidised beds have recently been adopted in the field of mineral processing where they are used to increase the contact area between particles in a slurry (a mixture of solids and liquid) and air bubbles. Many questions remain about the behaviour of such three-phase fluidised beds.

The aim of this project is to experimentally study the behaviour of a fluidised bed of particles contained in vessels of various designs.

These experiments will include manual observations, the use of a specialist optical probe and a high-resolution camera, and online sensor measurements.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Once the data has been collected and analysed by the student, they will be asked to produce a final report. It is hoped that this report will form the basis of a journal publication, and that its findings will suggest further research questions.

In undertaking this project, you will have an opportunity to develop laboratory, data-analysis and report-writing skills. You will receive hands-on training in industry standard tools such as National Instruments LabVIEW, Mettler Toledo PVM and Mathworks MATLAB. And additionally, you will gain experience working to deadlines and specifications in a world-renowned industrially-focused research centre.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students with a practical and numerate background, particularly in engineering. Applicants should be familiar with the health and safety requirements of laboratory work, and comfortable conducting experiments with laboratory-scale equipment such as pumps and motors.

Processing the experimental data, particularly the image analysis, will require the use of a programming language such as Matlab or python. Training will be provided, but some familiarity would be beneficial.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Angus Morrison

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Angus Morrison to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

A CFD study of a 2D, three-phase fluidised bed.

Project duration and delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be able to work remotely.

Description:

Fluidised bed reactors are used in fields such as oil and gas, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals for applications requiring a large surface area contact between a powder and a fluid (liquid or gas). Fluidised beds have recently been adopted in the field of mineral processing where they are used to increase the contact area between particles in a slurry (a mixture of solids and liquid) and air bubbles. Many questions remain about the behaviour of such three-phase fluidised beds.

The aim of this project is to conduct preliminary computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a small-scale, 2D fluidised bed containing a continuous liquid phase and two dispersed phases (particles and bubbles). The simulation results will be compared with experimental data to validate the computational approach.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Once the simulations have been performed, and the results analysed, the student will be asked to produce a final report. It is hoped that this report will form the basis of a journal publication, and that its findings will suggest further research questions.

In undertaking this project, you will have an opportunity to develop numerical modelling, data-analysis and report-writing skills. You will receive hands-on training in Siemens STAR-CCM+, an enterprise standard CFD code, in the use of UQ’s high-performance computing facility, and in MATLAB for scientific computing. Additionally, you will gain experience working to deadlines and specifications in a world-renowned industrially-focused research centre.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students with a numerate background, particularly in mathematics, physics and engineering. Basic programming experience is essential, although guidance in applying existing MATLAB code will be provided. Training in STAR-CCM+ will also be provided, but some experience of CFD or fluid mechanics would be a great advantage.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Angus Morrison

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Angus Morrison to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

The hydrocyclone performance testing.

Project duration and delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

The devices most commonly used for classification in the mining industry are hydrocyclones. E Hydrocyclones have been preferred over most other devices due to low operating cost and a small footprint and have not received as much attention as more expensive comminution units, and their technological progress has been incremental. This project is about the hydrocyclone performance testing.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The student will be helping with running the hydrocyclone test rig, collecting representative samples, sizing and data analysis. These steps are an important part in understanding how the hydrocyclone operating parameters can impact its performance.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students willing to gain some experience in mineral classification.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Vladimir Jokovic

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Vladimir Jokovic to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Development and application of python data analytics tools and algorithms for time series process data processing and visualisation.

Project duration and delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will can work on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site, or remotely.

Description:

The research project involves python programming to process time series datasets of mining operations. Data cleansing, filtering, visualisation and generation of code and tools. Extension of a GUI based tool for enabling this functionality to end users.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

In undertaking this project, you will gain skills in practical data analytics applications, including, but not limited to: data cleansing, pre-processing, filtering, and visualisation. You will also obtain experience in the development of GUI based tools, working on shared codebase with other users, version control as well as design and architectural considerations.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Gordon Forbes

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Gordon Forbes to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Assessment of the High Voltage Pulse Process for Ore Processing – Towards a Continuous System.

Project duration and delivery:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

Background

Global demand for minerals and metals, particularly copper and gold, has risen and is forecast to continue rising in the decades to come. Indeed, Batterham (2017) quotes that demand in 2050 will be double that in 2015. The quality of deposits of these materials is decreasing, with them tending to be located at greater depths, be hosted in harder rock matrices, be of lower grade and of a more complex, finer grained and disseminated mineralogy. As such, the costs of processing these deposits, to enable extraction of the valuable metals, have increased and will continue to do so unless novel technologies to reduce costs are developed and deployed.

Comminution is especially challenged in the face of likely future ores. Comminution is the process via which the individual minerals are made separable, typically due to the size reduction achieved. Comminution is currently the most energy intensive process used in minerals operations. This will only increase for harder ores, with more disseminated, finer grained, complex mineralogies which will require finer grinding, and thus more energy input, to enable a subsequent separation to occur. High Voltage Pulse (HVP) technology is a selective comminution process designed to decrease the energy required to liberate valuable materials and enable their separation, such that the contained metals can then be extracted.

HVP comminution applies electrical energy directly to ore fragments to achieve selective breakage of particles containing metalliferous mineral grains. In the past 10 years, Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) has conducted extensive research using HVP electrical comminution technology for the mineral industry and have become the leaders in this field. Three major applications for the mining industry have been identified and explored by the research team to date:

• Pre‐weakening – HVP generates cracks/microcracks which pre‐weaken ore particles for improved downstream comminution circuit energy efficiency or higher circuit throughput in a particular comminution design;
• Pre‐concentration – This selectivity allows for early gangue rejection as well as decreasing the economic cut‐off grade, by turning waste into ore;
• Enhanced Liberation – HPV results in preferential liberation of minerals resulting in improved recovery in the downstream separation processes. HVP can potentially enable alternative separation technologies, such as coarse particle flotation, to be viable.

Research to date has shown HVP has significant potential to address many current and future mineral processing challenges. Nonetheless, barriers remain to industrial uptake of the HVP technology.  Fundamental knowledge gaps, around ore composition and amenability to HVP, and the optimum means of incorporating this technology and the benefits it provides, into mineral processing circuits exist.

High Voltage Pulse Technology is a large and exciting research initiative at the JKMRC. You will work with researchers and undertake various studies and tasks on HVP, including experimental and analysis of results, in order to obtain a better understanding of the responses of ores with different mineralogy to this novel technology.  Additionally, you will gain valuable knowledge about the HVP process as well as learn technical and laboratory skills relevant to the mining industry.

Project

JKMRC has conducted extensive research using high voltage pulse (HVP) electrical comminution technology for the mineral industry. HVP technology has the potential to improve ore processability of different mineralised ores. The three major potential applications identified by the JKMRC (pre-weakening, preferential liberation of minerals and pre-concentration) will create significantly savings in the mining industry if implemented. Most of the research done to date has used a commercial HVP unit in batch mode.  The JKMRC has recently installed a larger HVP unit and is currently designing a semi-continuous system.  The objectives of this project are:

1. To assist in testing of the new semi-continuous system
2. Investigate different parameters of the new unit (i.e. electrode configuration, operating parameters, operating mode, etc.) and assess its efficiency with respects to ore breakage and pre-concentration.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The successful applicant will be working with researchers and a PhD candidate on this project.  It is envisaged that the applicant will gain both experimental and data analysis skills from the work to be undertaken.  You will obtain:

• Exposure to the mining industry
• Training on a variety of sample preparation equipment and analysis tools
• Experience in the novel HVP technology which could lead to potential step-change in industry
• Experience in experimental work and investigating the performance of HVP on a particular ore type
• Data collection and analysis skills

At the completion of the project, you will be asked to produce a report and/or an oral presentation of the project. You will also have an opportunity to generate publications from the research work.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students in 3rd or 4th year, with a background in mining, minerals processing or chemical engineering. 

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Christian Antonio and Professor Frank Shi

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Christian Antonio to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Development of dynamic models for mineral processing unit operations.

Project duration:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will can work on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site, or remotely.

Description:

The project will assist in the development (coding) of dynamic models for vibratory screens and cone crushers, key equipment for size reduction in the mineral processing industry. You will start with a short revision of the current stage of the literature, to summarise the findings focusing in the pros and cons of each model from a process control perspective.

The models selected for development will need to be programmed in Matlab/Simulink®, or equivalent. The testing and validation of the models will be performed against real industrial data.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The applicant will gain skills in modelling formulation and implementation. You will also learn about programming tools and paradigms needed when working in a team. You will also have a chance to practise your communicational skills by giving an oral presentation at the end of the project.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students who are willing to learn more about dynamic modelling with an application to minerals processing.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Francisco Reyes and Associate Professor Mohsen Yahyaei.

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Francisoc Reyes to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Investigating the effect of operating variables in a tumbling mill grinding efficiency.

Project duration:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will can work on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site, or remotely.

Description:

Using a laboratory-scale mill, available at the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre’s (JKMRC) Pilot Plant, the applicant will study the effect of operating variables into the mills grinding efficiency. A series of batch tests at different levels of charge void filling fraction, percent solids and mill speed will be performed, with the time, power draw and product size recorded. Offline calibration of a model will give the rates of grinding inside the mill, which will be later paired against the power measurements to analyse the grinding efficiency. Modifications to the model are also considered necessary.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The applicant will gain skills in basic data processing, data visualisation and experimental design. You will also have a chance to practise communicational skills by giving an oral presentation at the end of the project. Additionally, you will gain knowledge about grinding circuits and the importance of basic operational parameters.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students who are willing to learn more about mineral processing through analysis of data generated after pilot-scale testing.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Francisco Reyes and Dr Marko Hilden.

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Francisco Reyes to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Application of Reinforced Learning in identifying process bottlenecks using plant information data.

Project duration:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will can work on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site, or remotely.

Description:

New Artificial Intelligence tools, with promising results in the areas of gaming and robotics, are now available for research in the mineral processing area. The project contemplates a review of these tools, with emphasis in Deep Reinforcement Learning. The tools will be assessed from a process control perspective, so they can later be used to develop a supervisory-level control strategy for mineral processing operations looking into finding bottlenecks in the process and ways to fix them. Real-time industrial data is available for development, testing and validation.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The applicant will gain skills in data processing and visualisation. You will also have a chance to practise communicational skills by giving an oral presentation at the end of the project. Additionally, you will gain knowledge about machine learning, with a focus in Reinforcement Learning.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students who are willing to learn more about machine learning with an application to minerals processing.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Francisco Reyes and Dr Gordon Forbes.

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Francisco Reyes to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Interdisciplinary analysis of groundwater management approaches.

Project duration:

10 weeks duration.  The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement due to COVID-19 restrictions, however on-site attendance at St Lucia is preferred.

Description:

Effective groundwater management is critical in many parts of Australia, especially under a changing climate. This is even more evident in areas with competing interests for water, such as agriculture, domestic supply, environment and other industries. We have conducted a research project in such an area, the Angas Bremer irrigation district of the Murray-Darling Basin. We collected (i) qualitative data on stakeholder’s knowledge and experience with groundwater-management approaches; and, (ii) water-management related biophysical data for the last 40 years. The project aims to examine the effectiveness of the management approaches since the late 1970s, relating it to water crises such as the Millennium Draught during the early 2000s. The applicant will (i) conduct GIS analysis on biophysical data (groundwater pumping, surface water pumping, climatic, artificial recharge volumes and groundwater salinities); and, (ii) contribute to manuscript preparation, including literature review, producing Figures and writing efforts.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The applicant will benefit from the project by being exposed to high-quality, interdisciplinary applied recharge to groundwater management, and by potentially becoming a co-author in a manuscript to be published in an international journal. This project can be the start of a larger research project, such as Honours or PhD.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students with an interest in water management. You would ideally be a 3rd or 4th year, Earth, Environmental or Agricultural Sciences, or Engineering student.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Carlos Miraldo Ordens

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Carlos Miraldo Ordens to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Water-related risks associated with global increase in Lithium exploration – challenges and opportunities.

Project duration:

10 weeks duration.  The project can be completed under a remote working arrangement due to COVID-19 restrictions, however on-site attendance at St Lucia is preferred.

Description:

This project aims to deliver a framework to assess water risks associated with increasing Li exploration over the coming decades worldwide. It will focus on the regions expected to experience higher increase in Li exploration.

The applicant will contribute to a selection of the following tasks: (i) to define the world regions expected to experience a surge in Li exploration, which will be the case studies for subsequent analyses; (ii) to analyse available data sets and current status of regional water resources quality and availability, which includes surface and groundwater bodies, their interactions, and associated ecosystems; (iii) to identify possible alternative sources of water for the mines or other stakeholders, which includes, but is not limited to, seawater for desalinisation and waste water for appropriate treatment; and, (iv) to analyse socio-economic activities that currently rely on local water resources and would be potentially impacted by increased Li exploration.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The applicant will benefit from the project by being exposed to high-quality, interdisciplinary applied recharge to water management in the mining context. You will also develop and apply GIS skills to analyses of large, global data sets. Additionally, you may became a co-author in a manuscript to be published in an international journal. This project can be the start of a larger research project, such as Honours, Masters or PhD.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students with an interest in water management. You would ideally be a 3rd or 4th year, Earth, Environmental or Agricultural Sciences, or Engineering student.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Carlos Miraldo Ordens

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Carlos Miraldo Ordens to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.

Project title:

Microwave assisted breakage.

Project duration:

10 weeks duration and the applicant will be required on-site at UQ’s Indooroopilly Mine site.

Description:

It takes a lot of energy to break/grind the ore. Current estimates are that 3-5% of world energy is consumed by mining operation and the comminution takes a large proportion of that. Therefore, any technique that could reduce this energy demand would provide huge energy savings.

Research work has shown that the microwaves heat minerals selectively. In some cases, the different heating rates of different minerals can produce the thermal stresses inside the material, which makes it less competent. Less competent material requires less energy for grinding.

The aim of this project is to test the concept of the microwave-assisted breakage in the laboratory.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

The applicant will be treating the ore sample with the microwaves, conducting the various comminution tests on the treated and untreated material, and analyse data to assess the  benefits of microwave heating on the comminution process.

Suitable for:

This project is open to applications from UQ enrolled students with an interest in gaining some experience in microwave heating of mineral and ore comminution tests.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Vladimir Jokovic

Further information:

Interested applicants may contact Dr Vladimir Jokovic to discuss this project in more detail, prior to submission of their online application.