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SPIN Centre for Chemical Engineering

Home | Expertise | Geo-processes

Geo-processes

The research activities of our group covers three topics :

Hydrogeology and water ressources Hydrometallurgy Phytomanagement and bioindication of soil pollution

Hydrogeology and water resources

This research theme focuses on groundwater/surface-water interactions and exchanged flows:

  • Characterization of the direction of the exchanges and quantification (flow), water balance and water flow in complex hydrosystems including storage and return
  • Characterization of aquifer and river vulnerabilities (e.g. Pollution, Human activities)
  • Modeling hydrosystem hydrological functions (lump models, system-dynamics models) in anthropic and global change contexts

This research focuses on the development of interdisciplinary methodologies for a better understanding of groundwater/surface-water interactions in different contexts: Alluvial aquifer/river, Karst/river, Aquifer/river/wetland. This work ensures also the transfer of knowledge towards water stakeholders for better characterization and management of water resources and hydrological functions (e.g. Methodological or technical handbook).

Hydrometallurgy

This theme aims to effectively meet the needs of our industrial customers and/or academic partners and particularly to provide tools to meet any shortcoming or to solve challenges linked to the processing and recycling of mineral matrices (ores, industrial minerals, waste, soils, sludge, sediments, by-products, etc.) and effluents. This mostly amounts to developing sustainable, integrated and economically rational solutions that address the full range issues posed by these materials since their on-site management until their evacuation, treatment and re-use. All the while taking into account the environmental and sanitary impacts that their implementation, treatment and re-use cause. We are thus able to:

  • Develop custom solutions (process flowsheets : pre-concentration, leaching, solid/liquid separation, purification, etc.) to maximise the recycling of effluents and mineral waste for reuse (while allowing the recovery of valuable elements)
  • Provide services for the development, maturation and validation of hydrometallurgical processes at the pilot scale (including the flow dimension)

Phytomanagement and bioindication of soil pollution

The objective of this research axis is to understand the processes of “Trace Metals” (TM) transfer from soil to plants, for developing tools aiming at responding to societal demands in the area of sustainable management of contaminated soils. Two topics are particularly investigated: the use of plants for decreasing TM mobility and to mitigate their transfers from polluted soils to the environment (i.e., phytostabilization) and the use of plants for assessing TM bioavailability in soils (i.e., bioindication).

Group members