Facts about the project
Project manager
Professor Mark Dopson
Other project members
Tiina Leiviskä (University of Oulu), Jinmei Lu (UiT The Arctic University of Norway), Ingar Walder (Kjeøy Research & Education Center)
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University
Financier
Interreg Nord
Timetable
2017-09-01 to 2020-08-31
Subject
Microbiology, Biotechnology (Department of Biology of Environmental Science, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
More about the project
Vanadium is widely distributed in nature and occurs in the structure of various minerals. While it is an important element for industry, with multiple applications, there is no current primary production within the EU. Industrial activities such as mining and burning of fossil fuels result in elevated vanadium concentrations in soils and natural waters. The project aims to develop vanadium recovery technologies for solid and liquid wastes, which are currently not utilized in Nordic area and additionally pose an environmental threat to the surrounding milieu. The specific aims are to:
- Characterize vanadium wastes in the Nordic region (chemical, mineralogical, and microbial properties).
- Develop an innovative extraction methodology for vanadium from solid mineral waste with chemical and biological leaching.
- Develop vanadium recovery from liquid waste streams.
- Implement/modify the vanadium recovery system from pregnant leach solutions.
- Increase the competiveness of Nordic industries in the growing international market for clean technology.
The project is part of the research of the research group Systems Biology of Microorganisms and of Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems (EEMiS).
