Tailing dams and falling walls

The inaugural Australian Falling Walls Lab competition has been won by Dr Kim van Netten, an engineering researcher from the University of Newcastle.

Falling Walls is an international platform for field leaders to promote the latest scientific findings from across a range of sectors. The Australian competition, hosted by the Australian Academy of Science, gave 25 Australian and New Zealand young researchers the chance to present on their innovative research, business model or initiative based on the concept ‘Which walls will fall next?’.

The presentations covered subjects such as better methods of carbon capture; more targeted treatment for breast cancer; how to use wool to address a growing lack of protein in our diets; a more accurate way to diagnose prostate cancer; concrete that heals itself after it is damaged; and much more. But it was Dr van Netten’s research into tailing dam disasters that won the day.

Tailing dams are reservoirs used to store by-products of mining operations, such as toxic waste and contaminated water, that can cause serious environmental disasters. Treating this water can be difficult, slow and expensive given the dams’ scale. But Dr van Netten’s team has developed a novel binder that clings to harmful solids and creates aggregates large enough to filter from the water.

“The novel binders are made almost entirely of water with a thin film around them that is water-repelling and hydrophobic, meaning it attracts particles to the binder quickly in just a space of a few seconds,” Dr van Netten said.

“Current extraction processes are relatively slow and expensive due to the large vessels needed to treat material,” she continued. “Our laboratory work shows the process cuts the time down by about 100 times, resulting in the cost being scaled down appreciably.”

Dr van Netten will travel to Berlin in early November, where she will compete against academics from around the world in the Falling Walls Lab final. For more information on the event, visit http://www.falling-walls.com/.