On Sustainable Mineral Processing (7th Intl. Symp.)
Bio |
CV |
Publications
This major symposium is in honor of the distinguished work and lifetime achievements of Prof. S. Komar Kawatra, a very well-known professional who has made a significant impact in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy.
Prof. S. Komar Kawatra was educated at the University of Poona, India and received his Ph.D. from University of Queensland, Australia, and teaches at Michigan Technological University, United States of America. At Michigan Tech, Prof. Kawatra has Chaired the Department of Mining and Materials Processing Engineering from 2000-2002 and the Department of Chemical Engineering from 2007-2017. He is also the director of the Advanced Sustainable Iron and Steelmaking Center at Michigan Tech. He has received numerous awards including the Gaudin Award and Taggart Award from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration and the Frank F. Aplan Award and the Robert H. Award from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Engineers. He is a Distinguished Member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration and has served on the society’s board of directors.
Prof. Kawatra’s research focuses on several key areas of mineral processing and process engineering. His philosophy is to carry out research in close cooperation with industry and to carry fundamental ideas from theoretical musings all the way to practical implementation in operating plants. This helps to provide practical solutions to real problems while also providing the best possible learning experiences for students involved in these projects. Some of Prof. Kawatra’s most significant work include work on agglomeration, on-line ash analysis in slurries, on-line measurement of rheological properties of slurries, and the processing of scrubber sludge from flue-gas scrubbers.
Prof. Kawatra’s research group has conducted extensive research in agglomeration of minerals, especially iron ores. This was initially motivated by a desire to develop low-cost alternatives to existing binders while improving the quality of the agglomerates. A novel technique was developed for mixing existing binders with iron ores, doubling the effectiveness of the industry standard bentonite binders. Methods were developed for determining which binders could be mixed to achieve high quality binding. A low-cost binder formulation using primarily fly ash, a waste material, was developed. Fundamental studies on the impact of water chemistry on binder performance were performed and a method of characterizing bentonite which could evaluate its quality and efficacy in a plant without needing to use it in an actual plant situation was developed.
Prof. Kawatra has also made major contribution to process instrumentation. One example is the development of an ash analyzer which was patented by Outokumpu Oy, Finland utilizing X-ray backscatter principles. The analyzer utilizes two sensors: a gamma-ray transmission unit which rapidly determines the density of the slurry, and an X-ray backscatter/fluorescence unit which is used to determine the ash content of the slurry. Prof. Kawatra’s group has also developed on-line measurement techniques for stress/strain data of particulate suspensions over a wide range of shear rates using off-the-shelf transducers. This is particularly useful because, unlike with traditional viscometers which operate at fixed shear rates, the rheological properties can be determined directly at the site and at the shear rates of interest within the actual process.
Prof. Kawatra’s research also focuses on the remediation and utilization of industrial process wastes. One particular example of this is the development of a technique for the purification of flue-gas scrubber sludge to improve its marketability. By applying a combination of water-only cycloning and column flotation, unreacted limestone can be removed from the scrubber sludge at low cost. The purified scrubber sludge has applications in the manufacturing of gypsum products. Horizontally-baffled flotation columns were developed for this project to reduce the axial mixing typically observed in column flotation, and results in a significantly improved separation efficiency at the same plant footprint. Prof. Kawatra has also explored utilization of wastes such as bauxite process red mud and coal ashes and developing applications of carbon dioxide in preparing and processing minerals such as rare earth elements.
Contributions covering all aspects of mineral processing, process instrumentation, waste utilization and remediation are welcome, at all scales from fundamental theory to laboratory experimentation to plant-scale operations.
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS
A round table discussion open to everyone interested will be organized at a specific date and time during the symposium. It will be a platform for high level representatives of various industries, technologies, and academic disciplines to freely discuss and debate all topics of this symposium, and identify positive and efficient pathways towards sustainability in industrial practices, technologies, and research.
You are cordially invited to actively participate in this symposium by submitting and presenting a paper, or by attending the round table. We look forward to meeting you in Phuket, December 2022.
