CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT OF WASTE WATERS IS GENERALLY EXPENSIVE, AND THE METALS REMOVED ARE NOT USUALLY RECOVERED.

CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT OF WASTE WATERS IS GENERALLY EXPENSIVE, AND THE METALS REMOVED ARE NOT USUALLY RECOVERED.RECOVERY OF THESE STRATEGIC MATERIALS AWAITS THE DEVELOPMENTOF COST-EFFECTIVE, LOW-ENERGY-REQUIREMENT TECHNOLOGY. THIS PROGRAM RESEARCHES THE FEASIBILITY OF AN INNOVATIVE SEPARATION PROCESS BASED ON THE ADVANCED CONCEPTS OF MAGNETIC ABSORBENTS, BOUND LIQUID MEMBRANES, COUPLED TRANSPORT AND HIGH GRADIENT MAGNETIC SEPARATION. THE TECHNICAL APPROACH IS TO ENCAPSULATE MAGNETIC DUST WITH A POROUS POLYMER SHELL FILLED WITH ABSORBENTS. THESE CAN BE EITHER CLASSICAL ION EXCHANGE LIQUIDS, OR ALTERNATIVELY CAN BE AN INNER ABSORBENT LAYER SURROUNDED BY A THIN OUTER LAYER OF COUPLED TRANSPORT MEMBRANE. THE PROPOSED EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH INVOLVES DEMONSTRATION OF THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED PROCESS ON A LABORATORY SCALE.