chemistry

Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit

Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit rather than just read about it. In short: The Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit (abbreviated IMWaRU) was one of several research entities based in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, before merging into the Wits:H2O group. While the name and branding have fallen away, the type of research undertaken continues.

Key takeaways

Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit (abbreviated IMWaRU) was one of several research entities based in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, before merging into the Wits:H2O group. While the name and branding have fallen away, the type of research undertaken continues. IMWaRU academics continue to provide research as well as supervision to masters and doctorate students within the University, as well as consulting to industry.

Unit Structure The unit deals with cross disciplinary water issues relating to industry and mining. As such the group includes experts in chemical engineering, microbiology and other sciences. At the time of the merge, the unit included five NRF rated researchers and over 20 masters and doctoral level postgraduate students in the faculties of engineering and science.

Members The group currently comprised 7 academics (alphabetically - Mogopoleng (Paul) Chego, Kevin Harding, Michelle Low, Craig Sheridan, Geoffrey Simate, Karl Rumbold and Lizelle van Dyk), as well as several postgraduate students.

Logo

The logo of the Unit is in the shape of a drop of water, with the left half representing the blue of water. The right half of the drop is modified to show grass and how water is linked to all life. Underneath the icon are the letters IMWaRU, while to the right, the name "Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit" appears.

Location

The unit is housed in several buildings across the University, most notably in the Richard Ward Building on East campus. Additionally, some members are located in the Biology Building on East Campus and have access to laboratories in that building. They also have access to an outdoor facility on West Campus where constructed wetland, and other outdoor, experiments take place.

Research

The group has a broad range of research publications in the areas as listed below:

Acid mine drainage (AMD) - methods of reducing, treating and managing AMD. Algal Studies - including to clean water, and as a source of biomass for biodiesel Biorefineries - the use of biomass for values add product, including obtaining these with dual purpose water treatment. Constructed wetlands (CW) - waste water remediation through natural biological processes. Ecological Engineering - study of creating and sustaining cohabitation conditions for both humans and their environment. Grade Engineering Industrial biotechnology - the use of biotechnology in water related applications e.g. for water purification and water reduction. Industrial Ecology - the use of sustainability principles in reducing environmental impacts; particularly relating to water. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) - quantification and minimisation of liquid/solid/gaseous waste at sites which include food processing, industrial bioprocessing and others. Material flow analysis Membrane technology Nanotechnology Ozone - determination of optimal treatment techniques for cooling water purification systems, chemical vs ozone. Water footprinting (WF) - quantification and minimisation of water use on, amongst others, mine and paper/pulp sites. Wastewater treatment and more.

Collaboration The unit works now forms part of WITS:H2O, a cross disciplinary water research think tank. Active collaboration before joining WITS:H2O included the Schools of Law, Chemistry, Civil and Mining Engineering and the Global Change Institute at the university, in addition to the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany. They have also collaborated with the Universities of Cape Town, Geneva, Queensland and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. IMWaRU has had several Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) projects run through Wits Enterprise. The unit exhibited with several other groups at Mine Closure 2014.

Awards The IMWaRU group was awarded a special presentation award at the GAP Bioscience gala dinner in December 2014 for work on remediating AMD using biological substrates. Charne Germuizhuizen received the best mine water presentation award, while Mogopoleng (Paul) Chego received the 3rd place best technical talk, at the Water Institute of Southern Africa 2016 (WISA2016) conference in May 2016. Tamlyn Naidu won the IOM3 2019 "YOUNG PERSONS' WORLD LECTURE COMPETITION"

References

External links School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, WITS - IMWaRU page

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit

In research: Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2011 establishments in South Africa, Chemical engineering organizations, Mining and the environment, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit in simple terms?

Why does Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit.