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Environmental Technology Laboratory

The Environmental Technology Laboratory is a flexible, high-performance facility where new processes for treating and reclaiming liquid, solid, and gaseous effluents can be tested and demonstrated at low cost prior to full-scale implementation.

The lab’s multipurpose platform uses different physical, chemical, and biological processes to treat soil, hazardous waste, gas, and industrial waste and effluents.

This high-performance facility is dedicated to the development of environmental technologies. Applications vary and respond to a range of environmental challenges associated with the treatment, decontamination, and reclamation of polluted and unpolluted matrices. Developing environmental technology processes that contribute to sustainable development is a research priority at INRS.

The lab is part of the Laboratories for Scientific and Technological Innovation in Environment (LISTE) complex, located in the Québec Metropolitan Technology Park, and can be adapted to suit all types of research projects.

Users have access to equipment for physical separation (filtration, decantation, gravimetry), reaction (of various capacities), and material preparation (ovens, grinders, crushers). Measurement instruments are also available for monitoring the physico-chemical parameters of the processes being tested.

Equipment available includes:

  • Stirred tank rectors and bioreactors (1 m3 capacity)
  • Pressurized and controlled temperature reactors (300 mL, 4 L and 18.2 L)
  • Test unit for a mineral carbonation processes (three 400 L reactors and one 800 L crystalizer)
  • Two lamellar clarifiers for solid/liquid separation
  • Filter press for sludge dewatering
  • Granulation equipment
  • Grinding and micronization equipment at demonstration scale (up to 150 kg/h)
  • Thermal/calcination treatment furnaces of different scales (up to 14 kg/h)
  • Automated systems for regulating and monitoring pH and oxidation-reduction potential
  • Metering pump for chemicals and mix reactors
  • Controlled power sources and electrolytic reactors
  • Automation systems for conducting processes in continuous mode
  • Safety equipment to protect workers and the environment

Environmental Technology Laboratory facilities can be used to:

  • Demonstrate processes on a pilot scale, with the goal of supporting the technological development of innovations created at INRS or by private partners, using solutions tailored to the specific needs of each project and with access to equipment and highly qualified staff
  • Study the performance of physico-chemical processes (leaching, washing, chemical oxidation, chemical fixation, etc.) for extracting, retrieving, and stabilizing metal and organic pollutants in soil and industrial and other waste
  • Test chemical or biological process for the treatment, decontamination, conditioning, and dewatering of industrial and municipal sludge and biosolids
  • Assess the performance of biological (biofiltration, sequential biological reactors, sulfate-reducing bioreactors, etc.) and physico-chemical (coagulation-flocculation, selective precipitation, adsorption, ion exchange, solvent extraction, electrodeposition, etc.) processes for treating effluent and leachate

The Environmental Technology Laboratory is available to INRS research teams for their projects. Our resources and expertise can also be used for external collaborations and research and development contracts. Contact us to learn more.

The lab has all the equipment needed for the decontamination of various matrices including:

  • Electronic waste
  • Industrial gas
  • Mining waste
  • Residual materials
  • Municipal and industrial sewage sludge
  • Contaminated soil and sediment
  • Liquid manure
  • Fly ash and hazardous waste

The Environmental Technology Laboratory is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Metal Transformation Research and Innovation Consortium (CRITM), Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT), the Government of Quebec, and private partners.

Contacts

Jean-François Blais
Professor and Scientific co-head
Phone: 418-654-2541
jean-francois.blais@inrs.ca

Louis-César Pasquier
Professor and Scientific co-head
Phone: 418-654-2611
louis-cesar.pasquier@inrs.ca

Environmental Technology Laboratory

Institut national de la recherche scientifique

Laboratory for Scientific and Technological Innovation in Environment (LISTE)

Eau Terre Environnement Research Centre

2605 blvd. du Parc-Technologique

Québec City, Quebec  G1P 4S5

Canada

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