Research Coordinator

I am Efthymios (Thymis) Balomenos and I am a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Metallurgy. I hold a Mining and Metallurgical Engineering Degree from NTUA (1995) and a Ph.D. in Thermodynamics (2006) from the same school. I have dedicated my research carrier in innovative metallurgical processing focusing on resource preservation and climate change mitigation. Key research topics include Industrial residue (bauxite residue, metallurgical slags, spent catalyst, e-waste) valorization, critical metal extraction and recovery, alternative paths to metallic iron and aluminium production, innovation in alumina production, Electric Arc Furnace processing, Mircrowave processing, thermodynamic modelling, exergy accounting, circular economy and others. I have 43 publications in peer reviewed journals and books and more than 45 publications and presentations in scientific conferences. These publications have been cited more than 1000 times (h-index 19). Some highlights of my publications and academic career include:

• Balomenos et al; Mud2Metal: Lessons Learned on the Path for Complete Utilization of Bauxite Residue Through Industrial Symbiosis, Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy, September 2017, Volume 3, Issue 3, pp 551–560
• Balomenos et al., The EURARE Project: Development of a Sustainable Exploitation Scheme for Europe’s Rare Earth Ore Deposits, Johnson Matthey Technol. Rev., 2017, 61, (2), 142–153 April 2017; DOI: 10.1595/205651317X695172
• Balomenos and D. Gerogiorgis, Carbothermic Reduction Methods for Alumina, In book: Encyclopedia of Aluminium and its Alloys, First Edition, Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group, DOI: 10.1201/9781351045636-140000248, 2018.
• Balomenos, Bauxite Residue as Resource in Europe, Chapter in Blengini, G.A et al. Recovery of critical and other raw materials from mining waste and landfills: State of play on existing practices, EUR 29744 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2019, ISBN 978-92-76-03391-2, doi:10.2760/494020, JRC116131
• Balomenos et al, Energy and Exergy Analysis of the Primary Aluminium Production Processes – A Review on Current and Future Sustainability, Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review 01/2011; 32(2):69-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/08827508.2010.530721
• Davris et al. Selective leaching of rare earth elements from bauxite residue (red mud), using a functionalized hydrophobic ionic liquid, Hydrometallurgy 164 (2016) 125–135, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hydromet.2016.06.012

• Organizer of the ERES-European Rare Earth Resources conference in 2014, 2017 and 2020, and member of the organization committee of the BR2020 -Bauxite Residue Valorization Conference
• Editor in the Johnson Matthey Technology Review Journal, since 2018
• TMS Light Metals Subject Award – Alumina & Bauxite 2017 for Developing New Process for Selective Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from Bauxite Residue Based on Functionalized Ionic Liquids
• ICSOBA Regional Ambassador (https://icsoba.org/leadership/), since 2020
• ICSOBA Director and BR subject organizer, since 2022
• Co-Chair of the European Aluminium Innovation Hub since 2022
• Key note speaker at TMS2021 : Sustainability in the Aluminum Supply Chain – Keynote Session : Near Zero-waste and Near Break-even: A Path towards Sustainable Bauxite Processing.