Journal
ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
Volume 5, Issue 11, Pages 10148-10155Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b02147
Keywords
Low-grade feedstock; Airlift bioreactor; Mineral recovery; TEA; Mining
Categories
Funding
- Critical Materials Institute - U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office
- Geothermal office, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
- Environmental Research & Education Foundation Scholarship
- LLNL
- U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [DEAC52-07NA27344 (LLNL-JRNL-733323)]
- Idaho National Laboratory under DOE Idaho Operations Office [DE-AC07-051D14517]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The current uncertainty in the global supply of rare earth elements (REEs) necessitates the development of novel extraction technologies that utilize a variety of REE source materials. Herein, we examined the techno-economic performance of integrating a biosorption approach into a large-scale process for producing salable total rare earth oxides (TREOs) from various feedstocks. An airlift bioreactor is proposed to carry out a biosorption process mediated by bioengineered rare earth-adsorbing bacteria. Techno-economic assessments were compared for three distinctive categories of REE feedstocks requiring different pre-processing steps. Key parameters identified that affect profitability include REE concentration, composition of the feedstock, and costs of feedstock pretreatment and waste management. Among the 11 specific feedstocks investigated, coal ash from the Appalachian Basin was projected to be the most profitable, largely due to its high-value REE content. Its cost breakdown includes pre-processing (leaching primarily, 77.1%), biosorption (19.4%), and oxalic acid precipitation and TREO roasting (3.5%). Surprisingly, biosorption from the high-grade Bull Hill REE ore is less profitable due to high material cost and low production revenue. Overall, our results confirmed that the application of biosorption to low-grade feedstocks for REE recovery is economically viable.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available