Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Enhancement of a Process Flowsheet for Recovering and Concentrating Critical Materials from Bituminous Coal Sources

  • Published:
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recovery of rare earth elements (REE) from coal-related resources has recently received significant interest due to supply concerns and their key roles in critical industries and defense-related technologies. An integrated flowsheet consisting of sorting, crushing/grinding, physical separation, acid leaching, solvent extraction, and selective precipitation was designed to achieve continuous production of rare earth products from various coal-related resources such as coarse refuse and acid mine drainage. A pilot plant was constructed that enabled continuous testing of the circuitry on a range of different coal-based feedstocks. Despite achieving significant success in producing high-grade rare earth oxide products, low REE recovery values and high operational costs necessitated a re-evaluation of the process flowsheet. This article describes the circuitry improvements that were based on both laboratory and pilot plant test results. Roasting as a pre-leach treatment was found to significantly improve the leaching rate and overall REE recovery values. After roasting West Kentucky No. 13 and Fire Clay coal refuse materials at 600 °C, REE recovery increased by 60 and 40 absolute percentage points, respectively. Rare earth concentration in the pregnant leachate solution (PLS) was increased to around 700 ppm prior to solvent extraction using a staged precipitation method. REEs in the precipitate were re-dissolved, purified, and extracted from the PLS using solvent extraction and selective precipitation to values of around 80%. As a result of the improvements, chemical consumption in the acid leaching and solvent extraction processes was significantly reduced. A techno-economical assessment of the improved flowsheet indicated significant commercialization potential.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Canada)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19
Fig. 20
Fig. 21
Fig. 22

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Honaker RQ, Groppo J, Yoon RH, Luttrell GH, Noble A, Herbst J (2016) Pilot-scale testing of an integrated circuit for the extraction of rare earth minerals and elements from coal and coal byproducts using advanced separation technologies. U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Federal Grant Number: DE-FE0027035

  2. Parhi PK, Park KH, Nam CW, Park JT, Barik SP (2013) Extraction of rare earth metals from deep sea nodule using H 2 SO 4 solution. Int J Miner Process 119:89–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Pietrelli L, Bellomo B, Fontana D, Montereali MR (2002) Rare earths recovery from NiMH spent batteries. Hydrometallurgy 66(1):135–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Ibrahim HA, El Sheikh EM (2011) Bioleaching treatment of Abu Zeneima uraniferous gibbsite ore material for recovering U, REEs, Al and Zn. Res J Chem Sci 1:55–66

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hassanien WAG, Desouky OAN, Hussien SSE (2013) Bioleaching of some rare earth elements from Egyptian monazite using Aspergillus ficuum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Walailak J Sci Technol (WJST) 11(9):809–823

    Google Scholar 

  6. Muravyov MI, Bulaev AG, Melamud VS, Kondrat’eva TF (2015) Leaching of rare earth elements from coal ashes using acidophilic chemolithotrophic microbial communities. Microbiology 84(2):194–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Brisson VL, Zhuang WQ, Alvarez-Cohen L (2016) Bioleaching of rare earth elements from monazite sand. Biotechnol Bioeng 113(2):339–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Yang XJ, Lin A, Li XL, Wu Y, Zhou W, Chen Z (2013) China's ion-adsorption rare earth resources, mining consequences and preservation. Environ Dev 8:131–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Laudal DA, Benson SA, Addleman RS, Palo D (2018) Leaching behavior of rare earth elements in fort union lignite coals of North America. Int J Coal Geol 191:112–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Yang X, Werner J, Honaker RQ (2019) Leaching of rare earth elements from an Illinois basin coal source. J Rare Earths 37(3):312–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Zhang W, Yang X, Honaker RQ (2018) Association characteristic study and preliminary recovery investigation of rare earth elements from Fire Clay seam coal middlings. Fuel 215:551–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Chi RA, Xu Z (1999) A solution chemistry approach to the study of rare earth element precipitation by oxalic acid. Metall Mater Trans B Process Metall Mater Process Sci 30(2):189–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Yaftian MR, Burgard M, Dieleman CB, Matt D (1998) Rare-earth metal-ion separation using a supported liquid membrane mediated by a narrow rim phosphorylated calixarene. J Membr Sci 144(1):57–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Li C, Zhuang Z, Huang F, Wu Z, Hong Y, Lin Z (2013) Recycling rare earth elements from industrial wastewater with flowerlike nano-Mg (OH) 2. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 5(19):9719–9725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Honaker RQ, Groppo J, Yoon RH, Luttrell GH, Noble A, Herbst J (2017) Process evaluation and flowsheet development for the recovery of rare earth elements from coal and associated byproducts. Miner Metall Process 34(3):107–115

    Google Scholar 

  16. O’Neil G (1984) Mine investment analysis. American Institute of Mining. Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers Inc, New York, p 502

    Google Scholar 

  17. Mine and Mill Equipment Costs (2016) CostMine, InfoMine USA, Inc. Spokane, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  18. Garrett (1989) Chemical engineering economics. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 420 pp

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Zhang W, Honaker R (2019) Calcination pretreatment effects on acid leaching characteristics of rare earth elements from middlings and coarse refuse material associated with a bituminous coal source. Fuel 249:130–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Dutrizac JE (2017) The behaviour of the rare earth elements during gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) precipitation. Hydrometallurgy 174:38–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Honaker R, Yang X, Chandra A, Zhang W, Werner J (2018) Hydrometallurgical extraction of rare earth elements from coal. In extraction 2018 (pp. 2309-2322). Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  22. Zhang W, Honaker RQ (2018) Rare earth elements recovery using staged precipitation from a leachate generated from coarse coal refuse. Int J Coal Geol 195:189–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-FE0027035.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    R. Q. Honaker, W. Zhang & J. Werner

  2. Department of Mining & Minerals Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    A. Noble, G. H. Luttrell & R. H. Yoon

Authors
  1. R. Q. Honaker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. W. Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Werner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. Noble
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  5. G. H. Luttrell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  6. R. H. Yoon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Q. Honaker.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Disclaimer

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Honaker, R.Q., Zhang, W., Werner, J. et al. Enhancement of a Process Flowsheet for Recovering and Concentrating Critical Materials from Bituminous Coal Sources. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 37, 3–20 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-019-00148-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-019-00148-x

Keywords