| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2020 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Rare Metal Extraction & Processing
|
| Presentation Title |
Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from a Canadian Ore |
| Author(s) |
Jiakai Zhang, Kimberly Watada, Nattanai Kunanusont, Maziar E. Sauber, Gisele Azimi |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Jiakai Zhang |
| Abstract Scope |
Rare earth elements (REEs) are essential in many critical green technologies. Conventional REE processing methods rely on large volumes of acids and organic solvents and generate significant volumes of hazardous waste. In recent years, supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) has emerged as an alternative green extraction process for the recovery of REEs from primary and secondary resources. In this study, the SCFE process was used for the extraction of REEs from a Canadian ore. The process utilizes supercritical CO2 as the solvent along with the tributyl-phosphate–nitric acid chelating agent. A fractional factorial design of experiment was used to investigate the effect of various operating factors including temperature, pressure, solid to chelating agent ratio, time and agitation on the extraction efficiency. The results of this work demonstrate the viability of utilizing SCFE as a cleaner and more sustainable option to extract REEs from primary resources. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |