| Abstract Scope |
The coal ash of a thermal power plant was leached in nitric acid and it was found that the pregnant leach solution (PLS) predominantly contains rare earth elements (REEs), such as lanthanum (La), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), cerium (Ce) and yttrium (Y). In this research, solvent extraction tests have been carried out using different organic extractants, such as D2EHPA and Cyanex 923 in kerosene, where isodecane was used as a modifier to extract REEs from this PLS. Different operating parameters, such as temperature, time, A/O ratio, feed metal concentration, solution pH, and extractant concentration, were studied to determine the optimum conditions for maximum extraction of REEs by the extractants. Experimental results revealed that Cyanex 923 performs better than D2EHPA, where about 86% Ce, 70% La, 92% Pr, 90% Nd, and 94% Y were extracted at their optimum conditions. |