Coal and coal byproducts:A large and developable unconventional resource for critical materials—Rare earth elements  

作　　者：Zaixing Huang Maohong Fan Hanjing Tiand 

机构地区：[1]Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Wyoming [2]Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wyoming [3]School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming [4]Department of Chemical Engineering, West Virginia University

出　　处：《Journal of Rare Earths》2018年第4期337-338,共2页稀土学报（英文版）

基　　金：Project supported by the Department of Energy through"Rare Earth Elements From Coal and Coal By-Products"program(DE-FE00027069)

摘　　要：Rare earth elements（REEs） are critical materials and provide significant values to national security,energy production, environmental protection and economic growth. The supply of REEs in U.S. solely relies on import as domestic production of REEs was ceased because of the environmental concerns during mining and lack of competitiveness. Nonetheless, unconventional REEs-containing resources,including produced water. acid mine drainage, and coal and coal byproducts（C＆CBs） contain significant amounts of REEs. However, the concentrations of REEs in these resources are several orders of magnitude lower than that of REEs ores. Thus, extraction of REEs from these materials is challenging. Here we report REEs extraction with environmentally friendly method that successfully concentrated REEs from312 ppm in fly ash to 99.4% in the final product. Especially, the five critically important REEs（Dy, Eu, Nd.Tb. and Y） account for up to ～63% of the total weight of all REEs in the final 99.4%-purity product. Coal fly ash is one of the major solid coal utilization byproducts, representing great potential resources for REEs extraction. Extraction of REEs from these unconventional resources could be the way to secure domestic supply of these critical materials.Rare earth elements（REEs） are critical materials and provide significant values to national security,energy production, environmental protection and economic growth. The supply of REEs in U.S. solely relies on import as domestic production of REEs was ceased because of the environmental concerns during mining and lack of competitiveness. Nonetheless, unconventional REEs-containing resources,including produced water. acid mine drainage, and coal and coal byproducts（C＆CBs） contain significant amounts of REEs. However, the concentrations of REEs in these resources are several orders of magnitude lower than that of REEs ores. Thus, extraction of REEs from these materials is challenging. Here we report REEs extraction with environmentally friendly method that successfully concentrated REEs from312 ppm in fly ash to 99.4% in the final product. Especially, the five critically important REEs（Dy, Eu, Nd.Tb. and Y） account for up to ～63% of the total weight of all REEs in the final 99.4%-purity product. Coal fly ash is one of the major solid coal utilization byproducts, representing great potential resources for REEs extraction. Extraction of REEs from these unconventional resources could be the way to secure domestic supply of these critical materials.

关 键 词：Rare earth elements（REEs） REE oxides（REEOs） Coal and coal byproducts Critical materials 

分 类 号：TF845[冶金工程—有色金属冶金] TQ536[化学工程—煤化学工程]