Technoeconomic Assessment of Phosphoric Acid and Rare Earth Element Recovery from Phosphoric Acid Sludge

Gyoung Gug Jang, Joshua A. Thompson, Pimphan Aye Meyer, Patrick Zhang, Ziheng Shen and Costas Tsouris ()
Additional contact information
Gyoung Gug Jang: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Joshua A. Thompson: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Pimphan Aye Meyer: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Patrick Zhang: Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute, Lakeland, FL 33805, USA
Ziheng Shen: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Costas Tsouris: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-16

Abstract: Sustainability faces many challenges, including the availability of materials necessary for technological advancement. Rare earth elements (REEs), for example, are key materials for several manufacturing industries that can unlock renewable energy and sustainable development. In this study, a decanter centrifuge has been employed to successfully separated phosphoric acid and REE-containing particles from phosphoric acid sludge with concentrations ranging from 1000 to 2200 ppm REEs. Operating efficiently with up to 35 wt.% solids, the centrifuge was demonstrated to achieve approximately 95% phosphoric acid recovery and 90% REE recovery in a single pass, eliminating the need for additional processing steps. This breakthrough supports a proposed rare earth oxide (REO) recovery process integrating phosphoric acid (PA), elemental phosphorus (P4), and REO into two potential pathways: PA-REO and PA-P4-REO. These processes aim to reintroduce recovered phosphoric acid into the main product to significantly increase output and revenue. Post-separation, phosphorus-rich particles can be converted to P4, while REE-containing solids undergo further treatment including acid leaching, extraction/stripping, precipitation, and calcination to produce a marketable REO material. Technoeconomic analysis indicates promising profitability, with the PA-REO process showing a delta net present value (∆NPV) of USD 441.8 million over a 12-year period and expected return within a year of construction, while the PA-P4-REO process yields a ∆NPV of USD 178.7 million over a 12-year return period. Both pathways offer robust financial prospects and demonstrate the feasibility of commercial-scale REO recovery from phosphoric acid sludge, offering an economically feasible approach to produce REEs for future sustainable development challenges related to sustainability.

Keywords: rare earth element recovery; REEs; sustainable development; solid/liquid separation; decanter centrifuge; phosphoric acid sludge; technoeconomic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/6984/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/6984/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:6984-:d:1456631

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().