Mechanochemical Activation of Ashes from Lignite-Coal Thermal Power Plants as a Method for Increasing the Extraction of Rare Earth and Dispersed Elements
摘要
Rare earth elements (REEs) and rare elements (REs) are important materials for high-tech industries. To date, coal and coal ash have been recognized as a promising economically profitable alternative source of rare earth elements; however, the implementation of their extraction processes requires the development of new approaches to concentration and leaching. In this work, waste from large lignite-coal thermal power plants in Novosibirsk was studied as a source of rare earth and rare elements. The morphology and phase composition of the samples were analyzed, and elemental analysis was performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). It was found that the studied samples were characterized by increased gallium content. The effect of preliminary mechanochemical activation (MCA) of ash on the degree of extraction of target elements has been studied. The MCA was performed in the presence of various complex-forming reagents (oxyethylidenediphosphonic acid, urea, EDTA, humic acids, and their salts). The composition of the aqueous extracts from the treated samples was analyzed in detail. It has been shown that the highest degree of gallium extraction was achieved when using sodium humate as a complex-forming agent.