Techno-Economic Assessment for Integrating Biosorption into Rare Earth Recovery Process
The current uncertainty in the global supply of rare earth elements (REEs) necessitates the development of novel extraction technologies that utilize a variety of REE source materials. Herein, we examined the techno-economic performance of integrating a biosorption approach into a large-scale process for producing salable total rare earth oxides (TREOs) from various feedstocks. An airlift bioractor is proposed to carry out a biosorption process mediated by bioengineered rare earth-adsorbing bacteria. Techno-econmic asssements were compared for three distinctive categories of REE feedstocks requiring different pre-processing steps. Key parameters identified that affect profitability include REE concentration, composition of the feedstock, and costs of feedstock pretreatment and waste management. Among the 11 specific feedstocks investigated, coal ash from the Appalachian Basin was projected to be the most profitable, largely due to its high-value REE content. Its cost breakdown includes pre-processing (primarily leaching) (8077.71%), biosorption (1619.04%), and oxalic acid precipitation and TREO roasting (3.35%). Surprisingly, biosorption from the high-grade Bull Hill REE ore is less profitable due to high material cost and low production revenue. Overall, our results confirmed that the application of biosorption to low-grade feedstocks for REE recovery is economically viable.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - The current uncertainty in the global supply of rare earth elements (REEs) necessitates the development of novel extraction technologies that utilize a variety of REE source materials. Herein, we examined the techno-economic performance of integrating a biosorption approach into a large-scale process for producing salable total rare earth oxides (TREOs) from various feedstocks. An airlift bioractor is proposed to carry out a biosorption process mediated by bioengineered rare earth-adsorbing bacteria. Techno-econmic asssements were compared for three distinctive categories of REE feedstocks requiring different pre-processing steps. Key parameters identified that affect profitability include REE concentration, composition of the feedstock, and costs of feedstock pretreatment and waste management. Among the 11 specific feedstocks investigated, coal ash from the Appalachian Basin was projected to be the most profitable, largely due to its high-value REE content. Its cost breakdown includes pre-processing (primarily leaching) (8077.71%), biosorption (1619.04%), and oxalic acid precipitation and TREO roasting (3.35%). Surprisingly, biosorption from the high-grade Bull Hill REE ore is less profitable due to high material cost and low production revenue. Overall, our results confirmed that the application of biosorption to low-grade feedstocks for REE recovery is economically viable.
AU - Jiao, Yongqin
A2 - Sutherland, John
A3 - Jin, Hongyue
A4 - Park, Dan
A5 - Brewer, Aaron
A6 - Gupta, Mayank
DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
DP - Open EI | National Renewable Energy Laboratory
DO - 10.15121/1452714
KW - geothermal
KW - energy
KW - TEA
KW - Bioreactor
KW - rare earth
KW - adsorption
KW - biosorption
KW - techno-economic
KW - economics
KW - REE
KW - resource recovery
KW - cost
KW - analysis
KW - price
KW - cash flow
KW - feedstock
KW - mass balance
KW - brine
LA - English
DA - 2017/07/01
PY - 2017
PB - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
T1 - Techno-Economic Assessment for Integrating Biosorption into Rare Earth Recovery Process
UR - https://doi.org/10.15121/1452714
ER -
Jiao, Yongqin, et al. Techno-Economic Assessment for Integrating Biosorption into Rare Earth Recovery Process . Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 1 July, 2017, GDR. https://doi.org/10.15121/1452714.
Jiao, Y., Sutherland, J., Jin, H., Park, D., Brewer, A., & Gupta, M. (2017). Techno-Economic Assessment for Integrating Biosorption into Rare Earth Recovery Process . [Data set]. GDR. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.15121/1452714
Jiao, Yongqin, John Sutherland, Hongyue Jin, Dan Park, Aaron Brewer, and Mayank Gupta. Techno-Economic Assessment for Integrating Biosorption into Rare Earth Recovery Process . Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, July, 1, 2017. Distributed by GDR. https://doi.org/10.15121/1452714
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_7132,
title = {Techno-Economic Assessment for Integrating Biosorption into Rare Earth Recovery Process },
author = {Jiao, Yongqin and Sutherland, John and Jin, Hongyue and Park, Dan and Brewer, Aaron and Gupta, Mayank},
abstractNote = {The current uncertainty in the global supply of rare earth elements (REEs) necessitates the development of novel extraction technologies that utilize a variety of REE source materials. Herein, we examined the techno-economic performance of integrating a biosorption approach into a large-scale process for producing salable total rare earth oxides (TREOs) from various feedstocks. An airlift bioractor is proposed to carry out a biosorption process mediated by bioengineered rare earth-adsorbing bacteria. Techno-econmic asssements were compared for three distinctive categories of REE feedstocks requiring different pre-processing steps. Key parameters identified that affect profitability include REE concentration, composition of the feedstock, and costs of feedstock pretreatment and waste management. Among the 11 specific feedstocks investigated, coal ash from the Appalachian Basin was projected to be the most profitable, largely due to its high-value REE content. Its cost breakdown includes pre-processing (primarily leaching) (8077.71\%), biosorption (1619.04\%), and oxalic acid precipitation and TREO roasting (3.35\%). Surprisingly, biosorption from the high-grade Bull Hill REE ore is less profitable due to high material cost and low production revenue. Overall, our results confirmed that the application of biosorption to low-grade feedstocks for REE recovery is economically viable. },
url = {https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/964},
year = {2017},
howpublished = {GDR, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, https://doi.org/10.15121/1452714},
note = {Accessed: 2025-05-03},
doi = {10.15121/1452714}
}
https://dx.doi.org/10.15121/1452714
Details
Data from Jul 1, 2017
Last updated Jun 14, 2018
Submitted Sep 5, 2017
Organization
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Contact
Yongqin Jiao
925.422.4482
Authors
Original Source
https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/964Research Areas
Keywords
geothermal, energy, TEA, Bioreactor, rare earth, adsorption, biosorption, techno-economic, economics, REE, resource recovery, cost, analysis, price, cash flow, feedstock, mass balance, brineDOE Project Details
Project Name Extraction of Rare Earth Metals from Geothermal Fluids using Bioengineered Microbes
Project Lead Holly Thomas
Project Number LLNL FY17 AOP 2.5.1.12