Advanced Sorbent Structure Recovery of REEs, Precious Metals and Other Valuable Metals from Geothermal Waters and Its Associated Technoeconomics
Abstract
This work evaluates, develops and demonstrates flexible, scalable mineral extraction technology for geothermal brines based upon solid phase sorbent materials with a specific focus upon rare earth elements (REEs). The selected organic and inorganic sorbent materials demonstrated high performance for collection of trace REEs, precious and valuable metals beyond commercially available sorbents. This report details the organic and inorganic sorbent uptake, performance, and collection efficiency results for La, Eu, Ho, Ag, Cu and Zn, as well as the characterization of these select sorbent materials.
The report also contains estimated costs from an in-depth techno-economic analysis of a scaled up separation process. The estimated financial payback period for installing this equipment varies between 3.3 to 5.7 years depending on the brine flow rate of the geothermal resource.
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Additional Info
DOE Project Number: FY15 AOP 2516
DOE Project Lead: Holly Thomas
Last Updated: over a year ago
Submitted May 26, 2017
Contact
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
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