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Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2024
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
First Advisor
Timothy Dittrich
Abstract
Rare earth elements (REEs) and phosphates are crucial non-renewable resources that have significant impacts on the economy due to their applications in critical areas such as technological advancements and the production of agricultural fertilizers. Recent geopolitical tensions have disrupted the global supply chain of REEs, leading to a shortage. Additionally, research studies have indicated that the phosphate reserves may become restricted to only a few countries in the near future, raising concerns about phosphate supply risk in the future. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop technologies that can recover REEs and phosphates from alternative domestic sources. Phosphate fertilizers are a main source of REE enrichment in agricultural fields, and recovering REEs from these fertilizers can help reduce REE contamination in the agricultural fields while providing an alternative source for REE recovery. In this dissertation, the following were addressed: (1) developing an efficient way to extract REEs from phosphate fertilizers, (2) developing a novel adsorption media to recover REEs from acidic leachate solutions, and (3) developing a sorption media for recovering phosphate from industrial and agricultural runoff. The thesis showed that phosphate fertilizers can contain up to 1100 mg kg-1 of REEs, and more than 85% of REEs can be extracted with 1.5M HCl within 20 minutes. Separation using the novel N,N,N′,N′‐Tetraoctyl Diglycolamide (TODGA) based solid-liquid adsorption media has increased the REE concentration in the final separated solution up to 10%. Furthermore, phosphates can be successfully recovered by the novel iron-coated bioadsorbents and can be used as fertilizers post-phosphate recovery.
Recommended Citation
Tummala, Chandra Mouli, "Recovering Rare Earth Elements And Phosphates From Alternative Sources Using Novel Sorption Techniques" (2024). Wayne State University Dissertations. 4007.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/4007
