Methods of recovering rare earth elements, vanadium, cobalt, or lithium from coal are described. The coal is dissolved in a first solvent to dissolve organic material in the coal and create a slurry containing coal ash enriched with rare earth elements, vanadium, cobalt, or lithium. The enriched coal ash is separated from the first solvent. Residual organic material is removed from the coal ash. The rare earth elements, vanadium, cobalt, or lithium can then be recovered from the coal ash. The coal ash is mixed with an acid stream that dissolves the rare earth elements, thereby creating (i) a leachate containing the rare earth elements and (ii) leached ash. The leachate is heated to obtain acid vapor and an acid-soluble rare earth concentrate. The acid-soluble rare earth concentrate can be fed to a hydrometallurgical process to separate and purify the rare earth elements.

Methods of recovering rare earth elements, vanadium, cobalt, or lithium from coal are described. The coal is dissolved in a first solvent to dissolve organic material in the coal and create a slurry containing coal ash enriched with rare earth elements, vanadium, cobalt, or lithium. The enriched coal ash is separated from the first solvent. Residual organic material is removed from the coal ash. The rare earth elements, vanadium, cobalt, or lithium can then be recovered from the coal ash. The coal ash is mixed with an acid stream that dissolves the rare earth elements, thereby creating (i) a leachate containing the rare earth elements and (ii) leached ash. The leachate is heated to obtain acid vapor and an acid-soluble rare earth concentrate. The acid-soluble rare earth concentrate can be fed to a hydrometallurgical process to separate and purify the rare earth elements.

The invention provides an inexpensive and scalable means to isolate commercially valuable metals from low quality raw materials with minimal capital expenditures. Metals are extracted from sized raw material using a lixiviant, such as an amine-based lixiviant, in a pond extractor. The liquid fraction containing solvated metal is separated from the extracted raw materials and exposed to an inexpensive and readily available source of carbon dioxide, such as unmodified atmospheric air and/or a flue gas. This precipitates the metal as a carbonate salt and regenerates the lixiviant, which is returned to the extraction step of the process following separation from the metal carbonates. Metal carbonates can be dried by simply arranging in exposed heaps, and in some embodiments further processed by kiln drying. Such methods can also be used to capture and sequester greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The invention relates to the field of comprehensive recovery of valuable elements such as bromine, base metal and precious metal from incineration ash, especially relates to a method for enriching precious metals from printed circuit board incineration ash by bath smelting-chlorination circulation process. The process mainly comprises pretreatment of the printed circuit board Incineration ash and circulation-chlorination enrichment process for precious metals. The crude copper, crude zinc sulfate, bromine, lead chloride and precious metal enriched slag are obtained. Compared with the traditional process, it realizes the cycle enrichment of precious metals as well as avoids the loss of valuable metals and secondary pollution caused by tail liquid discharge.

The invention relates to the field of comprehensive recovery of valuable elements such as bromine, base metal and precious metal from incineration ash, especially relates to a method for enriching precious metals from printed circuit board incineration ash by bath smelting-chlorination circulation process. The process mainly comprises pretreatment of the printed circuit board Incineration ash and circulation-chlorination enrichment process for precious metals. The crude copper, crude zinc sulfate, bromine, lead chloride and precious metal enriched slag are obtained. Compared with the traditional process, it realizes the cycle enrichment of precious metals as well as avoids the loss of valuable metals and secondary pollution caused by tail liquid discharge.

A method and system of extracting iron oxide from ore is provided, which may include adding a chelating agent to an iron ore to form an iron ore and chelating agent solution, heating the solution to reflux in water, and filtering the solution to yield an extraction residue and a chelated iron solution. The chelated iron solution may be treated with a potassium hydroxide and water solution to yield iron hydroxide.

A process is described for recovering a non-ferrous metal from a first solid residue comprising iron. In this process, the first solid residue is mixed with a second solid residue including sulphur, thereby obtaining a particulate mixture. The particulate mixture is subjected to a roasting step at a temperature of at least 650° C. to obtain a roasted mixture, and the roasted mixture is subjected to leaching in a liquid at a pH of at least 5.5 to obtain a solution enriched with the non-ferrous metal.

Disclosed is a method of simultaneously processing fly ash and COPR, which can treat the fly ash and COPR harmlessly during the landfilling process through biochemical and engineering measures. The method includes: transferring the fly ash and COPR to the yard; laying an impervious layer inside the yard; laying a diversion material at a bottom of the yard; laying a mixture layer on the diversion material, where the mixture layer contains a biogas residue, a waste carbon source, ferrous sulfate, a nutritional additive, the waste incineration fly ash and COPR; placing an internal-electrolysis ceramsite layer on the mixture layer; injecting a carbon source solution from an upper portion of the yard and collecting a leachate to a collection device through the diversion material irregularly during the operation; and recirculating the leachate to a top of the yard for spray reinjection.

The phytoremediation process for removing hazardous metals, such as Be, Cr, Co, Mn, and Ra, from contaminated soil and/or coal fly ash, e.g. in a landfill, includes growing plants in the soil and/or fly ash; incorporating a root growth inducing auxin in the soil and/or fly ash in the vicinity of the growing plants and subsequently cultivating the plants until a predetermined increase in root mass of the plant roots has occurred. The preferred auxin is 3-4-deoxy-glucosamine, which was found to increase plant root mass by 200% to 800%. An organic synthesis using glucosamine as starting material or a bioengineering process starting with commercial micronized shrimp meal and/or crab meal moistened with water can provide the 3-4-deoxy-glucosamine. Economical embodiments of the process use plants that produce marketable products and recovers valuable metals.

A method for reducing molten raw materials, includes placing the raw materials, in a solid or molten state, on an inductively heated bed with coke pieces. The reduced melt that runs off the coke bed is collected and the waste gases are discharged. A coke bed is inwardly limited by a tube-shaped element through which the reaction gases are drawn off via a plurality of draw-off openings in the tube-shaped element. The corresponding device has a reactor for a bed with coke pieces and an induction heater with at least one induction coil. The reactor has a loading opening and a discharge opening for the treated melt. The coke bed is ring-shaped around a tube-shaped element. The material of the tube-shaped element allows inductive coupling to the induction field of the induction coil and it has draw-off openings for drawing off reaction gases from the coke bed.