A system and method for separation and purification of dissolved rare earth/precious metals elements/compounds

Abstract

A method for purification and separation of mixed elements, comprising at least a first free flow electrophoresis separation chamber, wherein a solution of the mixed elements is passed through the first separation chamber, an electric field submitted perpendicular to the solution flow and separating mobile ions of the solution based on electrophoretic mobility. A continuous method comprises selecting a complexing ligand, and controlling the temperature and pH of the solution. Also, a system or method for separating components of a multi-component concentrate comprising directing solution to at least a first and second channel each receiving part of the solution; each channel comprising a concentration section comprising a first transverse electric field across the channel, a fractionation section comprising a second electric field in a direction opposite the first electric field thereby distributing ions of the solution across the channel, and a flow splitter at an output of the fractionation section that divides the flow of each channel into subflows concentrated in heavier elements and concentrated in lighter elements.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a system and a method to separate and refine rare earth / precious metals elements / compounds. More precisely, the present invention relates to a system and method for binary or multicomponent fractional separation and purification of dissolved rare earth / precious metals elements / compounds produced in hydrometallurgical processes while they are dissolved in an acidic or weakly basic medium, without any intermediate precipitation step.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Rare earth elements (REE) occur together in nature, and any given mineral contains several or most of them. Production of high purity individual rare earth (RE) elements / compounds from their ores generally requires two stages of processing, including mineral processing and hydrometallurgy.[0003]Mineral processing and hydrometallurgy processing of the ore before REE purification is relatively simple and quite achievable though conventional methods. However, produci...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a method and system for purification and separation of mixed elements in a solution using differences in electrophoresis mobility. The method involves forming a solution of the mixed elements and a complexing ligand, controlling the temperature and pH of the solution, and submitting it to an electric field perpendicular to the solution. The system includes a first separation chamber with electrodes creating a first transverse electric field across the channel, a second electric field in a direction opposite the first electric field across the channel, and a flow splitter dividing the flow of each channel into subflows concentrated in heavier or lighter elements. The method can be used for separation of components of a multi-component concentrate by preparing a solution of the concentrate and a reagent, directing it to the channels, repeating the process until the target separation is achieved, and recovering the isolated components. The technical effects include a faster and more efficient means of purification and separation of mixed elements in a solution.

Problems solved by technology

However, producing individual REE from mixed REs compounds is tremendously tedious.

Separating and extracting a single REE requires a great deal of time, resources and expertise.

Today, an advanced RE refinery facility cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build.

Although there are several techniques to separate RE, most of them suffer from different types of drawbacks.

Techniques using ion-exchanger for separation and refinery operate with low REE concentrations in solution, which leads to very large liquid volume quantity, bulky tanks, dehydrators, pumps and etc.

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