Shulan Shi, Ting Chen
Coal fly ash contains valuable rare earth elements (REEs), making its comprehensive utilization highly significant. In this study, REEs were recovered from two typical types of coal fly ash by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, and the influencing factors and leaching mechanisms were explored. The results showed that favorable pulp density for bioleaching was 2% and the bacterial inoculum size was 5%. Among the three tested energy substances, the leaching system with sulfur as the energy source achieved the highest REE leaching efficiency. The Zhunneng coal fly ash bioleaching system had a REE leaching efficiency of 40.41%, which was significantly higher than that of Faer coal fly ash (12.93%). Generated from a pulverized coal furnace, Faer coal fly ash had a spherical shape and smooth surface, differing markedly from the Zhunneng samples from a circulating fluidized bed. Compared with the Zhunneng sample, there are more quartz and mullite in Faer coal fly ash which are refractory to bacterial decomposition. Also, Faer coal fly ash contains more REEs associated with aluminosilicate, while Zhunneng coal fly ash contains more organic/sulfide-bound and acid-soluble REEs. Furthermore, bioleaching demonstrated high selectivity for REEs. This study provides new insights for the green and economic management of coal fly ash.
@article{3dc0d76e-788b-4f05-89aa-bc5a414fb2d0,
title={2026 Shi Direct bioleaching of rare earths from coal fly ash},
author={Shulan Shi and Ting Chen},
year={2026},
language={en}
}TY - JOUR TI - 2026 Shi Direct bioleaching of rare earths from coal fly ash AU - Shulan Shi AU - Ting Chen PY - 2026 LA - en ER -
Sadia Ilyas, Jae-chun Lee
The feasibility of biometallurgical processing for recovering heavy metals, precious metals, and rare earth elements from waste electrical and electro
Important advances in electrochemical engineering technology over the last three decades have fostered the development of a lternative methods to alle
Increasing volumes of waste printed circuit boards from obsolete electronic equipment posed escalating environmental risks and resource losses due to
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) from electronic gadgets at the end of their useful life period are currently being dumped in landfills or incinerated, c