TY - JOUR
T1 - Pyrometallurgical Treatment of Apatite Concentrate with the Objective of Rare Earth Element Recovery
T2 - Part II
AU - Kennedy, Mark William
AU - Sun, Tianming
AU - Yurramendi, Lourdes
AU - Arnout, Sander
AU - Aune, Ragnhild E.
AU - Tranell, Gabriella
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, The Author(s).
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - Apatite, Ca5(PO4)3F, is a useful raw material for the production of both elemental phosphorus and phosphoric acid, and the mine tailings present at Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB) in Kiruna, Sweden, represent a significant potential European source of apatite if upgraded to a concentrate. In the present study, pilot apatite concentrate made from the LKAB tailings has been pyrometallurgically treated using carbon to extract phosphorus without fluxing at temperatures exceeding 1800 °C, with the ultimate objective of recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from the resulting slag/residue phases. Experimental behavior has been modeled using equilibrium thermodynamic predictions performed using HSC®. A process is proposed, and mass–energy balance presented, for the simultaneous production of P4 and CaC2 (ultimately for acetylene, C2H2, and PVC production) from apatite, producing a lime residue significantly enriched in REEs. Possible implications to kiln-based processing of apatite are also discussed.
AB - Apatite, Ca5(PO4)3F, is a useful raw material for the production of both elemental phosphorus and phosphoric acid, and the mine tailings present at Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB) in Kiruna, Sweden, represent a significant potential European source of apatite if upgraded to a concentrate. In the present study, pilot apatite concentrate made from the LKAB tailings has been pyrometallurgically treated using carbon to extract phosphorus without fluxing at temperatures exceeding 1800 °C, with the ultimate objective of recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from the resulting slag/residue phases. Experimental behavior has been modeled using equilibrium thermodynamic predictions performed using HSC®. A process is proposed, and mass–energy balance presented, for the simultaneous production of P4 and CaC2 (ultimately for acetylene, C2H2, and PVC production) from apatite, producing a lime residue significantly enriched in REEs. Possible implications to kiln-based processing of apatite are also discussed.
KW - Apatite
KW - IHP
KW - Improved hard process
KW - Phosphorus
KW - Rare earth
KW - REE
KW - Smelting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064177412&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40831-017-0148-y
DO - 10.1007/s40831-017-0148-y
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85064177412
SN - 2199-3823
VL - 3
SP - 846
EP - 857
JO - Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy
JF - Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy
IS - 4
ER -