Extraction of rare earth elements from solid waste of production of phosphoric acid followed by sorption on cation exchange resins

Abstract

The basis of production of extraction phosphoric acid is two simultaneous processes: dissolving phosphate raw material in a mixture of sulfuric and phosphoric (formed in the process) acids and crystallization of calcium sulfate (phosphogypsum). Phosphogypsum is an inevitable large-tonnage and cumbersome waste at sulfuric acid processing of apatite, which is of interest not only as a source of building gypsum, but also as an alternative rare earth raw material does not have a natural activity and containing rare-earth elements as a cerium and yttrium groups. As a raw material for the production of rare earth elements, calcium sulfate of three types has been used: phosphogypsum from a sludge accumulator, calcium phosphate phospho-hemihydrate and calcium sulfate phosphate dihydrate from a carousel filter produced by extraction phosphoric acid at JSC "PhosAgro-Cherepovets". The extraction of rare-earth elements from phosphogypsum from a sludge accumulator by leaching (percolation) with inorganic acids with subsequent sorption on cation-exchange resins is considered. As an adsorbent for extracting REE from leach solutions, cationite "Purolite" S-150 is used. A static exchange capacitance of cation exchanger is found that is the capacity of the resin when equilibrium is reached with a solution of a certain volume and composition. The static capacity of cation exchanger for rare-earth elements is 1.57%, which indicates a good absorbing capacity. Desorption of rare-earth elements from the cation exchanger is carried out with a solution of ammonium nitrate. The optimal solution for leaching was found to be sulfuric acid with a concentration of 5% by weight. The degree of extraction of rare-earth elements from phosphogypsum with sulfuric acid is about 82%.