Battelle to Help Produce Coal Ash-Based Rare Earth Oxides Under DOE Project

Battelle has teamed up with Rare Earth Salts on a potential $875,000 Energy Department project to produce rare earth oxides derived from coal ash.

Battelle said Tuesday it will combine its acid digestion process with RES’ novel separation technique to generate rare earth oxide products from coal fly ash sources with a purity of at least 90 percent under the project.

“The need to recover rare earth elements in the United States is of national importance, since so much of the capacity to produce these critical materials lies outside the U.S.,” said Rick Peterson, a research scientist at Battelle.

Battelle initially used the acid digestion process to demilitarize expired artillery munitions, while RES’ separation method works to recycle manufacturing inputs to reduce waste during the production of rare earth oxides.

Battelle and RES will conduct the project in support of DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.