Abstract
Scandium is a critical metal with increasing demand in modern technologies, like solid oxide fuel cells and light-weight Al-Sc alloys. Sc is present at considerably high concentrations in various metallurgical by-products, including the bauxite residue (BR). Scandium extraction from the Greek bauxite residue (BR) that contains 70–100 mg/kg Sc has been demonstrated at an industrial pilot plant at MYTILINEOS. BR has been treated with sulfuric acid at conditions that allow for low acid consumption. In such conditions, high Sc leaching selectivity is achieved over Fe and Ti, which are the main impurities for the further purification of the leachate through the ion-exchange technique. This paper reports on the recent investigations on the effect of pH control during the leaching process, which can lead to optimized results. Moreover, the treatment of the produced leachate solution is also studied, in order to further refine it, prior to the ion-exchange.
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Αcknowledgements
The research leading to these results has received funding by EIT-KIC, SCALE-Up Project, project number 21013. This publication reflects only the authors’ views, exempting the SCALE-Up Consortium from any liability for the information presented herein.
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Balomenos, E. et al. (2023). Investigations into Optimized Industrial Pilot Scale BR Leaching for Sc Extraction. In: Broek, S. (eds) Light Metals 2023. TMS 2023. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22532-1_156
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22532-1_156
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