Enhancement of weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ores leaching process with the addition of PQ-10

To solve the problems of the long development period, low mass transfer efficiency and high impurity content in the in-situ leaching process of weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ores (WCE-DREO), cationic hydroxyethyl cellulose (PQ-10) was composited with conventional leaching agent ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) to form a novel composite leaching agent. The effects of PQ-10 concentration, leaching temperature and leaching flow rate of the composite leaching agent on the leaching kinetics and mass transfer processes of rare earth (RE) and aluminum (Al) were investigated. Compared to the single leaching agent (NH4)2SO4, the composite leaching agent (2 wt% (NH4)2SO4+0.02 wt% PQ-10) can reduce the RE leaching equilibrium time from 465 to 130 min and increase the RE leaching efficiency and decrease the Al leaching efficiency. It also facilitates the leaching process of WCE-DREO by increasing the peak concentrations of RE and Al, reducing the theoretical tower plate height (HETP) and improving the leaching mass transfer efficiency. It is indicated that PQ-10 can promote the leaching of WCE-DREO. The leaching process of the composite leaching system conforms to the diffusion kinetic control model. When the PQ-10 concentration is in the range of 0.005 wt%–0.020 wt%, the reaction orders of RE and Al are 0.73 and 0.54, respectively, which shows a positive effect on the leaching velocity; when the PQ-10 concentration is in the range of 0.030 wt%–0.060 wt%, the reaction orders of RE and Al are –1.16 and –0.75, respectively, which show a negative effect on the leaching velocity. In the range of 10–50 °C, the apparent activation energies of RE and Al are 15.02 and 17.31 kJ/mol, respectively, and the higher the leaching temperature, the smaller the HETP and the higher the leaching velocity and mass transfer efficiency. The increase in leaching flow rate contributes to the increase in the longitudinal diffusion velocity of the leaching agent within WCE-DREO, causing a shorter time for RE and Al to reach leaching equilibrium. In addition, the flow rate and HETP are consistent with the Van Deemter equation. At a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min, HETP was minimized and the optimal mass transfer efficiencies is achieved for RE and Al.