Available for Licensing - Electrochemical Rare Earth Recovery from Coal Fly Ash: Turn Waste Stockpiles into Critical Materials Revenue
Contract Overview
Solicitation details, issuing organization, response deadlines, documents, and interested companies for this government contract opportunity.
AI Contract Overview
Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory have developed an innovative electrochemical technology to recover rare earth elements (REEs) from coal fly ash, a widely available but underutilized resource with over 1.5 billion tons stockpiled in the U.S. annually producing 158 million tons and containing substantial quantities of critical REEs. Unlike traditional solvent extraction methods, which are slow, costly, generate large volumes of hazardous waste, and have poor selectivity requiring multiple cycles, this electrochemical process uses electricity and specially functionalized mesoporous carbon electrodes to achieve selective separation of REEs efficiently and environmentally sustainably. The process offers significant advantages including shorter processing times measured in hours, a high separation factor of around 7, a recovery efficiency of approximately 60%, reagent-free operation, minimal waste generation, and a compact modular design, aligning with growing environmental and regulatory demands. This technology presents a valuable opportunity for coal power plants, REE recovery companies, environmental remediation efforts, and the critical materials supply chain, enhancing domestic sourcing of rare earths for defense and electronics industries. Currently validated at the laboratory scale, the invention is moving toward pilot-scale demonstration and is available for licensing through collaboration with industrial partners. Idaho National Laboratory seeks to commercialize this patent-pending process to transform stockpiled coal fly ash from a liability into a profitable source of critical materials, with potential applicability beyond coal fly ash to other complex ion separation challenges.
General Info
Agency
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Place of Performance
Idaho Falls, ID, 83401, USASet-Aside
Documents
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Full Description
Electrochemical Rare Earth Recovery from Coal Fly Ash: Turn Waste Stockpiles into Critical Materials Revenue
Technology Overview
Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory have developed an electrochemical process that selectively extracts rare earth elements (REEs) from coal fly ash leachate using electricity instead of chemical reagents. The technology employs tuned anodic electrosorption with functionalized mesoporous carbon electrodes to achieve superior separation of REEs from competing metal ions.
Opportunity
Coal fly ash represents a massive, untapped resource:
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158 million tons produced annually in the U.S.
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1.5 billion tons currently stockpiled
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Contains 74,000-106,000 metric tons of rare earth elements
Current extraction methods don't work at scale. Traditional solvent extraction relies on large volumes of chemical reagents, generating significant hazardous waste and requiring costly disposal. Poor selectivity (separation factor around 1) means you need 50-200 extraction cycles to achieve high purity. This translates to slow processing times (days to weeks), high operating costs, and growing regulatory pressure.
Bottom line: there's no efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable technology for REE recovery from coal fly ash at commercial scale.
Competitive Advantages
Conventional solvent extraction approaches:
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Separation factors typically below 10, requiring 50 to 200 extraction cycles
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Processing times measured in days to weeks
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Heavy reliance on chemical reagents
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Significant hazardous waste generation and disposal costs
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Large footprint, batch-based systems
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Increasing regulatory and ESG pressure
INL electrochemical process:
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Separation Factor ~7
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Processing completed in hours
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Electricity-driven, reagent-free operation
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Minimal waste generation
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Compact, modular system design
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Lower disposal burden and ESG-aligned operation
Additional Benefits: 60% recovery efficiency, reusable electrodes, lower operating costs, faster time to revenue.
Market Applications
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Coal Power Plants (200+ in U.S.) - Convert fly ash from liability to revenue stream
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REE Recovery Companies - Replace chemical extraction with cleaner, faster processing
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Environmental Remediation - Process mining tailings, contaminated soils
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Critical Materials Supply Chain - Domestic REE sourcing for defense and electronics
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Beyond Coal Fly Ash - Applicable to any complex mixed-ion separation challenge
Development and Licensing
Current Stage: Laboratory-scale validation Underway
Next Step: Pilot-scale demonstration with commercial partner
Idaho National Laboratory is seeking industrial partners to license and commercialize this patent-pending technology. INL does not procure services as part of its collaboration agreements.