The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - September 13, 2024
Programmable logic controllers monitor and automate Ucore's 52-stage RapidSX rare earth separation demonstration plant in Kingston, Ontario.
More than 600 sensors and multiple programmable logic controls monitor and control many of the RapidSX demonstration plant systems.
Behind the secret formulas and innovative methods being developed to separate the tightly interlocked rare earths into individual elements used in a growing array of modern products is another layer of technology that increases the efficiency and reliability of emerging separation technologies.
A recent update on the RapidSX separation platform being commercialized by Ucore Rare Earths Inc. shines a light on the sensors, switches, and other behind-the-scenes automation controls.
The company is currently dialing in RapidSX at a demonstration facility in Kingston, Ontario, in preparation for the first commercial installment of this innovative rare earth separation platform at the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex (SMC).
"It is an exceptionally exciting time for the company," said Ucore Rare Metals COO Mike Schrider. "The innovative work being completed at our Commercial Demonstration Facility strongly positions us as a first mover in the Western commercial heavy rare earth processing space as we continue to execute our plan for production in Louisiana."
This work includes finalizing an autonomous system for monitoring and controlling a RapidSX rare earths separation platform that the company can "copy and paste" from the demonstration plant to the Louisiana SMC.
Ucore's quest for a rare earth separation technology for North America that is competitive with the laborious and messy methods used in China can be traced back for more than a decade.
Having begun exploring for rare earth elements at the Bokan Mountain project in Alaska in 2007, Ucore has been working to establish a domestic supply for this suite of technology elements before it was vogue.
The company was also amongst the first to understand that discovering rich deposits of rare earths on American soil would do little to break the United States' reliance on China for these elements if domestically produced mixed rare earth products had to be shipped to the communist nation for separation.
This realization led the company to switch its primary focus to developing rare earth separation technology.
The typical vat-based solvent extraction methods used to separate rare earths are labor-intensive and involve an environmental footprint that is not practical in the U.S.
After investigating different separation technologies, Ucore settled on RapidSX, a faster and more environmentally sound technological upgrade to the solvent extraction method that has been the standard for separating rare earths in China for more than four decades.
Independent testing has shown that the innovative column-based RapidSX platform can separate rare earths nearly 10 times faster within a footprint that is about one-third the size required for the mixer-settler units used for traditional SX separation.
While RapidSX is faster, smaller, and cleaner than its vat-based predecessors, the process still takes several dozen steps to separate the 14 rare earths found together in deposits into individual elements ready for market. This lengthy process involves breaking down the combined rare earths into smaller and smaller groups until the individual elements or groups of elements being sought are separated.
The automated system that controls the process of separating rare earths at Ucore's 52-stage RapidSX demonstration plant has more than 600 feedback sensors that monitor acidity levels (pH), rare earth product and solvent interface levels, system pressures, and flow rates. The information collected from these sensors is fed to multiple programmable logic controllers and a single operator at a central control station.
More than 600 sensors and multiple programmable logic controls monitor and control many of the RapidSX demonstration plant systems.
Over the roughly one year since the demonstration plant was commissioned, the Ucore team has significantly improved upon the increasingly automated mechanical and control systems that deliver and remove the organic and aqueous solutions to each stage of the RapidSX separation process.
"The company is making daily advancements in our integrated knowledge of applying the chemistry of solvent extraction with our computerized column technology platform to the intricate separations involved with heavy rare earth elements," said Schrider.
In preparation for copy and pasting this platform into the Louisiana SMC, the demonstration plant has been producing rare earth chlorides from feedstocks that represent a wide spectrum of the mixed rare earth materials available for processing. A portion of the Ontario facility has been set aside for producing rare earth oxides, the final step of the separation flowsheet.
"Our flowsheet development and demonstration work in Kingston are essential risk mitigation steps to help us achieve our Louisiana SMC commercial objectives," the Ucore COO added.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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