SBIR Phase I: Rare Earth Element Extraction from End-of-Life Fluorescent Light Bulb Powder

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是支持需要特殊天然材料稀土元素(REE)的新技术，如添加剂制造和电子产品。目前的稀土提取方法产生了大量需要缓解的有毒物质。建议的解决方案改进了一种提取方法，该方法对环境友好，不会产生有毒副产品，可以使用广泛的材料来源(包括回收物品)，使用更少的能源，并且易于扩展，以显著降低成本。这个SBIR第一阶段项目提出了一个反应堆系统，该系统结合了精密的超高温加热来蒸发目标材料成分，然后浓缩成单独的稀土元素。该方法优化了热能，有效地实现了从各种来源材料中提取和分离稀土的可调温度，包括含有大量Y、Eu和Tb的回收荧光灯泡(FLB)粉末。该项目将设计一个完全集成的原型系统，该系统可以摄取废FLB粉末，通过精密加热提取稀土成分，然后通过受控蒸发和冷凝分离出高纯度的稀土元素。研究任务包括开发可靠的校准程序，同时设置反应堆电流、电压和温度，以实现最佳蒸发。最终目标是证明商业可行性，以产生一种替代的REE提取和分离方法，该方法在经济和环境上优于现有的基于化学品的工艺。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to enable new technologies, such as additive manufacturing and electronics, that require special natural materials known as Rare Earth Elements (REE). Current REE extraction methods produce large quantities of toxic materials requiring mitigation. The proposed solution advances an extraction method that is environmentally friendly and generates no toxic byproducts, can be used with broad material sources (including recycled goods), uses less energy, and is readily scalable to deliver at a significantly lower cost. This SBIR Phase I project proposes a reactor system that incorporates precision ultra-high temperature heating to evaporate targeted material constituents and subsequently condense to separate REEs. The approach optimizes thermal energy to efficiently achieve tailorable temperatures for the extraction and separation of REEs from a broad range of source material, including recycled Fluorescent Light Bulb (FLB) powder that contains significant concentrations of Yttrium, Europium and Terbium. This project will engineer a fully integrated prototype system that ingests waste FLB powder, extracts the REE constituents via precision heating, and then separates them in high purity via controlled evaporation and condensation. Research tasks include development of a reliable calibration procedure that simultaneously sets reactor current, voltage, and temperature for optimal evaporation. The end goal is to demonstrate commercial viability that yields an alternative REE extraction and separation approach that is economically and environmentally superior to existing chemical-based processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.