Development of a universal ultrasonic reactor for processing of rare earth metal ores on the moon

In the last ten to fifteen years, the demand of the aerospace industry for rare earth metals, whose reserves are limited, has increased dramatically. It is known that the lunar soil contains high concentrations of rare earth elements, which can be used in the production of alloys for space technology. The aim of this work is to study the efficiency of processing ore concentrates containing REE by leaching with the application of the multipurpose ultrasonic reactor. The device for ultrasonic flow processing of the ore raw material which contains rare-earth elements is developed and tested. The optimum regimes of the device operation which ensure its stable performance for leaching of rare-earth elements from different media are established. High efficiency of utilizing the device for leaching various concentrates has been experimentally established. It is shown that the degree of extraction of uranium, P2O5 and Al2O3 into the solution during leaching of these concentrates is at least 93.0-98.3%. © 2020, Univelt Inc. All rights reserved.