Application of ultrasound for leaching Vietnamese monazite concentrate with NaOH solutions to obtain chlorides of rare earth elements

Relevance. Despite the use of alkali stripping technology for processing monazite concentrate in industry, this method has a number of limitations, such as low efficiency of concentrate stripping, the need to use a large excess of alkali and a long process time. Aim. Improvement of existing technology to overcome these limitations. Methods. Fusion with NaOH under pressure and fusion with NaOH combined with ball milling, as well as fusion with NaOH using high intensity ultrasound. High-intensity ultrasound has long been studied and used in industry to intensify leaching/alloying in various applications to increase efficiency and speed in leaching for copper, vanadium, nickel, bauxite and uranium ores. This article is devoted to studying the influence of high-intensity ultrasound on the efficiency of opening monazite concentrate with NaOH solutions. Experimental data were obtained using mass spectrometric, X-ray diffraction and ICP-OES analysis methods. Results and conclusions. The optimal conditions for leaching batches of samples weighing from 100 g to 1 kg were determined. The authors have carried out the research on the separation of radioactive elements and impurities in a solution of rare earth chlorides, obtaining a solution of rare earth chlorides purified from radioactive components and impurities. It was shown that ultrasonic exposure eliminates the disadvantages of traditional fusion technology with NaOH, which can be used for deep processing of Vietnamese monazite concentrate. The conditions for obtaining REE chlorides from a previously opened monazite concentrate are given.