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Aluminum Recovery from Hyperaccumulating Plants for
Industrial Applications
Thomas Monot, Marie-Odile Simmonot
Université de Lorraine, CNRS, LRGP
Baptiste Laubie
Université de Lorraine, CNRS, LRGP
Econick
Guillaume Echevarria
Econick
ABSTRACT: In this work, the biomass and ash of a newly identified aluminum hyperaccumulator in French
Guiana, Qualea rosea, was characterized using several elemental analysis techniques. We found that Qualea rosea
contained around 3900 mg/kg of aluminum in the dry biomass, and ash produced by incineration at 900 °C
was around 27% aluminum in mass.
The ash was subsequently used to develop an aluminum recovery process using sulfuric acid as a leaching agent.
The main driving parameters of aluminum extraction were identified using design of experiments. Temperature
was identified as the main driver in aluminum extraction, and high aluminum extraction rates were reached
even with short leaching duration and diluted acid, up to 100%.
Following the leaching step, the leachate was evaporated using a rotary evaporator to recover a solid composed
of a mix of aluminum (3.92% in mass) and calcium (3.16% in mass) sulfate, with other impurities such as
potassium manganese and sodium each accounting for around 0.5% of the solid total mass.
INTRODUCTION
Today the vast majority of aluminum is still produced by
exploiting bauxite ores, rich in aluminum and iron oxides
(Voisin 1992). However, alternative resources are being
investigated as secondary sources of aluminum in order
to be less reliant on traditional extraction and production
methods, which are energetically costly and have signifi-
cant environmental drawbacks (Bai et al., 2010 Cao et al.,
2008).
Some plants called hyperaccumulators have devel-
oped the ability to accumulate and tolerate high amounts
of certain elements, which would be toxic for other plants
(van der Ent et al. 2013). The concentration threshold to
identify a plant as a hyperaccumulator can vary to account
for the rarity of some elements in the soil. This threshold
can range from 100 mg/kg of dry biomass for cadmium to
up to 10,000 mg/kg for manganese (Reeves et al. 2018).
Recently, screening campaigns in herbariums and in the
field have identified an aluminum hyperaccumulator,
Qualea rosea, in French Guiana. Its dry biomass contains
aluminum in amounts higher than the 1000 ppm threshold
to be considered an aluminum hyperaccumulator. It could
Aluminum Recovery from Hyperaccumulating Plants for
Industrial Applications
Thomas Monot, Marie-Odile Simmonot
Université de Lorraine, CNRS, LRGP
Baptiste Laubie
Université de Lorraine, CNRS, LRGP
Econick
Guillaume Echevarria
Econick
ABSTRACT: In this work, the biomass and ash of a newly identified aluminum hyperaccumulator in French
Guiana, Qualea rosea, was characterized using several elemental analysis techniques. We found that Qualea rosea
contained around 3900 mg/kg of aluminum in the dry biomass, and ash produced by incineration at 900 °C
was around 27% aluminum in mass.
The ash was subsequently used to develop an aluminum recovery process using sulfuric acid as a leaching agent.
The main driving parameters of aluminum extraction were identified using design of experiments. Temperature
was identified as the main driver in aluminum extraction, and high aluminum extraction rates were reached
even with short leaching duration and diluted acid, up to 100%.
Following the leaching step, the leachate was evaporated using a rotary evaporator to recover a solid composed
of a mix of aluminum (3.92% in mass) and calcium (3.16% in mass) sulfate, with other impurities such as
potassium manganese and sodium each accounting for around 0.5% of the solid total mass.
INTRODUCTION
Today the vast majority of aluminum is still produced by
exploiting bauxite ores, rich in aluminum and iron oxides
(Voisin 1992). However, alternative resources are being
investigated as secondary sources of aluminum in order
to be less reliant on traditional extraction and production
methods, which are energetically costly and have signifi-
cant environmental drawbacks (Bai et al., 2010 Cao et al.,
2008).
Some plants called hyperaccumulators have devel-
oped the ability to accumulate and tolerate high amounts
of certain elements, which would be toxic for other plants
(van der Ent et al. 2013). The concentration threshold to
identify a plant as a hyperaccumulator can vary to account
for the rarity of some elements in the soil. This threshold
can range from 100 mg/kg of dry biomass for cadmium to
up to 10,000 mg/kg for manganese (Reeves et al. 2018).
Recently, screening campaigns in herbariums and in the
field have identified an aluminum hyperaccumulator,
Qualea rosea, in French Guiana. Its dry biomass contains
aluminum in amounts higher than the 1000 ppm threshold
to be considered an aluminum hyperaccumulator. It could