Surrogate modeling and optimization of the leaching process in a rare earth elements recovery plant

Fardis, Dimitrios M.; Oh, Donghyun; Sahinidis, Nikolaos V.; Garciadiego, Alejandro; Lee, Andrew

doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2025.109061

Surrogate modeling and optimization of the leaching process in a rare earth elements recovery plant

Journal Article · Sat Feb 22 00:00:00 EST 2025 · Computers and Chemical Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2025.109061· OSTI ID:2529446

Fardis, Dimitrios M. ^[1]; Oh, Donghyun ^[1]; ^[1]; Garciadiego, Alejandro ^[2]; Lee, Andrew ^[2]

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

Critical minerals (CMs) and Rare Earth Elements (REEs) play a vital role in crucial infrastructure technologies such as renewable energy generation and batteries. Recovering them from waste materials has recently been found to significantly reduce environmental impact and supply chain costs related to these materials. In this work, we investigate surrogate modeling techniques aimed to simplify the modeling, simulation, and optimization of the leaching processes involved in CM and REE recovery flowsheets. As there is currently a lack of systematic studies on this topic, we perform extensive computational testing to ascertain which surrogate models are easier to construct and offer high predictive accuracy. Further, our results suggest that sparse quadratic models balance predictive accuracy and computational efficiency. Training and using these surrogates for global optimization of the leaching process requires two orders of magnitude fewer measurements and is up to four orders of magnitude faster than optimizing the original simulation using equation-oriented optimization or derivative-free optimization.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), Office of Resource Sustainability

OSTI ID:: 2529446

Journal Information:: Computers and Chemical Engineering, Journal Name: Computers and Chemical Engineering Journal Issue: 2025 Vol. 197; ISSN 0098-1354

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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