Lanthanides in mineral elements found in fly ashes from the Rybnik power plant

The Rare Earth Elements (REE) have been classified as resources critical for the European Union and divided into: light rare earth elements and heavy rare earth elements. The demand for REE is constantly increasing, which is connected with the wide range of their applications. The article presents the results of research conducted to determine the concentration of Rare Earth Elements in fly ashes obtained from the combustion of coal at the Rybnik Power Plant. The concentrations were measured using the ICP-MS and SEM-EDS methods. The aim of the research was to determine the chemical composition of the ashes, which allowed for determining the concentrations of the major and minor elements as well as REEs. When analysing the REE content it was determined that the ashes tested contain relatively high concentrations of them (around 335 ppm). Among the REEs tested the highest concentrations were recorded for cerium -105 ppm, lanthanum -57 ppm, neodymium -49 ppm and yttrium -41 ppm. The concentrations of REEs in the ashes are close to the results obtained by other researchers for this type of ashes, meaning that said ashes may be a potential source of REEs.