A techno-economic framework evaluating coal ash feedstocks for multi-product resource recovery

A techno-economic framework evaluating coal ash feedstocks for multi-product resource recovery | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article A techno-economic framework evaluating coal ash feedstocks for multi-product resource recovery Shelvey Swett, Emma Kocik, Mohadeseh Rastgooy Deylami, Jon Hawkings, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9247163/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Rare earth element (REE) and critical minerals are essential for energy transition technologies but have uncertain supply chains, especially in the US. Coal combustion products like fly ash are promising feedstocks for these products, but there is a gap between the basic science understanding of rare earth extraction from coal ash and the application scale. We aim to bridge this gap with a holistic, comprehensive techno-economic analysis examining the capital and operating expenditures and revenue potential of the coal ash processing to products system. We present a techno-economic analysis of REE, critical mineral, and alkalinity recovery from coal combustion products (CCP), integrating experimental extraction and separation data with process-scale economic modeling. Across four representative ash feedstocks, we evaluate capital and operating costs, coproduct revenue streams, and sensitivity to market and process uncertainties. We find that system viability is not driven by REE recovery alone but instead depends critically on the sale of co-extracted metals (e.g., Ni, Co, Fe) and, to a lesser extent, mineral coproducts and carbon credits. Under baseline assumptions, only select feedstocks achieve positive net present value, with profitability highly sensitive to metal price volatility and product sales fraction. These results highlight that waste-derived critical mineral systems are fundamentally constrained by market absorption and coproduct pricing, rather than extraction efficiency alone. This work provides a framework for evaluating multi-product resource recovery systems under realistic deployment conditions. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files TEAcoalashpaperSI.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 05 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 13 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 07 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 01 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 27 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9247163","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":623489742,"identity":"5918a4c9-185f-4e4f-97e2-ff8c8f34d6cd","order_by":0,"name":"Shelvey 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