Composition and Critical Mineral Content of Major Industrial Wastewaters: Implications for Treatment and Resource Recovery Technologies

Composition and Critical Mineral Content of Major Industrial Wastewaters: Implications for Treatment and Resource Recovery Technologies | 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 Systematic Review Composition and Critical Mineral Content of Major Industrial Wastewaters: Implications for Treatment and Resource Recovery Technologies Monong Wang, Jaebeom Park, Sui Xiong Tay, Vineet Bansal, Emily J. Rabe, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8743330/v3 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Critical minerals (CMs), such as lithium for rechargeable batteries and rare earth elements for electrical components, are the new “fuel” driving modern economies, technologies, and infrastructure, yet their supply chains are vulnerable to disruption. The widespread presence of CMs in industrial wastewater has motivated the development of wastewater resource recovery technologies aimed at enhancing supply chain resilience and mitigating environmental impacts. However, wastewater characteristics are highly variable and often poorly reported, leading researchers to rely on synthetic substitutes that often misrepresent the real properties. To better guide this research, here we compile and analyze the CM content, background water chemistry, and generation rate of major industrial wastewaters. We consider six industries: oil and gas production, metal and coal mining, manufacturing, fossil fuel power generation, geothermal power generation, and gasification. In addition, we analyze waste streams from twenty-two individual activities within these industries. We conclude our study by (1) identifying industries and waste streams with high CM recovery potential, (2) highlighting common challenges for recovery technologies, and (3) creating representative wastewater compositions for each industrial activity, thereby accelerating the development of realistic and effective recovery technologies. Environmental Engineering Chemical Engineering Renewable Resources Resource recovery separation wastewater critical minerals Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare potential competing interests as follows: R.K. and E.R. have a financial interest in Membrion, Inc. The other authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions 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-8743330","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":586555377,"identity":"f2d55f13-0f0e-4cf7-ba88-d52cc12cf179","order_by":0,"name":"Monong Wang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1750-9973","institution":"Princeton University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Monong","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":586555378,"identity":"59d40a24-b1c4-42d1-8e51-03d1013a8589","order_by":1,"name":"Jaebeom Park","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6512-1821","institution":"Princeton University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jaebeom","middleName":"","lastName":"Park","suffix":""},{"id":586555379,"identity":"f0b54d1c-1578-455e-b623-e9e8be27178f","order_by":2,"name":"Sui Xiong Tay","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1182-3610","institution":"Princeton University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sui","middleName":"Xiong","lastName":"Tay","suffix":""},{"id":622425863,"identity":"23a4a03c-c291-4513-a170-06e0abe0808b","order_by":3,"name":"Vineet Bansal","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7311-5345","institution":"Research Computing, Princeton University, NJ 08540 USA","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vineet","middleName":"","lastName":"Bansal","suffix":""},{"id":586555380,"identity":"27f795d5-08e8-47de-9026-bc93aa1847bf","order_by":4,"name":"Emily J. 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