Abstract
In the traditional heap leaching of rare earth minerals, the top of the rare earth pile is covered with leaching liquid. This creates trouble for vegetation restoration carried out timely on the top of the pile. In order to solve this trouble, a novel pile structure into which leaching liquid is laterally injected is proposed for heap leaching of rare earth. In this study, a laboratory test is carried out to study the formation and distribution of preferential flow paths for the rare earth pile under a horizontal liquid injection condition. Furthermore, numerical simulations based on a dual‐permeability model are conducted to investigate the influence of the preferential flow paths on the seepage characteristics in the rare earth pile. The results show that, under the horizontal liquid injection condition, the fine particles of the rare earth move away from the liquid injection end and also toward the lower part of the pile. The migration of the fine particles results in the formation and connection of macropore, thereby generating preferential flow paths in the rare earth pile. The preferential flow paths are mainly distributed in the lower part of the pile near the liquid injection end. This causes the fluid in the lower part of the pile to seep faster significantly than that in the upper part. Within the region where the preferential flow paths develop, the seepage in the early stage of the horizontal liquid injection is dominated by preferential flow. The preferential flow is more significant at the locations farther away from the liquid injection end.
Highlights
China is one of the richest countries in the world in rare earth resources. ere are a wide range of rare earth minerals in China [1]
In the traditional heap leaching of rare earth minerals, the top of the rare earth pile is covered with leaching liquid
It aims to investigate the influence of the preferential flow paths on the seepage characteristics in the rare earth pile under the horizontal injection of liquid
Summary
China is one of the richest countries in the world in rare earth resources. ere are a wide range of rare earth minerals in China [1]. Erefore, with regard to the novel growable pile structure for heap leaching of rare earth, it makes sense to understand the formation and distribution of preferential flow paths for the leaching efficiency and stability analysis. Erefore, it is of significance to study the formation mechanism of preferential flow paths and the seepage characteristics under a horizontal injection of liquid in the growable pile structure It can provide a reference for the later blockage of the preferential flow paths so as to achieve high-efficiency leaching and pile stability. On the basis of this, numerical simulations of the laboratory test are conducted by using multiphysics simulation software COMSOL It aims to investigate the influence of the preferential flow paths on the seepage characteristics in the rare earth pile under the horizontal injection of liquid. Note that the chemical reactions between rare earth and leaching liquid are not considered in this study. e leaching liquid in the laboratory test and numerical simulations is replaced with water
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