SBIR/STTR Research Award
Production of Germanium Concentrates From Coal Ash
Award amount
$249,972Program and phase
SBIR · Phase IAward year
2025Award details
- Awarding agency
- Department of Defense
- Branch
- Army
- Recipient company
- Microbeam Technologies Incorporated
- Proposal award date
- 2025-02-12
- Contract end date
- 2025-08-19
- UEI
- X7LDM8GNRVF1
- Solicitation number
- 24.4
- Topic code
- A244-055
Research abstract
The goal of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility of a pyrometallurgical process of producing germanium (Ge) concentrates from gasification and combustion coal ash. The technology has the potential to produce Ge concentrates of greater than 60% based on preliminary testing. The primary deliverable of this project is a feasibility study that shows the technology’s technical and economic viability. Microbeam has observed elevated levels of Ge in lignite coal resources and this technology can provide an opportunity to meet the needs of military and commercial market demands for germanium-containing products with a domestic supply chain.
Technology keywords
Not reported
Other awards by this recipient
Verified by the same UEI. These are other public SBIR/STTR award pages, not a merged company record.
- Subsurface Characterization of Critical Minerals Using Down Hole Logging Equipment
- Dechlorination of Mixed-Plastics Feedstock with Low Temperature Pyrolysis for Downstream Gasification and Hydrogen Production
- Optimization of Coal Waste/Biomass Gasification for Hydrogen Production
- Development of Sorting Algorithm for Critical Mineral-rich Coal Resource Feedstocks for Use in Full-Stream Analyzers
- Integration of Coal-fired Power Plants Fireside Optimization Tools with the IDAES Platform.
Awards with the same topic code
Verified by an exact topic code match. This is not a text-similarity match.
- Water-based Extraction and Concentration of Germanium from Fly Ash
- Functionalized Adsorbents for Highly Efficient Germanium Extraction and Separation from Coal Ash Leachates
- GeXtract: Dual-Action Adsorbent System for Superior Germanium Recovery from Coal Fly Ash
- Hydrometallurgical Extraction and Separation of High-Purity Germanium from Coal Gasification Ash for Enhanced DoD Critical Materials Security
Research funding history
9 SBIR/STTR records share this UEI (2003–2025). Reported award amounts total $2,242,510. Reported amounts are not federal obligations.
Phases: Phase I, Phase II
Agencies: Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense