RE: You SHOULD read this !3 Dec 2021 20:28
CUSN LITHIUM EXTRACTION PTOJECTS - knock yourselves out and oh its NOT JUST LITHIUM ;-)))
Lithium Brine Pilot projects launching in Spring 2021
JUST A MATTER OF TIME. CUSN / CL / BL brines WILL BE THE FIRST REVENUES
One of the planned pilot projects, funded cooperatively by the DOE Office of Fossil Energy with industry cost share, combines the resources of the oil and gas industry with PNNL’s technology.
Oil and gas extraction across the US and Canada pumps subsurface water to the surface as part of the extraction process. Lithium is present in much of this water, over a wide range of locations. PNNL scientists estimate that if just 25% of the lithium in water produced through oil and gas extraction were collected, it would equal current annual worldwide production.
To explore this possibility, PNNL, Moselle Technologies, Canada Natural Resources Limited and Conoco Phillips Corporation will conduct a prolonged test at PNNL’s Richland, Wash., campus. There, the team will stress-test the technology by subjecting it to extended cycle testing with the magnetic separator system, a needed step for full-scale industrial production.
By using the magnetic nanoparticles to attach to the lithium particles in solution, we expect the resulting concentrate to be in a purer form, thereby reducing the cost of further processing. And this will take out more than half the cost.
—Jerry Mills
A second project, which was announced in January after a competitive application process, will be funded through a DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office FY20 award. In this project, the companies Enerplus Corporation, Prairie Lithium Corporation, Enertopia Corporation and Dajin Lithium Corporation will investigate the technology for potential application at lithium mines in Nevada and Canada. The work has been approved and will get underway in Spring 2021.
The clean, non-polluting technology could also be used for recovery of other critical materials. A third cooperative research project will explore that possibility.
We have developed sorbent materials specific to many elements. In this project, we will work with the New-Zealand-based geothermal company Geo40, which has identified cesium present in its brines. In this project, the team will extend the work done to recover lithium to new sorbents that are highly selective for cesium. If successful, the group would like to build a pilot-scale plant in New Zealand.
—Pete McGrail
In addition to McGrail, who serves as manager, the research team compriseds Principal Investigator Praveen Thallapally and researchers Jian Liu, Satish Nune and Yongsoon Shin.
The research and development of the magnetic nanoparticles was supported by the Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office. "
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