Emerging desalination technologies: Current status, challenges and future trends

Lithium is the principal component of high-energy-density batteries and is a critical material necessary for the economy and security of the United States. Brines from geothermal power production have been identified as a potential domestic source of lithium; however, lithium-rich geothermal brines are characterized by complex chemistry, high salinity, and high temperatures, which pose unique challenges for economic lithium extraction. The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze direct lithium extraction technology in the context of developing sustainable lithium production from geothermal brines. In this paper, we are focused on the challenges of applying direct lithium extraction technology to geothermal brines; however, applications to other brines (such as coproduced brines from oil wells) are considered. The most technologically advanced approach for direct lithium extraction from geothermal brines is adsorption of lithium using inorganic sorbents. Other separation processes include extraction using solvents, sorption on organic resin and polymer materials, chemical precipitation, and membrane-dependent processes. The Salton Sea geothermal field in California has been identified as the most significant lithium brine resource in the US and past and present efforts to extract lithium and other minerals from Salton Sea brines were evaluated. Extraction of lithium with inorganic molecular sieve ion-exchange sorbents appears to offer the most immediate pathway for the development of economic lithium extraction and recovery from Salton Sea brines. Other promising technologies are still in early development, but may one day offer a second generation of methods for direct, selective lithium extraction. Initial studies have demonstrated that lithium extraction and recovery from geothermal brines are technically feasible, but challenges still remain in developing an economically and environmentally sustainable process at scale.

Technology for the Recovery of Lithium from Geothermal Brines

Unprecedented Mg2+/Li+ separation using layer-by-layer based nanofiltration hollow fiber membranes

Lithium recovery from brine: Recent developments and challenges

With the rapid increase of various electronic products with lithium-ion batteries in our daily life, it is difficult to provide enough supplement to satisfy the growing demand of the market only through exploiting limited lithium resources on land. Consequently, lithium recovery from salt-lake brines, geothermal brines, wastewater from the treatment of wasted batteries, or even sea water has attracted great interest all around the world due to the abundant reserves and low price. Nowadays, various conventional technologies such as solar evaporation-precipitation way have been widely applied to extract lithium from the aqueous solution. Unfortunately, they are always time-consuming, uncontrollable with the secondary pollution generation. Recently, various electrochemical technologies have been received considerable attention for lithium recovery owing to their time-saving, little environmental impact as well as high efficiency. Herein, progresses for lithium recovery using the electrochemical technologies were outlined and discussed based on the previous studies reported in the literatures. The principles, advantages and challenges of electrochemical technologies were critically reviewed. Even though these methods are technically feasible, they are still limited by the poor technical maturity for the large-scale lithium recovery. Thence, more efforts should be made in the future development of electrochemical technologies for improving lithium selectivity as well as material stability, and simultaneously reducing some energy consumption and investing and operating costs. It could provide guidance on the development and design of more attractive electrochemical methods for lithium recovery from liquid resources, which will contribute to achieving the sustainable and renewable society.

Electrochemical technologies for lithium recovery from liquid resources: A review

A review on lithium recovery using electrochemical capturing systems

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Mona Gulied

Papers

A review on lithium recovery using electrochemical capturing systems

Membrane Distillation Crystallization Hybrid Process for Zero Liquid Discharge in QAFCO Plant