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Energies 2021, 14, 6805 16 of 72 Precipitation reactions are routinely used in geothermal power production, especially for the control of silica [75–78], but precipitation reactions may not be practical for direct extraction of lithium from geothermal brines. The non-selective nature of these types of reactions and the numerous competitive co-precipitates (such as calcium carbonates and iron hydroxides) will influence chemical reagent costs and may cause waste disposal problems. In addition, lithium extracted by precipitation will require extensive post- extraction purification and processing to meet standards for lithium battery production or other uses. 2.2. Organic Sorbents 2.2.1. Organic Ion-Exchange Resins Using strong acid cation-exchange resins to selectively collect and recover lithium from seawater and other lithium-containing solutions has been investigated since at least the 1970s [56,79–83]. However, early studies showed that organic ion-exchange resins exhibited low selectivity for lithium ions [56,83]. A strong acid cation exchanger such as AmberSepTM G26 H Resin can be used to strip lithium from water; however, because lithium has a very low affinity for ion-exchange resins compared to most other cations, typical ion-exchange resins are not practical for use in lithium extraction and recovery [82,83]. Ion- exchange resins only become effective for selective lithium extraction when impregnated with inorganic, lithium-selective sorbents [6,84–87]. 2.2.2. Ion-Imprinted Polymers and Other Organic Sorbents Several investigators have investigated the synthesis and application of organic poly- mers that selectively extract lithium in preference to other metal ions. Metal selectivity may be imparted by including reactive or chelation sites in steric structures specifically sized, using an ion-imprinting process, to allow entry of lithium and not competing ions. For example, Ventura and others created a nanocomposite sorbent comprised of molecular sieve nanoparticles and lithium-imprinted polymeric resins for the selective recovery of lithium from geothermal brines [88,89]. They created beads of lithium- and manganese- imprinted polymers by crosslinking and polymerization of a metal chelate, where the metal acts as a template. To extract lithium and manganese from brines, lithium- and manganese- imprinted polymer beads were used as selective solid sorbents. Ion-imprinted polymers have selectivity toward the target metal ion due to the memory effect imparted by how they are manufactured. Metal ion selectivity is imparted by: (1) the affinity of the ligand for the imprinted metal ion, and (2) the size and shape of the generated cavities [88,89]. Variants of lithium-imprinted polymers are being developed by the company Materials Research LLC [90,91]. They have an active program for critical materials extraction and recovery, including processes for extracting lithium from geothermal brines, but they have not yet developed commercial products [90–92]. One project includes scaling-up the manufacturing process for the sorbent and conducting a pilot study that includes the design and testing of a transportable, skid-based pilot system for the production of lithium carbonate from geothermal brine. The project will be conducted with synthetic brine, but may include testing against actual geothermal brines [90]. The goals of this project are to gain experience in a large-scale facility operation using these novel sorbents, adapt the process based on lessons learned, update the energy and material balance for the process, and to refine process economics [90]. Lu et al. [93] developed lithium-imprinted polymers that contained crown ether structures (Figure 10). These polymers were used as membranes for the selective separation of lithium from sodium and potassium, where the lithium was adsorbed to crown ether sites on the membrane while the other ions were not retained [93]. Crown ether moieties are also used in other ion-imprinted polymers designed for lithium adsorption [94].PDF Image | Recovery of Lithium from Geothermal Brines
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Product and Development Focus for Infinity Turbine
ORC Waste Heat Turbine and ORC System Build Plans: All turbine plans are $10,000 each. This allows you to build a system and then consider licensing for production after you have completed and tested a unit.Redox Flow Battery Technology: With the advent of the new USA tax credits for producing and selling batteries ($35/kW) we are focussing on a simple flow battery using shipping containers as the modular electrolyte storage units with tax credits up to $140,000 per system. Our main focus is on the salt battery. This battery can be used for both thermal and electrical storage applications. We call it the Cogeneration Battery or Cogen Battery. One project is converting salt (brine) based water conditioners to simultaneously produce power. In addition, there are many opportunities to extract Lithium from brine (salt lakes, groundwater, and producer water).Salt water or brine are huge sources for lithium. Most of the worlds lithium is acquired from a brine source. It's even in seawater in a low concentration. Brine is also a byproduct of huge powerplants, which can now use that as an electrolyte and a huge flow battery (which allows storage at the source).We welcome any business and equipment inquiries, as well as licensing our turbines for manufacturing.| CONTACT TEL: 608-238-6001 Email: greg@infinityturbine.com | RSS | AMP |