Episode 106 | Lossless Lithium | EnergyX
Lithium Ion batteries appear to be an unstoppable force in our energy future. They're going to power every car on the planet. They're also going to balance our grid with energy storage.
Where’s all this lithium going to come from? And aren’t these batteries a finite resource? We’re working at breakneck speed to jettison our need for oil. But does that mean we’re trading one non-renewable mineral for another?
Puerto-Rico-based EnergyX doesn’t have the answer for a never-ending supply of lithium, but it certainly comes close. Founder and CEO Teague Egan says his technology can pull lithium (in the form of lithium chloride—LiCL) out of the salty brines that are used to for mining most of the lithium today.
It is ironic is that the mineral destined to take us into the future is mined using a process that would be familiar to folks who lived in the Bronze Age. These salts, many of which come from South America's "Lithium Triangle," are conventionally precipitated out in vast evaporation ponds in the desert.
EnergyX's technology looks very similar to reverse osmosis filters used for removing salts. "If we have membranes that are capable of separating all salts from seawater, why can’t we use membranes to target specific salts?" he asks.
The key are Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs), nanoparticles that are fabricated into the membranes. We covered this technology for CO2 capture in Episode 74. EnergyX applies the same principles to an aqueous solution.
Solution mining as it exist today requires brines to flow in a four-pond sequence:
- 1st Pond: Lithium Chloride at 0.01%, sun evaporates 50%, Sodium Chloride precipitates
- 2nd Pond: Sun evaporates 70%, Potassium Chloride precipitates
- 3rd Pond: Magnesium Chloride precipitates with some Lithium Chloride
- 4th Pond: Lithium at 6% of solution, taken to Processing Station and crystallized
The issue lies in the 3rd pond, where 50-70% of the lithium co-precipitates with magnesium. This lithium is essentially useless and lost in the process.
Teague said he originally proposed filtering all water pumped to the surface, eliminating the ponds altogether. Operators balked at the idea, saying they'd invested too much for ponds at this point. The breakthrough, Teague says, was suggesting EnergyX filter only the water in the 3rd pond, before the lithium co-precipitates with magnesium. From there every lithium operator agreed to test the process.
"It's a huge win-win because it’s a lot less cap-ex for the producer, and they can still recover this 90% efficiency rate and avoid all the losses," he says.
Co-locating with the ponds is what Teague calls "Generation 1." Future operations would process all brine pumped to the surface ("Generation 2"). EnergyX collects licensing fees from operators as part of its recurring revenue.
EnergyX is also exploring mining Produced Water from oil and gas operations for lithium, and currently has a pilot planned.
"These big oil and gas companies are looking to diversify their portfolios," he says, "not to mention produced water is one of their biggest expenses when it comes to oil and gas production."
Success separating lithium could lead to other MOF applications, but Teague says they are focused on lithium extraction for now.
"Lithium is the low hanging fruit and is what I believe going to be one of the most important natural resources of the next 10-20 years, and that’s why we’re focusing on it."
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