Extraction and purification of lithium concentrate from Alberta oilfield brines

从阿尔伯塔省油田盐水中提取和纯化锂精矿

• 批准号: 543950-2019
• 负责人: Alessi, Daniel
• 金额: $ 1.46万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=698961
• 关键词: Extraction; purification; lithium; concentrate; Alberta

Recent rapid growth in the lithium ion battery (LIB) industry has created a demand for new lithium (Li) sources outside of traditional deposits such as salars. One such source is brines derived from oil and gas wells in the Western Sedimentary Basin of Canada, which underlies portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba and the Northwest territories. Beginning in 2017 and funded by NSERC Engage and Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) grants, E3 Metals Corporation and the Alessi Laboratory at the University of Alberta began collaborating on technologies to extract, concentrate and purify the 50-100 parts per million (ppm) Li commonly found in brines derived from the Leduc Formation, Alberta. During the past two years, we developed an ion exchange sorbent technology that can concentrate Li to over 5,000 ppm in a brine with approximately 60 ppm Li and a salinity exceeding 150,000 ppm, while simultaneously removing >99% of the impurities. This technology, for which a patent application has been submitted, is being scaled up in collaboration with two commercial laboratories. In this current NSERC CRD application, we aim to extend the current successful research program to (1) work with the commercial laboratories on scaling up our ion exchange technology, and (2) to explore and optimize the polishing of the lithium concentrate, so that it can be used to produce lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate for use in LIBs. These goals are critical pieces in ensuring that E3 can move towards the first lithium extraction plant in Canada, and to support a new industry for western Canada.

锂离子电池（LIB）行业最近的快速增长创造了对传统矿床（例如盐湖）之外的新锂（Li）来源的需求。 其中一个来源是来自加拿大西部沉积盆地的油气威尔斯井的盐水，该盆地位于阿尔伯塔、萨斯喀彻温、不列颠哥伦比亚省、马尼托巴和西北地区的部分地区之下。 从2017年开始，在NSERC Engage and Collaborative Research and Development（CRD）赠款下，E3 Metals Corporation和阿尔伯塔大学的Alessi实验室开始合作开发技术，以提取、浓缩和纯化阿尔伯塔Leduc Formation卤水中常见的百万分之50-100（ppm）的锂。 在过去的两年中，我们开发了一种离子交换吸附剂技术，可以在锂含量约为60 ppm、盐度超过150，000 ppm的盐水中将锂浓缩到5，000 ppm以上，同时去除99%以上的杂质。 这项技术已经提交了专利申请，目前正在与两个商业实验室合作扩大规模。 在目前的NSERC CRD应用中，我们的目标是将目前成功的研究计划扩展到（1）与商业实验室合作扩大我们的离子交换技术，以及（2）探索和优化锂精矿的抛光，以便它可以用于生产氢氧化锂或碳酸锂用于LIB。 这些目标是确保E3能够向加拿大第一家锂提取工厂迈进并支持加拿大西部新产业的关键。