Controls on the concentration of lithium in oilfield brines

对全球变暖的担忧已导致几个国家出台立法，限制未来内燃机的使用。因此，电动汽车正在取代化石燃料驱动的汽车，对锂离子电池的需求迅速增长，以提供必要的能量存储。这将导致负担得起的锂资源短缺。油田卤水是石油生产的副产品，可能含有大量锂，因此有可能帮助缓解这种短缺。拟议的研究将与挪威Equinor ASA的子公司Equinor Canada Ltd.合作进行。该项目将调查与巴肯组黑色页岩有关的卤水中锂的来源，巴肯组从萨斯喀彻温省南部和马尼托巴省西南部延伸到美国。由于下伏的蒸发岩(锂的常见来源)含有非常少的锂，而页岩中富含锂，后者可能是卤水中锂的来源。因此，这项研究的目的是开发一个模型，预测锂在黑色页岩和油田卤水之间的分配，并确定可以用来确定特定的黑色页岩序列是否可能产生富锂卤水的标准。这项研究将由一个使用EDI最佳实践挑选的团队进行，将涉及确定卤水以及页岩中有机和无机部分中锂和其他元素的浓度。此外，还将对页岩矿物学进行详细研究，并进行锂同位素研究，这将利用已知的有机页岩和无机页岩之间存在的6Li和7Li的强烈分馏作用。通过显示卤水中的锂浓度与有机和无机组分的锂浓度之间的关系，这项研究将产生一个预测模型，用于评估与黑色页岩有关的卤水的锂潜力。这项研究将有助于促进加拿大锂卤水资源的勘探，并协助Equinor评估北达科他州和萨斯喀彻温省巴肯组卤水的锂潜力，以及目前在纽芬兰的海上业务生产的卤水的锂潜力。

Concerns over global warming have led several countries to introduce legislation that limits the future use of internal combustion engines. As a result, electric vehicles are replacing fossil fuel-powered vehicles and there is a rapidly growing demand for lithium-ion batteries to provide the necessary energy storage. This will lead to a shortage of affordable lithium resources. Oilfield brines, which are by-products of petroleum production, may contain significant concentrations of lithium and thus have the potential to help alleviate this shortage. The proposed research will be conducted in partnership with Equinor Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of Equinor ASA of Norway. The project will investigate the origin of lithium in brines associated with black shales of the Bakken Formation, which extends from southern Saskatchewan and SW Manitoba into the USA. As the underlying evaporites (a common source of Li) contain very little lithium, and the shales are enriched in it, the latter are the likely source of lithium in the brines. The purpose of this research is therefore to develop a model that will predict the partitioning of lithium between black shales and oilfield brines, and identify criteria that can be used to determine whether a particular black shale succession is likely to yield Li-enriched brines. The research will be conducted by a team selected using EDI best-practices, and will involve determining the concentration of lithium and other elements in the brines and the organic and inorganic fractions of the shales. This will be complemented by a detailed study of the shale mineralogy and a lithium isotope study that will take advantage of the strong fractionation of 6Li and 7Li known to occur between organic and inorganic shale fractions. By showing how lithium concentrations in brines correlate with those of the organic and inorganic fractions, the research will lead to a predictive model for evaluating the lithium potential of brines associated with black shales. The research will help promote the exploration for lithium brine resources in Canada and assist Equinor with the evaluation of the lithium potential of brines in the Bakken Formation in North Dakota and Saskatchewan and those currently produced from its offshore operations in Newfoundland.