Zero Emissions Lithium Extraction from Underground Reservoirs

从地下储层中零排放提锂

• 批准号: RGPIN-2021-02390
• 负责人: Gates, Ian
• 金额: $ 5.54万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=746943
• 关键词: Zero; Emissions; Lithium; Extraction; Underground

Heavy oil and oil sands resources are traditionally produced for viscous oils. In these recovery processes, high temperature steam injection lowers the oil's viscosity so that it can be produced to surface. However, steam generation from natural gas combustion yields large amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) rendering oil sands bitumen among the dirtiest oil globally. A paradigm shift is required to derive clean valuable products from underground resources (heavy oil and oil sands resources, tight shale resources, and aquifer systems). This is due to GHG emissions of extraction and processing of oil sands resources but also the emissions of transportation and end-use combustion of the oil products. The shift required is to re-value the resource as a source of other products that are both zero-emission during extraction and also at end use. In the proposed research, novel extraction processes will be discovered, designed, and developed to produce lithium from underground resources with the constraint that the extraction process has net zero emissions. Lithium is an essential element for energy storage systems unlocking more renewable energy use. Canada possesses huge amounts of lithium stored in underground brine reservoirs which could yield huge value for Canada. Evidence exists that lithium could be produced from brines within current established resources where many wells already exist: in-situ thermal oil sands operations raise the lithium concentration in the produced water by up to 100 times. To minimize the energy required, the amount of pumping and handling of brine must be minimized. Thus, a process requirement would be to avoid large brine handling by leaving the brine in the ground - the process would be in-situ lithium extraction with minimal material transport to/from the reservoir. The required research includes materials science for in-well lithium extraction using a horizontal well mounted electrochemical reactor. The key research questions are on the electrode materials as well as dealing with other metals in the water. The research program will consist of discovery-level experiments (electrochemical cells and electrode materials), integrated modelling (DFT for electrode material selection, transport phenomena/flow for reactor design, and reservoir simulation for reservoir and overall process management), process optimization, and eventual field-scale experiments to yield a new class of lithium extraction technologies for oil sands resources. The outcomes from the proposed research will diversify products from underground resources as well as benefit Canada in terms of materials enabling clean energy extraction, use, and storage. A new subdiscipline, electrochemical reservoir engineering, will emerge from the proposed research. In this project, 11 HQP (3 PhD, 2 MSc, 2 PDF, and 4 BSc) will be trained.

重油和油砂资源传统上是为粘性油而生产的。在这些开采过程中，高温蒸汽注入降低了石油的粘度，使其可以被开采到地面。然而，天然气燃烧产生的蒸汽产生大量的温室气体（GHG），使油砂沥青成为全球最脏的石油之一。要从地下资源（重油和油砂资源、致密页岩资源和含水层系统）中获得清洁的有价值的产品，就需要转变模式。这是由于油砂资源开采和加工的温室气体排放，以及石油产品运输和最终用途燃烧的排放。所需的转变是重新评估资源的价值，将其作为其他产品的来源，这些产品在开采过程中和最终使用时都是零排放的。在拟议的研究中，将发现，设计和开发新的提取工艺，以从地下资源中生产锂，并限制提取工艺的净零排放。锂是储能系统释放更多可再生能源使用的重要元素。加拿大拥有大量的锂储存在地下盐水水库，这可能会为加拿大带来巨大的价值。有证据表明，锂可以从目前已建立的资源中的盐水中生产，其中已经存在许多威尔斯：原位热油砂作业将产出水中的锂浓度提高了100倍。为了使所需的能量最小化，必须使盐水的泵送和处理量最小化。因此，工艺要求将是通过将盐水留在地下来避免大量的盐水处理-该工艺将是原位锂提取，其中最小的材料运输到储层/从储层运输。所需的研究包括使用水平井安装的电化学反应器进行井内锂提取的材料科学。关键的研究问题是电极材料以及处理水中的其他金属。该研究计划将包括发现级实验（电化学电池和电极材料），综合建模（用于电极材料选择的DFT，用于反应器设计的传输现象/流动，以及用于储层和整体过程管理的储层模拟），过程优化，以及最终的现场规模实验，以产生一种新的油砂资源锂提取技术。拟议研究的成果将使地下资源的产品多样化，并使加拿大在清洁能源开采、使用和储存方面受益。一个新的分支学科，电化学油藏工程，将出现从拟议的研究。在这个项目中，将培训11名HQP（3名博士，2名硕士，2名PDF和4名理学士）。