Energy reclamation and carbon-neutral system for critical mineral extraction
The presently disclosed concepts relate to green battery recycling systems and critical mineral reclamation and refinement. Alkali metal extraction (and in particular lithium extraction) is accomplished using a solid electrolyte membrane in combination with electrodes in a redox configuration. The energy used to initially extract lithium from a feed solution is stored as electrochemical energy, which electrochemical energy is reclaimed in subsequent reclamation processing steps. This reclamation may further allow for lithium to be converted to lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide, or purified to a minimum purity of 99.9% lithium by mass. These extraction and reclamation steps may performed in continuous ultra-efficient ongoing cycles. Since irrecoverable energy losses incurred in each cycle are limited to negligible amounts of joule heating of the system components and feed solution, the system can be sustainably powered using locally-generated renewable energy, which in turn, provides for a green and sustainable solution for lithium recycling.
1. A method for critical mineral reclamation, the method comprising:
driving migration of lithium ions using a current passing from an anode to cathode, wherein the current is driven by a redox configuration of the anode and the cathode;
extracting the lithium ions from a first solution into a second solution through an ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane, wherein the ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane is configured to selectively allow the lithium ions to pass, and wherein extracting the lithium ions from the first solution to the second solution coincides with an uptake of second ions from a third solution to the first solution;
providing an input of energy for the extraction; and
after the extraction, causing a reclamation of the lithium ions, wherein the reclamation recovers at least a portion of the input of energy.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first solution is a feed solution, the second solution is an anolyte, the third solution is a catholyte, and a second ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane is selectively permeable to sodium.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the anolyte includes a lithium electrolyte and the catholyte includes a sodium electrolyte.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein at least one of the anode or the cathode is made of stainless steel mesh.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the extraction of the lithium ions from the first solution to the second solution coincides with an extraction of sodium ions from the third solution to the first solution, and the reclamation of the lithium ions includes transporting the lithium ions from the second solution to a fourth solution which coincides with transporting the sodium ions from the fourth solution to the third solution.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the transporting of the lithium ions coincides with an electric discharge of electrochemical energy of the lithium ions.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the extraction and reclamation are performed, at least in part, using a lithium module comprising:
the ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane,
the second solution, wherein the second solution includes a lithium electrolyte, and
an active material electrode in direct contact with the second solution; and
wherein the extraction and reclamation are further performed, at least in part, using a sodium module comprising:
a second ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane, wherein the second ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane is sodium selective,
a third solution, wherein the third solution includes a sodium electrolyte, and
a second active material electrode in direct contact with the third solution.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the lithium module and the sodium module are configured to be part of a module array, the module array configured to have multiple lithium modules comprising the lithium module, and multiple sodium modules comprising the sodium module.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first solution is a feed solution that flows into the module array and between each of the multiple lithium modules and each of the multiple sodium modules.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first solution is used for the extraction, and a fourth solution is used for the reclamation, wherein the first solution differs from the fourth solution, and the fourth solution replaces the third solution after the extraction.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first solution comprises at least one of lithium minerals, lithium-containing brines, recycled lithium batteries, geothermal brines, salar brines, or seawater, and the fourth solution comprises a Na2CO3 feed.
12. The method of claim 7 , where the multiple lithium modules and the multiple sodium modules are configured to be connected in, at least one of, series, parallel, or a combination of series and parallel.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reclamation includes converting the lithium ions to lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide.
14. A method for reclamation of lithium mineral, the method comprising:
driving migration of lithium ions using a current passing from an anode to cathode, wherein the current is driven by a redox configured flow of ions associated with the anode and the cathode;
extracting the lithium ions, using an extraction reaction, from a first solution into a second solution through an ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane, wherein the ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane is configured to selectively allow the lithium ions to pass;
providing an input of electrochemical energy for the extraction; and
after the extraction, causing a reclamation of the lithium ions, wherein the reclamation comprises using a reclamation reaction comprising:
a) converting the lithium ions to lithium carbonate;
b) converting the lithium ions to lithium hydroxide;
c) transporting the lithium ions from the second solution via the ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane; or
any combination of a), b), and/or c); and
wherein the reclamation recovers at least a portion of the input of electrochemical energy;
wherein the first solution is a feed solution, the second solution is an anolyte, a third solution is a catholyte, and a second ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane is selectively permeable to sodium and is used to transport ions of a second alkali metal from the third solution to a fourth solution, wherein the fourth solution is separated from the third solution via the second ion-selective solid electrolyte membrane.