🌐🔄Recovering minerals and metals from seawater desalination brines🌐Introduction:Sea4Value aims to develop and implement technologies fo...
Published on by Hossein Ataei Far, Deputy Manager of the Research, Technology Development, and Industry Relations Center at NWWEC
🌐Introduction:
Sea4Value aims to develop and implement technologies for extracting minerals and metals from seawater desalination brines. The goal is to establish desalination plants as a significant source of valuable raw materials in the European Union. Specifically, the project will create a multimineral and modular process that will serve as the first industrially viable method for brine mining.
Sea4Value takes a comprehensive approach by combining advanced separation technologies to design a technically and economically feasible process for multi-element recovery. Project partners collected brine and seawater samples worldwide and conducted a comprehensive quantitative elemental analysis, focusing on the 10 target elements: magnesium, scandium, vanadium, gallium, boron, indium, lithium, molybdenum, rubidium, and calcium.
The project will recover critical raw materials for the European Union, including magnesium, boron, scandium, gallium, vanadium, indium, and lithium, as well as non-critical but strategic elements such as rubidium, molybdenum, and calcium.
SEA4VALUE Project:
The SEA4VALUE project aims to develop a multi-mineral modular brine mining process (MMBMP) to extract valuable metals and minerals from brines produced by seawater desalination plants (SWDPs). This project addresses the demand for alternative and sustainable sources of critical raw materials (CRMs) to reduce import dependence and promote circular economy strategies.
The project's newly developed technologies minimize their environmental impact through low reagent consumption and the use of environmentally friendly reagents. Waste products are regenerated (solvents and chemicals) and reused in the process, minimizing reagent consumption and wastewater release. Additionally, some chemicals required, such as sodium hydroxide for magnesium precipitation, are generated as by-products in other stages of the process and are fed back into the process loop, further reducing reagent consumption and associated production impacts.
🌐Objective:
The primary objective of SEA4VALUE is to demonstrate the viability of next-generation technologies for recovering Mg, B, Sc, In, V, Ga, Li, Rb, and Mo from SWDP brines. The project aims to establish a foundation for integrating these technologies into existing and future SWDPs, transforming them into sources of raw materials.
Compared to conventional mines, seawater brines are multi-mineral and offer a vast potential source of minerals and metals, with 19,744 plants installed worldwide and an estimated annual growth rate of 7.8% (International Water Association, 2017).
As a Circular Economy project, Sea4Value has the potential to create employment opportunities, ranging from skilled production site employees to highly specialized technicians, entrepreneurs, and raw materials brokers.
🌐Methodology:
To achieve its objective, SEA4VALUE will undertake various activities:
1- Brine Characterization (WP2):
▶️ Collect and analyze brine samples from different desalination plants to create a comprehensive brine composition catalog.
▶️Identify potential target elements for recovery based on their concentration and economic value.
2- Technology Development (WP3-WP6):
▶️ Develop and optimize novel nanofiltration membranes for selective separation of multivalent and monovalent ions.
▶️ Investigate ion-selective polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) for the selective recovery of Ga and Rb.
▶️ Explore electrodialysis with bipolar membranes (EDBP) for the concentration of boric acid and sodium hydroxide.
▶️ Study and test ion-exchange resins for the selective recovery of Sc, In, Mo, V, and B.
▶️ Develop selective extraction processes using binary extractants, synergistic extraction, ionic liquids, and non-dispersive solvent extraction (NDSX) for the recovery of Mg, Ca, Li, In, V, and Mo.
▶️ Investigate selective precipitation methods for the removal of Ca and Mg.
▶️ Develop innovative multi-effect distillation (MED) technology using thermally conductive polymer composite tubes for brine concentration.
🌐Implications:
▶️ The successful implementation of SEA4VALUE technologies has the potential to transform seawater desalination plants into sources of raw materials, promoting circular economy strategies and reducing import reliance on critical raw materials.
▶️ The project's findings contribute to the development of next-generation separation technologies for the efficient and cost-effective recovery of valuable metals and minerals from SWDP brines.
▶️ The project's educational and outreach activities aim to ensure the transfer of knowledge and expertise to the next generation of professionals, fostering innovation and sustainability in the water treatment sector.
Recommendation for Future Research:
▶️ Further research is needed to optimize the performance and scale up the technologies developed in the SEA4VALUE project.
▶️ Investigations into the environmental impacts and life cycle assessment of the proposed technologies are recommended to ensure their sustainability.
▶️ Continued collaboration with industry partners is crucial to facilitate the commercialization and widespread adoption of the developed technologies.
Reference:
[1] https://lnkd.in/dmbAt7sh