Lithium extraction from geothermal waters; a case study of Omer-Gecek (Afyonkarahisar) geothermal area

Abstract

Lithium (Li) is the lightest metal, has unique physicochemical properties and is the main component of lithium-ion batteries. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries play a very important role in maximizing the performance of electric devices and vehicles. It is predicted that the metal and mineral demand for lithium-ion batteries will increase 56 times by 2050. In order to meet the increasing demand, in addition to known methods, lithium recovery from geothermal waters has become a very popular research subject. There are abundant geothermal water resources in the world, especially in Turkey and in Afyonkarahisar. The aim of this study is to produce an adsorbent for the retention of lithium in geothermal waters and to remove lithium ions from geothermal water with the help of this adsorbent. Geothermal samples for lithium enrichment were obtained from Omer-Gecek (Afyonkarahisar), where hosts geothermal resources with low-medium enthalpy containing 3.5 mg/L Li. In this context, an inorganic adsorbent was developed by using MnCO 3, LiOH and sodium silicate. The characterization and performance parameters of the adsorbent were investigated. As a result of adsorption experiments in fixed bed column, we can perform calculations based on a ton of adsorbent in a column with natural water feed rate of 1.63 t/h. The outcome is 236.7 g of Li, which is equivalent to 2519.6 g of Li2CO3 in 41.6 h. Our findings show that the adsorbent developed in our study can be used to retain Li+ from geothermal waters.