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introduction
In today's increasingly fierce competition for global lithium resources, a technological revolution led by Princeton University in the United States is quietly changing the rules of the game for the lithium industry.
Recently, a scientific research team led by Ren Zhiyong, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the university, has successfully developed a new lithium extraction technology called "rope fishing for lithium", which not only greatly reduces production costs, but also significantly improves production speed, which is expected to completely subvert the traditional lithium extraction model and lead the global lithium industry to a new stage of development.
What is Lithium
Lithium is a silvery-white metal with a metallic luster. In its fresh state, lithium has a very soft appearance, is hard, and is very small, making it one of the softest alkali metals and can be easily cut with a knife.
Lithium also has good ductility and plasticity, and is also a good conductor, these physical properties of lithium make it have a wide range of application prospects in batteries, ceramics, glass and other fields.
Lithium has considerable economic value, which is mainly reflected in its core raw material as the core raw material of the new energy industry chain, huge market demand, technological progress and the application of new energy storage technology. Together, these factors have driven the price of lithium resources and its important position in the global energy mix.
- Lithium is the core raw material of the new energy industry chain: Lithium is the main raw material in the new energy industry chain, especially in the field of electric vehicles and energy storage. Lithium salts account for a considerable proportion of the battery cost of electric vehicles, accounting for about 40% to 50% of the cost of battery raw materials. The price of lithium resources plays a key role in reducing costs and increasing efficiency of the entire industrial chain.
- The market demand for lithium is huge: As the global demand for renewable energy and clean energy grows, so does the demand for lithium. It is estimated that from 2023 to 2025, the global demand for lithium iron phosphate cathode materials will reach 1.11 million tons, 1.67 million tons and 2.37 million tons respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 53.13%.
- Lithium in technological advancements and the application of new energy storage technologies: Lithium dominates new energy storage technologies. At the current industrial level, lithium batteries are the first choice for power plants to configure energy storage, and have the advantages of strong technical route certainty and high commercial utility. According to the relevant statistics of the National Energy Administration, in 2022, lithium-ion battery energy storage technology accounted for 94.2% of the newly installed technologies in the country.
Traditional ways of extracting lithium
Due to the limitations of extraction methods, the use of lithium cannot be scaled up at present, and traditional lithium extraction methods, such as brine evaporation and ore extraction, often require a large amount of land and time, and at the same time pay a high environmental price and cost.
For example, brine evaporation involves the construction of huge evaporation ponds, where lithium-containing brine is continuously evaporated and concentrated until the lithium concentration reaches a certain level, and then chemically separated and purified. This method not only occupies a large area, but also consumes high water and energy consumption, causing serious pollution to the environment.
The principle and advantages of "rope lithium fishing" technology
In order to solve the shortcomings of traditional lithium extraction technology, apply lithium to more fields and generate higher value, Princeton University in the United States invented the "rope to catch lithium" extraction technology.
At the heart of the "Rope Lithium" technology is a special porous fiber material. This fibrous material has a hydrophilic interior and a waterproof surface, and when the rope is immersed in lithium-containing brine, the water flows upwards through capillary action and evaporates on the surface of the rope.
As the water evaporates, the salt ions are left on the rope, eventually forming sodium chloride and lithium chloride crystals that can be easily collected. Due to the lower solubility of sodium salts, they form at the lower end of the rope, while the higher solubility lithium salts are formed at the upper part, allowing them to be easily separated without the use of more chemicals.
Compared with traditional lithium extraction technology, the "rope for lithium" technology has significant advantages. First, the technology could drastically reduce the area of land required for lithium production.
It is estimated that if the "rope for lithium" technology is used, 90% less land area can be used than traditional evaporation ponds, thus greatly reducing the occupation of land resources. Second, the technology can significantly reduce the time required for lithium production.
Since the water on the rope evaporates much faster than the water in a conventional evaporation pond, the time required to extract lithium can be greatly reduced using the "rope for lithium" technique. Experimental data estimates that the efficiency of lithium extraction using this technology will be about 20 times higher than that of traditional methods.
Since the "rope for lithium" technology can achieve the natural separation of sodium and lithium, it can improve the extraction rate of lithium and reduce production costs. Finally, the technology is also environmentally friendly. As water use and energy consumption are reduced, the environmental cost is also significantly reduced.
Application prospect of "rope fishing for lithium" technology
The invention of "rope fishing for lithium" technology not only provides a new solution for the sustainable development of the lithium industry, but also opens up a new way for the development and utilization of global lithium resources. With the continuous maturity and optimization of the technology, the "rope lithium fishing" technology is expected to be applied and promoted in more fields in the future.
First, the technology can be applied to the extraction of lithium resources with low concentrations, such as abandoned oil wells and geothermal brine. Due to the ability of "rope to extract lithium" technology to effectively extract low-concentration lithium resources, it can enable more lithium resources to be utilized and alleviate the situation of global lithium resource shortage.
Secondly, the technology can also be used to extract lithium from seawater. There are 260 billion tons of lithium reserves in the earth's oceans, and if lithium can be extracted from seawater using the "rope fishing" technology, it will greatly expand the source of lithium resources and reduce the production cost of lithium. This is of great significance to promote the development of new energy vehicles, energy storage and other fields.
In addition, the "rope for lithium" technology can also be combined with other technologies to form a more efficient and environmentally friendly lithium extraction process. For example, it can be combined with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, and the electricity generated by renewable energy can be used for lithium extraction, further reducing energy consumption and emissions.
epilogue
The invention of "rope for lithium" technology marks that the lithium industry has entered a new stage of development. The technology not only has significant economic and environmental benefits, but also has broad application prospects and development potential.
With the continuous maturity and promotion of technology, the "rope fishing" technology is expected to play a more important role in the global lithium industry in the future, leading the global lithium industry to a greener, more efficient and sustainable development path.
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