【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】The first domestic pilot-scale facility for lithium extraction from gas field water was successfully put into operation between 2019 and 2023
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Witnessing the decade-long rapid development of chemical processing equipment, I admire the prosperity and strength of modern China. Wishing everyone a happy New Year, and may their families enjoy peace and good health. I hope this contribution will inspire more people to participate; with your involvement, Haichuan becomes even better. Everyone is welcome to join in the discussions on this forum. ------------------------------------------------------------------On December 30, 2022, the first batch of lithium carbonate produced from gas field water was obtained from the Longwangmiao gas reservoir operated by Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company, marking the successful operation of China’s first pilot plant for extracting lithium from gas field water at a rate of 500 cubic meters per day. To ensure the successful completion and operation of this project, Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company took proactive measures and ensured strict implementation. In collaboration with CPECC Southwest Branch and East China University of Science and Technology, it formed a research team dedicated to the utilization of resources associated with gas field water. This team worked intensively on process design and technical solutions, overcoming various challenges such as high levels of impurity ions, high organic matter concentrations, low lithium content but high hardness, and high sulfur levels in the gas field water. As a result, a technical approach was developed that combined pre-treatment of gas field water with the use of efficient lithium ion adsorbents for lithium extraction. This approach enabled the development of a complete set of processes for pre-treatment and lithium extraction from gas field water, and a medium-scale experimental setup for the entire lithium extraction process was successfully created. This setup allowed for the green separation, enrichment, and extraction of lithium from gas field water, even in the presence of complex impurities and multiple elements.
The technical approach and process equipment employed in this project offer significant advantages such as high lithium adsorption capacity, environmental friendliness, and high efficiency and stability. It enables the extraction of lithium from gas field wastewater with high sulfur and salt content and low lithium content, representing the first large-scale application in China for the resource utilization of lithium extracted from gas field wastewater. Moving forward, Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company will take the commissioning of the pilot plant for lithium extraction from gas field water as a new starting point to accelerate the exploration of more stable and efficient operating methods for such plants. It will strive to create demonstration projects for improving recovery rates in gas fields with water-containing reservoirs, as well as for the comprehensive utilization of associated resources in gas fields.
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