Schlumberger Technology Corporation

Florence Binet

Dominic Vincent Perroni

Gary W Sams

Rod W Shampine

Prasanna Nirgudkar

Sandeep Verma

Clare Schoene

Bao Mi

Yan Kuhn De Chizelle

Alexander Tanner Taylor

James Matthews

Nan Mu

Wenlin Zhang

Sharath Chandra Mahavadi

Bryan Suharik

Manbro Lee

Muktabh Anchlia

Arindam Bhattacharya

Masoud Aghajani

Described herein are methods of recovering lithium from dilute lithium sources. The methods include extracting lithium from an extraction feed using direct lithium extraction in an extraction stage to yield a lithium intermediate, performing one or more concentration operations, each concentration operation concentrating an input stream to yield an output feed, wherein the input stream is obtained from the lithium intermediate and/or the extraction feed is obtained from the output feed. At least one of the concentration operations includes a membrane separation operation having a plurality of reactors in series each having a semi-permeable membrane, such as a counter-flow reverse osmosis operation. Methods may also include generating a low TDS stream as a permeate from any of the one or more concentration operations, wherein the low TDS stream is recycled or used as fresh water.

Method of recovering lithium from a lithium source

Lithium recovery using aqueous sources

Described herein are methods of recovering lithium from dilute lithium sources. The methods include concentrating a dilute aqueous lithium source to yield an extraction feed having an extraction lithium concentration; extracting lithium from the extraction feed using direct lithium extraction in an extraction stage to yield a lithium intermediate; concentrating a stream obtained from the lithium intermediate in a concentration stage to yield a lithium concentrate; and converting lithium in the lithium concentrate to lithium hydroxide.

Methods of treating an aqueous source are described herein that include reducing a concentration of sulfide species in a stream obtained from the aqueous source to form an extraction feed and extracting ions from the extraction feed, or a stream obtained from the extraction feed, using direct aqueous extraction. Other methods describe treating an aqueous source by reducing a concentration of organic species in a stream derived from the aqueous source to form an extraction feed and extracting ions from the extraction feed, or a stream derived from the extraction feed, using direct aqueous extraction. The aqueous source can be an aqueous lithium source.

Hydrocarbon and sulfide removal in direct aqueous extraction

Lithium recovery processes are described using concentration and conversion techniques. A vaporizer or membrane can be used to concentrate lithium and precipitate impurities. A conversion process can be used to replace anions in lithium bearing streams by adding a second anion and precipitating lithium in a salt with the second anion. Rotary separation can be used to separate the precipitated lithium salt.

Lithium purification and conversion

A system can include one or more processors; memory; a data interface that receives data; a control interface that transmits control signals for control of pumps of a hydraulic fracturing operation; and one or more components that can include one or more of a modeling component that predicts pressure in a well fluidly coupled to at least one of the pumps, a pumping rate adjustment component that generates a pumping rate control signal for transmission via the control interface, a capacity component that estimates a real-time pumping capacity for each individual pump, and a control component that, for a target pumping rate for the pumps during the hydraulic fracturing operation, generates at least one of engine throttle and transmission gear settings for each of the individual pumps using an estimated real-time pumping capacity for each individual pump where the settings are transmissible via the control interface.

Fracturing operations pump fleet balance controller

Growing community of inventors

Sugar Land, TX, United States of America

Florence Binet