Union Oil Company of California

Midamerican Energy Holdings Company

Southern Pacific Land Co.

Mono Power Company

Magma Power Company

The Dow Chemical Company

Ecolab USA Inc.

Iliad IP Company, LLC

Energysource Minerals LLC

Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company

Union Oil Co. of Calif.

John L Featherstone

Darrell L Gallup

Jessie P Reverente

Morton M Wong

Gregory A Gritters

Philip H Messer

George Furmanski

Charles R Marston

Allen W Doty

Daniel P Hoyer

Charles F Wong

Michael J Garska

Paul J Hanson

Walter E Nellis

David G Newell

Edward Zajac

Barkman C McCabe

D Stephen Pye

Carl E Flint

Gregory Jacobs

Hilton Duke

Henry Castanieto

Stefan T Spang

Steven J Butler

S Timothy Spang

This invention relates generally to a system and process for recovery of select minerals and lithium from a geothermal brine. The system and process are configured for the sequential recovery of zinc, manganese, and lithium from a Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area brine. The system and process includes: 1) an impurity removal circuit; then 2) a continuous counter-current ion exchange (CCIX) circuit for selectively recovering lithium chloride from the brine flow and concentrating it using a CCIX unit; and then 3) a lithium chloride conversion circuit for converting lithium chloride to lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide product.

Process for recovery of lithium from a geothermal brine

System and process for recovery of lithium from a geothermal brine

A method of reducing hydrogen sulfide content in a medium is disclosed. The method may include the steps of contacting a medium containing hydrogen sulfide with an effective amount of hydrogen peroxide, contacting the medium with an oxidizing agent, converting the hydrogen sulfide to sulfate, and reducing the hydrogen sulfide content in the medium. The medium may be a gas or a liquid.

Hydrogen sulfide abatement in geothermal facilities

This invention relates generally to processes for extracting iron and/or calcium from geothermal brines.

Process for depleting calcium and/or iron from geothermal brines

Method of removing iron and calcium from a geothermal brine

This invention relates generally to a process of producing electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD). More specifically, a method of producing EMD from geothermal brine solutions is provided. Methods for production of manganese dioxide from geothermal brines through an electrolytic process are also provided.

Process for producing electrolytic manganese dioxide

Process for producing electrolytic manganese dioxide from geothermal brines

Improved methods are disclosed for the efficient and cost-effective recovery of zinc metal from zinc-containing brines. Zinc is first bound to an anionic ion exchange resin (IX) which has been equilibrated with a solution containing a reducing agent, washed, and eluted with an elution solution. A reducing agent can be added to the brine prior to loading on the IX and can optionally be added to the IX after the washing step. The eluted zinc is extracted with a water-immiscible cationic organic solvent (SX), which is scrubbed, then stripped with concentrated acid. Substantially pure zinc is recovered by electrowinning the zinc-loaded concentrated acid solution.

Recovery of zinc from geothermal brines

Methods are disclosed for the regeneration of fouled ion exchange (IX) resins. In one embodiment, the fouled resin is treated simultaneously with reducing agent and acid. In a preferred embodiment, fouled resin is treated with reducing agent and then with acid. Use of reducing agent prior to the use of acid results in surprisingly unexpected improved cleaning as compared to simultaneous treatment with reducing agent and acid.

Method for cleaning fouled ion exchange resins

Additives are usually diluted before they are added to a geothermal brine processing stream. It has been found that one preferred diluent is the conditioned steam condensate produced after power generation in the geothermal plants. One class of additives beneficially diluted by the conditioned steam condensate are crystal structure modifiers. When it is diluted with the steam condensate, the heat-sensitive crystal structure modifier is prevented from being degraded by the heat of the brine so that when blended with the geothermal brine the crystal structure modifier can perform its function of inhibiting the precipitation of alkaline earth salts.

Use of steam to condensate to dilute brine stream additives

Geothermal brines are extracted from the earth, flashed and the remaining liquids are injected back into the earth. Although it would be advantageous for resource maintenance to inject the same amount of liquid as extracted, addition of liquid causes massive system upsets that prevent such addition. River or other similar surface waters can now be added to the brine stream created when extracting power from a geothermal source, after adding a crystal structure modifier to the brine stream. In operations where the brine stream is returned to the earth, the weight rate of the brine injected into the earth is brought to at least 90% what it was when extracted from the ground.

Use of added water to achieve 100% injection weight in geothermal

NORMs are inhibited or prevented from precipitating with scale produced by a hot aqueous solution by adding multiple portions of a crystal structure modifier to the aqueous solution as it cools before and during removal of silicon containing components by precipitation. Preferred crystal structure modifiers include polyacrylate crystal structure modifiers and phosphonomethylated amines.

Control of scale deposition in geothermal operations

Radioactivity and fluoride ion are inhibited or prevented from precipitating in scale formed from a geothermal brine by adding a scale inhibitor to the cooling brine solution. Preferred scale inhibitors include polyacrylate dispersants and phosphonomethylated amines.

Radioactivity and fluoride ion are inhibited or prevented from precipitating in scale formed from a geothermal brine by adding a dispersant to the cooling brine solution. Preferred dispersants include polyacrylates and polyphosphonic acids.

Geothermal brine is passed through a zone containing a packing metal so as to reduce its tendency to deposit iron/silica scale, reduce corrosivity of the brine, and/or remove and recover metals from the brine. The method polishes the geothermal brine by contacting the brine with a packing metal higher in the electromotive series than silver for a time sufficient for a precious metals to precipitate onto the packing at brine temperature and pH conditions which inhibit iron-rich silica scale. Most preferably, the contacting is accomplished near an injection well at the end of a heat extraction process and the packing comprises coiled zinc-galvanized steel chicken wire mesh packed in a sufficient density to also act as a filter for suspended particles. Alternatively, contacting is also accomplished near the production well. Dissolving the packing in a suitable acid leaves a precious metal-rich residue behind for subsequent recovery. When the brine is treated in accordance with this method, the useful life of injection wells used to return cooled brine back to the geothermal field is extended by at least about 3 time as compared to that observed with untreated brine. Further the contacted brine is less corrosive than it was before contacting.

Brine treatment

Growing community of inventors

El Centro, CA, United States of America

John L Featherstone