BloomquistMon08.ppt
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The document summarizes two international conferences on mineral extraction from geothermal brines that were held in 2005 and 2006. The conferences aimed to discuss research, identify issues for commercializing mineral extraction, and facilitate collaboration. Extracting minerals like silica, lithium, manganese, and zinc could yield economic benefits by reducing operating costs, increasing power output, and providing saleable byproducts. The document outlines some uses and market values for these minerals to argue that mineral extraction from geothermal reservoirs deserves further attention and focus.
BloomquistMon08.ppt
- 1. Mineral Extraction: Results from International Conferences R. Gordon Bloomquist, Ph.D. Washington State University Energy Program, Retired Konstantin O. Povarov, Ph.D. Association Geothermal Energy Society, Russian Federation Geothermal Resources Council Reno, Nevada October 5-8, 2008
- 2. The first International Mineral Extraction from Geothermal Brines Conference and Road Mapping Session was convened in Petropavalovsk, Kamchatka, Russia in 2005.
- 3. Mutnovskaya Geothermal Power Plant 50 MW, Kamchatka
- 4. Sponsors included: • International Geothermal Association • Association of Geothermal Energy Society of Russia • World Bank / Global Environmental Facility • Kamchatka Scientific Center / Russian Academy of Science • United States Department of Energy
- 5. But why a conference and road mapping workshop devoted to mineral extraction?? 1. To discuss the state of mineral extraction research and development
- 6. 2. To determine issues critical to commercializing mineral extraction as an economically valuable component of the geothermal industry.
- 7. 3. To help coordinate the exchange of research results and provide an opportunity for researchers to compare recent research activities and results and hopefully find areas for collaboration. A pdf abstract can be found at www.gesa.ru/eng/seminars.asp.
- 8. Based on the success of the first Mineral Extraction Conference and Workshop, a second was convened at the University of Arizona in the fall of 2006. Sponsors included: • World Bank / Global Environmental Facility • International Geothermal Association • United States Department of Energy
- 9. The Russian Geothermal Society has now assembled all of the papers and they are now available on the web at www.geotherm.ru/pub/. Included are papers on: • Silica scaling and treatment • Extraction of minerals such as Lithium, Manganese, Zinc and Rare Earths • Economics, etc.
- 10. Based on the two Road Mapping workshops, the following issues were prioritized into the following six focus areas: 1. Silica 2. Technology Developments 3. Market 4. Technology Transfer 5. Financing 6. Environment
- 11. But why should you be interested in Mineral Extraction??
- 12. In order for enhance evaporative cooling to be employed a clean source of water is required. Mammoth Pacific operators are testing reverse osmosis as a way to remove silica so that the geothermal brine can be used for this cooling system.
- 13. Silica 1. Is the cause of operation and maintenance problems 2. Restricts energy extraction and thus lowers economic output per unit of fluid extracted
- 14. Silica (Continued) 3. Prevents the use of geothermal fluids for use in cooling binary plants 4. Interferes with the extraction of other economically valuable minerals
- 15. Studies by Brookhaven National Laboratory estimate that removal of silica would have an economic benefit equivalent to reducing the cost of power by approximately 1.1 cents per kWh. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY
- 16. Economic benefits are derived from the sale of silica produced coupled with a reduction in operation and maintenance costs.
- 17. The world-wide demand for silica is over 3 million kilograms of commercial grade silica per day. Powdered silica
- 18. Specific uses include: • Drying and anti-caking agents in human and animal food. • Abrasives in sandpaper and for use in silicon wafer-polishing. • Filler in plastics, paper, paint and rubber tires. • Fiber optics and catalyst manufacture. • Feed stock for making semiconductor silicon, fine chemicals, and chromatographic silica. Semiconductor chip
- 19. Silica prices vary from $1.00/kilogram for use in tires and pesticides, $2.00 - 4.00/kilogram for use in paints and to as high as $7.00/gram when used in high-pressure liquid chromatography. Prices increased up to 20% in July 2008.
- 20. Benefits calculated by Brookhaven do not include increased power produced per unit of fluid produced or the value of wet cooling for binary plants.
- 21. Other potential economic benefits come from the extraction and and sale of: • Lithium • Manganese • Zinc • Cesium • Rubidium • Rare Earths • Precious Metals
- 22. Lithium Used in batteries and increasingly in batteries for hybrid cars. $350 million-per-year market. Geothermal could meet the world demand. Lithium battery
- 23. Manganese Electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) is used in dry cell batteries. 50 MWe geothermal plant in Salton Sea field could generate $48 million dollars. The 2008 value of Manganese was $3,975 / ton. Dry cell batteries
- 24. Zinc First commercial plant was estimated to have potential for year revenue of $40 million. Zinc’s 2008* price was $78.65/kilogram. Special High Grade (SHG) Zinc was going for $1,646.50 per ton. * Prices as of October 2, 2008. Current pennies are 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc.
- 25. Cesium Some applications: • High-density competent in drilling mud • Television and night vision equipment • Solar cells • Removal of sulfur from crude oil • Medical and cancer applications • Specialty glass and fiber optics Solar cell
- 26. Cesium The market equals 25,000+ kilograms per year. The 2006 price for 99.98% Cesium was $52 per metric ton.
- 27. Rubidium A number of important applications: • Used in specialty glasses used in fiber optic telecommunication systems • Ultra centrifugal separation of nuclear acids and viruses • Night vision devices • Photoelectric cells • Cancer treatments • Atomic clocks Night vision goggles
- 28. Rubidium The market equals 1 to 2 metric tons per year. The 2006 price for 99.98% Rubidium was as high as $79.90 per gram when purchased in small lots.
- 29. Rare Earths These elements and metals are a collection of seventeen chemical elements: • Scandium • Yttrium • And the fifteen lanthanoids (atomic numbers 57 to 71).
- 30. Rare earth elements are incorporated into many modern technological devices, including: • Superconductors • Miniaturized magnets • Electronic polishers • Refining catalysts • Hybrid car components Superconductor
- 31. Rare earth ions are used as the active ions in luminescent materials used in optoelectronics applications, most notably the Nd:YAG laser. Phosphors with rare earth dopants are also widely used in cathode ray tube technology such as television sets. From Wikipedia Nd:YAG (Ytterium) laser
- 32. Precious metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium In today’s volatile economic market, these metals are seeing record prices:* • Gold: $831.90 / ounce • Silver: $10.79 / ounce • Platinum: $965.00 / ounce • Palladium: $193.00 / ounce * Prices as of October 2, 2008 Gold jewelry and silver dollar
- 33. Not only are these metals often available in significant quantities in geothermal brine, they provide a new and important source of such mineral produced through solution mining in an environmentally responsible manner.
- 34. Mineral extraction really does deserve renewed and focused attention, but only if you are interested in: • A reduction in operation and maintenance costs; • Increased power production per unit of fluid produced; …
- 35. • A source of economically salable by products; and • A greater opportunity for water cooling of binary plants.