Recovery of Lithium from Oilfield Brines—Current Achievements and Future Perspectives: A Mini Review

Abstract

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the demand for lithium all over the world. Lithium is widely used primarily in the production of batteries for electric vehicles and portable electronic devices, and in many other industries such as production of aluminum, ceramics, glass, polymers, greases, and pharmaceuticals. In order to maintain the balance between supply and demand for lithium on the global market, it is essential to search for alternative sources of this element. Therefore, efforts are being made to obtain lithium from unconventional sources, an example of which is the recovery of lithium from oilfield brines. This article provides an up-to-date review of the literature in this particular field based on data from different sources (scientific literature databases, patent databases, company websites and industrial online newspapers). The current achievements and future perspectives for the lithium recovery from brines generated during oil and gas extraction were critically reviewed. An emphasis was placed on chemistry of lithium-contained oilfield brines, technologies (both pretreatment and direct lithium extraction) suitable for lithium recovery and industrial results obtained from pilot trials.