Scientists at PNNL have noted that just 0.1 percent of seawater contains enough minerals to meet humanity's needs for the next 50,000 years.
Researchers in the US have begun developing seawater mining technologies after estimating that just 0.1 percent of seawater has enough critical minerals to supply humanity for the next 50,000 years.
Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory believe the world’s oceans contain one of the greatest untapped reserves of critical minerals. These include lithium, magnesium, manganese, cobalt and rare earth elements that are essential for electronics and clean energy. Now supported by the US Department of Energy’s Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office, the team is working on methods to extract these materials from seawater. The idea is anything but new.
During World War II, the US produced much of its magnesium from the sea before shifting to imported supplies in the 1990s.
“Just 0.1 percent of seawater contains enough critical minerals like magnesium and lithium, if we can fully extract them, to meet humanity’s needs for the next 50,000 years or more,” Jessica Cross, a chemical oceanographer at PNNL, noted.from seawater is their extremely low concentrations. While magnesium is relatively abundant, lithium and nickel are present in much smaller quantities. This means that engineers must process massive volumes of water to extract them.
For example, an Olympic-sized swimming pool with about 600,000 gallons of seawater, contains roughly 6,570 pounds of magnesium, but just 0.93 pounds of lithium and about 0.002 pounds of nickel.is that on average it has reasonably standard chemical composition all around the world,” Subban explained.
“That means that we can develop a technology for one location and rapidly scale it to be deployed in many different places. ”To address the challenge, the team developed a co-flow reactor that continuously brings seawater into contact with sodium hydroxide. Where the two liquids meet, high-purity magnesium hydroxide forms and can be collected. The process eliminates a few chemical processing stages and stops at magnesium hydroxide, a material widely used across US industries, and currently imported in large quantities.
As per the researchers, the modular system could be installed alongside existing desalination plants. An infrastructure analysis found that pairing the technology with California’s Carlsbadcould produce 1.16 million pounds of magnesium hydroxide each day in case of full recovery. It is more than three times the nation’s current daily use.
Meanwhile, the team is exploring ways to use every byproduct generated during mineral recovery. Following the magnesium extraction, concentrated brine could pass through bipolar membrane electrodialysis . The process produces both acid and base chemicals necessary for further processing. Instead of discarding the acid, the research team showed that it could outperform commercially available hydrochloric acid when extracting nickel from olivine.
The BPMED-derived acidThe remaining byproducts could also support marine cultivation.
“Some critical materials show up in seaweed at concentrations a million times higher than the surrounding seawater,” Scott Edmundson, MSc, a research botanist at PNNL’s Marine Research Laboratory in Sequim, concluded in a Earlier studies also showed that slightly acidic seawater from the BPMED process can accelerate algae growth, and allow future systems to simultaneously recover minerals while producing chemicals, fuels, fertilizers, and biomass. Although the technology still faces engineering and cost hurdles, the researchers are certain that the approach could create a domestic, more sustainable supply of critical minerals.
Based in Skopje, North Macedonia. Her work has appeared in Daily Mail, Mirror, Daily Star, Yahoo, NationalWorld, Newsweek, Press Gazette and others. She covers stories on batteries, wind energy, sustainable shipping and new discoveries. When she's not chasing the next big science story, she's traveling, exploring new cultures, or enjoying good food with even better wine.
Please follow us on Google to support usEnergy &Amp Environment Inventions And Machines Lithium Magnesium Nickel Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Rare Earth Elements Seawater Mining Sustainability USA
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Scientists catch bacteria sharing proteins to survive antibioticsBacteria send protein packages to dormant neighbors to endure antibiotic attack
Read more »
Scientists discover how Parkinson's may spread in brain—and way to slow itA Yale researcher told Newsweek one newly identified Parkinson's target is already being tested in trials.
Read more »
Scientists Find The First True Sugar Ever Detected in Interstellar SpaceThe latest discovery in the galactic center strengthens the Milky Way's resemblance to a mouth-watering treat.
Read more »
This Plant-Based Mosquito Repellent May Rival DEET, Scientists SayNew research suggests there’s an alternative for those who dislike DEET-based repellents.
Read more »