The development of oil fields is currently focused on the extraction of hard-to-recover reserves. Technologies for the extraction of such raw materials are characterized by high capital costs, which require new ways to increase the profitability of projects. One of these areas is the associated extraction of metals from formation water of oil and gas fields.
Russia's need for alkaline earth metals in the face of sanctions requires a review of existing approaches to the development of oil fields and the search for new, not yet used resources. One of such valuable resources is lithium (Li). The development of technologies, an increase in demand, and the complete absence of production of this element in Russia make it the most in demand.
The article provides brief information about the prospects of lithium extraction, compounds and alloys of which are critically necessary for the technological development of many industries - the automotive industry, aircraft manufacturing, metallurgy, chemistry and others. Batteries of different capacities are most in demand on the domestic market. The main suppliers - Argentina and Chile supplying about 80 %, stopped their supplies to Russia. There is currently no production of this element in Russia, which is a promising niche for development, since there is a huge demand on the market. There are two ways of extracting lithium in the world – ore mining and extraction from salt water and brines.
The article describes a technique that has been successfully tested in laboratory with obtaining the actual result of lithium carbonate extraction from produced water. This issue is relevant, since the course towards import substitution, as well as the urgent need to replenish the missing supplies of lithium carbonate make the possibility of its production from associated waters at the fields of Surgutneftegas PJSC in Eastern Siberia the most in demand.
References
1. Ramazanov A.Sh., Ataev D.R., Kasparov M.A., Obtaining high quality lithium carbonate from natural lithium-containing brines (In Russ.), Izvestiya vuzov. Khimiya i khimicheskaya tekhnologiya, 2021, V. 64, no. 4, pp. 4-7, DOI: https://doi.org/10.6060/ivkkt.20216404.6238
2. Kotsupalo N.P., Ryabtsev A.D., Khimiya i tekhnologiya polucheniya soedineniy litiya iz litienosnogo gidromineral'nogo syr'ya (Chemistry and technology for obtaining lithium compounds from lithium-bearing hydromineral raw materials), Novosibirsk: Geo, 2008, 291 p.
3. Ryabtsev A.D., Kotsupalo N.P., Kurakov A.A. et al., Theoretical foundations of technology for the production of lithium carbonate by the ammonia method (In Russ.), Teoreticheskie osnovy khimichesuoy tekhnologii = Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering, 2019, V. 53, no. 5, pp. 595-600,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040357119040122
4. Kotsupalo N.P., Ryabtsev A.D., Boldyrev V.V., Lithium for 21st century technology (In Russ.), Nauka v Rossii, 2011, no. 5, pp. 28-31.
