Density Manipulation to Achieve a Gravity Stable Fluid Interface During the Recovery of Subsurface Brines

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/663,777, filed Jun. 25, 2024 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Subsurface reservoirs have reservoir zones that contain a mineral brine with a desired mineral in said mineral brine. Direct Mineral Extraction (DME) may be used to extract minerals from these reservoir zones. These systems generally consist of an extraction well and a processing facility. The extraction well extracts the brine from the reservoir zone and the processing facility extracts the mineral from the brine. The mineral may then be refined and sent off to be used in a variety of commercial applications.

While operating a DME system, it is important to manage the subsurface reservoir to maximize the production of the desired mineral from the extracted brine.

Conventionally, the process for mineral mining comprises using evaporation pools. In this process, a mineral brine is extracted from a subsurface reservoir and the mineral brine is deposited in surface pools. Those surface pools permit the water components of the brine to evaporate leaving only the salts in the now dry pools. The salts may then be manually removed from the pools and transported for cleaning and refinement

Another method for mineral extraction, Direct Mineral Extraction (DME), is explained more thoroughly and improved upon within this application. DME involves using a well to extract a mineral brine from a subsurface reservoir made up of one or more reservoir zones. The mineral brine is then processed at a processing facility using at least sorption. The output of the process is a liquid highly concentrated with the desired mineral. This output is sent off to be further processed to extract the desired mineral.

A byproduct of the operation is the portion of the brine which has now been depleted of the desired minerals. This portion may not be completely depleted of the desired mineral. There are varied processes for disposing of this mineral-diluted brine. Presently, this mineral-diluted brine is pumped down into a reservoir zone that may be the same or different from the producing reservoir zone. However, this may lead to undesirable extraction of the mineral-diluted brine, thus reducing the mineral output.

Therefore, there is a need for management of reservoir zones and production in mineral extraction processes.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for extracting minerals from a subsurface mineral reservoir.

A method for extracting minerals from a reservoir zone including extracting a mineral brine from a subsurface reservoir zone, the mineral brine including minerals, extracting the minerals from the mineral brine and producing diluted effluent, increasing the density of the diluted effluent, and injecting the diluted effluent into the reservoir zone.

A system for extracting a mineral from a reservoir zone, comprising a direct mineral extraction (DME) plant and a diluted effluent manipulation plant. The DME plant is configured to extract a mineral from a mineral brine and output a diluted effluent. The diluted effluent manipulation plant is fluidly coupled to the DME plant, wherein the diluted effluent manipulation plant is configured to output a manipulated diluted effluent by mixing the diluted effluent and an additive.

A method for extracting a mineral from a subsurface reservoir zone, comprising: processing a mineral brine, wherein processing comprises extracting the mineral using sorption and producing a diluted effluent, wherein the diluted effluent comprises the mineral brine with less of the mineral; and manipulating a physical property of the diluted effluent, wherein manipulating the physical property of the diluted effluent comprises creating a manipulated diluted effluent by mixing an additive with the diluted effluent to increase a density of the diluted effluent.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for extracting minerals from a subsurface mineral reservoir.

illustrates a subsurface mineral reservoir zone. These reservoir zonescontain mineral brinesand are below a surface. The mineral brinescontain, among other things, mineral product. The mineral productmay be lithium, magnesium, boron, bromine, manganese, vanadium or any other soluble minerals that may be desirable to extract from the reservoir zones. These mineral productsare extracted through different processes.

In some cases, the minerals are extracted utilizing evaporation ponds (such as evaporation pondshown in).illustrates a process utilizing evaporation ponds. A simplified version of the process is as follows: extraction wellsextract the mineral brinefrom reservoir zones, the brinemay be processed at a plant, and then the brineis allowed to evaporate in the evaporation pondsleaving the mineralsat the base of the ponds. The mineralsmay then be sent off for further processing.

However, the subject of the present invention is directed to another extraction process, an improved Direct Mineral Extraction (DME).

illustrates the DME process. At a high level, the DME processcomprises using an extraction wellfor extracting mineral brinefrom the reservoir zone. The mineral brineis pumped to the surfacewhere it is then pumped through a DME plantwhich extracts the mineral productvia one or more processes, including sorption.

Within the DME plant, there is a sorption unit with a sorption medium that selectively adsorbs the desired mineral productthereby isolating it from the remainder of the mineral brine, which becomes diluted effluent. The adsorbed mineraladsorbed in the sorption medium is recovered using a clean stream that is loaded with the minerals to form an cluent. The eluent may also be further processed at additional stages including processes that increase concentration and/or remove impurities. A description of an example sorption process may be seen in U.S. Publication No. US 2022/0055910 A1 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

Thus the DME planteffectively produces two products: the desirable mineral product, which is sent off for further processing and commercialization, and the diluted effluent, which is more of a byproduct, and is to be returned below surfaceto the one or more reservoir zonesby one or more injection wells.

Diluted effluentis the mineral brinewith a portion of the desirable mineral productremoved. The physical properties of the diluted effluentand the mineral brineare nearly indistinguishable other than the reduced amount of mineral product. Even so, the mineral brinemay comprise a mixture of 80-450 ppm of the mineral productand the sorption process may be 50%-100% efficient. Thus, even the diluted effluentstill comprises some mineral product, sometimes in the range of 0%-50%. While still containing mineral product, the diluted effluentmay not be commercially feasible to cycle through the DME processdue to the cost to run the DME processand the reduced amount of extractable mineral product.

In the DME process, there exists a possibility that diluted effluentmay “breakthrough” wherein the diluted effluentis extracted through the extraction wellin addition to or rather than the mineral brine. This may cause the DME processto no longer be commercially feasible, cost effective, or even possible because the DME processwill be attempting to extract mineral productfrom already spent diluted effluent. This may be because the mineral productextracted from the diluted effluentmay not be worth the cost or operation of the DME process. Breakthrough can occur through modes such as coning, cusping, and underrunning. It is difficult to track when breakthrough occurs because the mineral brineis nearly indistinguishable from the diluted effluentother than the reduced amount of desirable mineral product, and said desirable mineral content is commonly measured in parts per million (PPM).

illustrates coning,illustrates cusping, andillustrates underrunning. Turning to, coning occurs when the diluted effluentis drawn past the mineral brinefrom deeper in the reservoir zoneand into perforationsof the extraction well. Turning to, cusping occurs when the diluted effluentis drawn past the mineral brinefrom a side of the reservoir zoneand into the extraction well. Finally, turning to, underrunning occurs when the diluted effluentis drawn up an inclined bottom surface of the reservoir zoneand past the mineral brineand into the perforationsof the extraction well. Turning to, still another mode of breakthrough is induced breakthrough due to the pressure difference between the exit of the injection welland the entrance of the extraction well. This pressure difference may cause the diluted effluentto form a bridge or tunnel through the mineral brine.

Turning back to, no matter the mode of breakthrough, breakthrough causes the DME processto cycle diluted effluentrather than mineral brinereducing production and increasing uncertainty of production of the reservoir zoneand the DME process.

illustrates an improved DME processand system for extracting mineral product.

The improved DME processbegins by drilling one or more extraction wellsand one or more injection wellsinto a reservoir zonecomprising mineral brinewith desirable mineral productsuspended therein.

The extraction wellis supplied with a pump, such as an electric submersible pump (ESP), for pumping the mineral brineup the extraction wellto the surface. The pumppumps the mineral brinefrom the reservoir zonethrough perforationsof the extraction welland up to the surfacewhere the desirable mineral productis to be extracted from the mineral brine.

Before the mineral productis extracted from the mineral brineat the DME plant, the mineral brinemay be pretreated at a pretreatment facility. Pretreatment might involve concentrating the mineral brine, removing impurities in the mineral brine, filtering the mineral brine, or processing the mineral brinein another way to make the sorption process quicker, more efficient, or both. The pretreated mineral brineis then pumped to the DME plant.

At the DME plant, the pre-treated mineral brineis separated into mineral productand diluted effluent.

From the DME plant, the diluted effluentis pumped to the diluted effluent manipulation plant. The diluted effluent manipulation plantmanipulates the diluted effluentto change its physical properties, for instance increasing its density. In the presently illustrated embodiment, this is done by mixing the diluted effluentwith additives.

illustrates an example of a diluted effluent manipulation plant. The presently illustrated diluted effluent manipulation plantreceives the diluted effluentfrom the DME plantand additivesfrom an additive supply. The diluted effluentand additivesare then mixed. For example, they may be mixed in a blender type mixer with a paddle, a shear type mixer, and/or a convective type mixer. In some embodiments, the additivesare high molecular weight water soluble compounds. Some examples of high molecular weight water soluble compounds include sodium-chloride (NaCl) and calcium chloride (CaCl2). In some embodiments, the temperature of the mixture is controlled to maximize the amount of additivedissolved or mixed into the diluted effluent. Thus, the output of the diluted effluent manipulation plantis a manipulated diluted effluent, which for instance, may have an increased density. In embodiments where the density of the diluted effluentis increased, it may be increased to a density higher than the density of the mineral brine.

Turning back to, the manipulated diluted effluentleaves the diluted effluent manipulation plantand enters a pumpfor injection into the injection well. In the present embodiment, the pumpis on the surfaceafter the diluted effluent manipulation plantand before the entrance to the injection well, however it should be understood that the diluted effluentmay be manipulated after being pumped by the pumpbut before entering the injection well.

The pumppumps the manipulated diluted effluentthrough the injection welland down into the reservoir zone. In some embodiments, there may be more than one injection welland reservoir zone. In such embodiments, the manipulated diluted effluentis distributed amongst the multiple injection wellsand reservoir zones. In some embodiments, the injection wellexit is at the furthest point from the inlet of the extraction wellwhile still being in the reservoir zone. In some embodiments, the outlet of the injection wellis at substantially the same depth as the inlet of the extraction welland, in others, the outlet of the injection wellis deeper than the inlet of the extraction well.

Because the manipulated diluted effluententering the reservoir zonehas changed physical properties, mixing is delayed between the manipulated diluted effluentand the mineral brineyet to be extracted from the reservoir zone. The changed physical properties of the manipulated diluted effluentcreates a mixing boundarybetween the manipulated diluted effluentand the mineral brine. In embodiments where the density is increased by the diluted effluent manipulation plant, the manipulated diluted effluentmay rest at the bottom of the reservoir zone. Thus, the mixing boundaryis created above the manipulated diluted effluentand below the mineral brine. As more manipulated diluted effluentis injected into the reservoir zone, the mixing boundarymoves, pushing the mineral brinehigher in the reservoir zoneand towards the extraction well. In embodiments where the manipulated diluted effluentsits below the mineral brinein the reservoir zoneand the inlet of the extraction wellis higher in the reservoir zonethan the outlet of the injection well, the manipulated diluted effluentand the mixing boundaryact as a piston to push the mineral brineupward towards the inlet of the extraction well. In embodiments where the outlet of the injection welland the inlet of the extraction wellare at opposite ends of the reservoir zone, the mixing boundarymay exist between those ends of the reservoir zoneand may push the mineral brinetowards the inlet of the extraction wellfrom the side of the reservoir zonewith the injection well.

The lack of mixing of the manipulated diluted effluentand the mineral brineenables the improved DME processto minimize the extraction of a mixture of the mineral brineand the manipulated diluted effluentand/or extraction of solely manipulated diluted effluentbefore the reservoir zoneis depleted of mineral brinepast feasibility of the DME process. Thus, the mineral brineis not diluted by the manipulated diluted effluent. Therefore, the mineral brinewill have a higher concentration of mineral productwhen it enters the extraction welland is cycled through the improved DME process, allowing for more mineral productto be extracted per cycle of the process improved DME process.

The improved DME processis more efficient because the improved DME processis delayed from processing the manipulated diluted effluentand the highly concentrated mineral brineis processed first. This causes the extraction process to extract more mineral productin a shorter time span and before the improved DME processbecomes commercially unfeasible due to a reduced mineral productper amount of work input.

Another benefit of the improved DME processis that it is easier to keep track of how much of the mineral brinewithin the reservoir zonehas been processed by the improved DME process. In some DME processes, it is difficult to keep track of how much remaining extractable mineral productremains in the reservoir zoneand when the process should be halted. The difficulty is due to the fact that the mineral productoutput of the process may fluctuate based on whether the extraction wellis extracting mineral brine, diluted effluent, or a mixture of both. In the improved DME process, once mineral productoutput has reached a flat line indicative of an exhausted reservoir zonecontaining only manipulated diluted effluent, there is no guesswork as to whether there is more extractable mineral product.

illustrates a methodfor extracting mineral productusing the improved DME process.

Upon discovery of a mineral brine (such as mineral brineof) containing reservoir zone (such as reservoir zoneof), at least two wells are drilled into the reservoir zone. At least one of the wells is an extraction well (such as extraction wellof) and at least one of the wells is an injection well (such as injection wellof). The extraction well is then fitted with a pump (such as pumpof) in the reservoir zone. Above surface, a pretreatment facility (such as pretreatment facilityof), a DME plant (such as DME plantof), a diluted effluent manipulation plant (such as diluted effluent manipulation plantof), and a pump (such as pumpof) are set up.

At stepof the method, the mineral brine is pumped into perforations (such as perforationsof) of the extraction well by the pump. From the extraction well, the mineral brine is pumped to the pretreatment facility. At the pretreatment facility, the mineral brine is pretreated. Pretreatment includes, but is not limited to, removing impurities, concentrating the mineral brine, and filtering the mineral brine. From the pretreatment facility, the pretreated mineral brine (such as pretreated mineral brineof) is pumped to the DME plant.

At stepof the method, the DME plant extracts a mineral product (such as mineral productof) from the pretreated mineral brine through the sorption process. The mineral product is sent off for further processing and commercialization. The DME plant also produces diluted effluent (such as diluted effluentof) consisting of the pretreated mineral brine minus the extracted mineral product. The diluted effluent is then pumped to the diluted effluent manipulation plant.

At stepof the method, the diluted effluent manipulation plant receives the diluted effluent and additives (such as additivesof) and mixes the diluted effluent and the additives. The mixing of the diluted effluent and additives manipulates the physical properties of the diluted effluent. In some embodiments, manipulating the properties of the diluted effluent increases the density of the diluted effluent. Therefore, the diluted effluent manipulation plant produces manipulated diluted effluent (such as manipulated diluted effluentof). The manipulated diluted effluent is then moved to the pump to be pumped into the injection well.

At stepof the method, the manipulated diluted effluent is through the injection well into the reservoir zone.

In the reservoir zone, the manipulated diluted effluent and the unprocessed mineral brine are prevented from mixing due to their difference in physical properties. These differences in physical properties create a mixing boundary (such as mixing boundaryof). The mixing boundary prevents dilution of the mineral brine with the manipulated diluted effluent. The mixing boundary also may act to push the mineral brine towards the inlet of the extraction well while keeping the manipulated diluted effluent away from the inlet of the extraction well. Thus, the mixing boundary and altered physical properties of the manipulated diluted effluent act to prevent breakthrough of the manipulated diluted effluent.

The methodmay be repeated until the reservoir zone is depleted of its mineral brine and mineral product to a point where the methodis no longer commercially feasible, cost effective, or efficient.

It is contemplated that any one or more elements or features of any one disclosed embodiment or example may be beneficially incorporated in any one or more other non-mutually exclusive embodiments or examples. While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the preceding embodiments are exemplary and not limiting. It is intended that all modifications, permutations, enhancements, equivalents, and improvements thereto that are apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings are included within the scope of the disclosure. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims may include all such modifications, permutations, enhancements, equivalents, and improvements. The present disclosure also contemplates that one or more aspects of the embodiments described herein may be substituted in for one or more of the other aspects described. The scope of the disclosure is determined by the claims that follow.

The following claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. Within a claim, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for”. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.