Extraction of materials from a liquid medium by advanced mineralization processing

Abstract

A low capital and environmentally friendly process of extracting materials from liquid media by adjusting the effective alkalinity in a quantity of the liquid medium to a preset value independent of the pH. Interactions of the anionic reactant species with components within the liquid medium causes a solid form of the material to precipitate out of the liquid medium. After the solid separation, the spent liquid exists the system and may be injected underground or transported to a storage unit.

1 . A method for extracting material from liquid media comprising:
 providing a liquid medium;   adjusting the effective alkalinity in the liquid medium to a preset value using at least one effective alkalinity adjustment step;   exchanging heat with the liquid medium to adjust liquid medium temperature to a preset value using at least one heat exchanger step; and   consequentially precipitating the material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , where the method further comprises:
 concentrating the precipitated material using at least one material concentration step; and   separating the precipitated material using at least one material separation step.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , where the method further comprises:
 providing steam;   condensing the steam to liquid;   harvesting heat from the condensing step;   adjusting the effective alkalinity of the condensed liquid to a preset value using at least one effective alkalinity adjustment step;   exchanging heat with the condensed liquid using at least one heat exchanger step;   and   the condensed liquid rejoins the primary liquid in the main process stream at a preset ratio.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , where the remaining liquid from the steam providing step replaces the primary liquid. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , where the effective alkalinity is the ratio of the alkalinity to the concentration of dissolved species. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , where the effective alkalinity is adjusted by modifying concentrations of species bearing carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorous, silicon, calcium, magnesium, oxygen, or a combination thereof in the liquid. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , where the effective alkalinity is adjusted by modifying concentrations of any species bearing at least one of the following: carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorous, silicon, calcium, magnesium, oxygen in the liquid by interacting with at least one of the following selected from group consisting of: air, Ar, He, H 2 , H 2 O, NO x , SO x , ammonia, chlorine, bromine, a halogen, biogas, ionized gas, isotopes of gaseous species, syngas. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , where the effective alkalinity is the ratio of the alkalinity to the concentration of gaseous species in the gaseous environment surrounding, surrounded by, or in contact with the liquid. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , where the effective alkalinity is further adjusted by controlling the concentration of gaseous species in the gaseous environment surrounding, surrounded by, or in contact with the liquid. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , where the preset effective alkalinity is in the range of 0.0001-260, 0.002-160, or 0.1-26. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , where the preset value of resulting liquid temperature at the heat exchanger step is in the range of 3-95° C., 10-80° C., 20-60° C., or 120-600° C. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , where the precipitate is a substance bearing at least one of the following: carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, sulfur, silicon, or magnesium; and at least one element selected from the group consisting of: alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, post-transition metals, metalloids, precious metals, actinides, or rare earth metals. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  where the precipitate contains at least one element selected from the group consisting of: alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, post-transition metals, metalloids, precious metals, actinides, or rare earth metals; and is a substance bearing any element selected from the group consisting of carbon, carbonates, nitrogen, nitrates, nitrides, oxygen, phosphorous, phosphates, phosphides, sulfer, sulfates, sulfites, silicon, silicates, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1  where the effective alkalinity and temperature are individually readjusted to different preset values at each repetition. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  where the effective alkalinity and temperature are individually adjusted to suppress undesired precipitation. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprises:
 at least one of the following: screening, aeration, agitation, or seeding, before, during, and after any one of the alkalinity adjustment steps.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , where part of or the entire method is conducted underground. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , where a plurality of materials are extracted. 
     
     
         19 . A method for extracting material from liquid media comprising:
 providing a liquid medium;   adjusting the effective alkalinity in the liquid medium to a preset value using at least one effective alkalinity adjustment step;   exchanging heat with the liquid medium to adjust liquid medium temperature to a preset value using at least one heat exchanger step;   generating steam from the liquid medium;   condensing the steam to liquid;   the condensed liquid joins the primary liquid in the main process stream at a preset ratio;   and   consequentially precipitating the material.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , where either or both of the preset value of the effective alkalinity in the liquid medium and the preset value of the liquid medium temperature at the heat exchanger step are individually readjusted at each repetition.