| Title | Metal Recovery from Imperial Valley Hypersaline Brine |
|---|---|
| Authors | Byeseda John J.; Hunter, J. David |
| Year | 1985 |
| Conference | Geothermal Resources Council Transactions |
| Keywords | Brine Technology; USA; California; Imperial; Salton Sea; Fluids; Brine; Chemical Composition; Economics; Mineralization |
| Abstract | The Imperial Valley of California is rich in geothermal resources. A highly saline (hypersaline) brine containing 20-25 wt% dissolved solids lies under the area near the Salton Sea. This brine can be exploited for electric power production and for metal recovery. A short review of the technology used for electricity generation is presented. The criteria for evaluating target metals an process routes for by product recovery are reviewed. We show that solvent extraction technology can be used to recover zinc from this hypersaline brine resource. And we present experimental work on the development of a reagent formulation capable of selectively recovering 80-90% of the zinc from post flash brine. This represents a yearly market value of about 10 million dollars for the zinc removed from the effluent of a 50MW power plant. |