Scaling A Combined Solution for Wastewater Treatment and CO₂ Conversion
Funded through round 3 of ERA’s Grand Challenge in 2020, this project aimed to demonstrate a novel system that turns salty wastewater from oil sands operations into clean water and useful chemicals. This project was a follow-on project focused on commercial deployment, and although it was ultimately cancelled, it still provided valuable insights that helped Mangrove Water Technologies pivot their technology approach to new industries.
The technology uses electricity and special membranes to create a chemical reaction to remove CO₂ from waste gases and turn it into useful chemicals like sodium carbonate and hydrochloric acid. The system works by running electricity through the salty water, separating out the different components using membranes. This creates clean water and the two chemicals, which can then be reused on-site. What makes this approach novel is its ability to create a closed-loop, on-site solution that reduces both water use and emissions. Unlike traditional systems that treat CO₂ and wastewater separately, this technology combines both processes. By producing water and chemicals directly at the site, the technology helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions in several ways. It avoids the need to truck salty wastewater to faraway disposal sites and eliminates the need to transport chemicals from distant factories. Additionally, it captures CO₂ and turns it into a solid form, helping lower emissions even more.
Pivoting Due to Market Demands
During the project, the front-end engineering design (FEED) study provided essential engineering input for Mangrove, with a successful cost estimate for detailed engineering. With the study came significant advancements in electrochemical cell design aimed at enhancing transport properties in the brine compartment to improve performance and minimize contamination in product streams. Additionally, durability tests on synthetic and field brines, including potential lithium brines, were conducted at both bench and pilot scales. The tests demonstrated promising durability, achieving a membrane lifetime target at the benchtop scale with over 5,000 hours of continuous operation. Following the positive results from initial tests with lithium chloride feedstocks, there was a strategic shift towards processing lithium feedstocks to align with the market demand in the battery space. While the project displayed substantial progress, ultimately, the funding relationship was terminated. Though the project is incomplete, the accomplishments achieved provided a solid foundation for future endeavours in the lithium space, aligning with global clean energy goals and market demands.
What’s next?
After the funding relationship was terminated in 2021, Mangrove Technology leveraged this work to shift its focus toward lithium refining to support the growing demand for electric vehicle batteries. The company is now applying its core electrochemical technology to recover and purify lithium from brines, using a similar waste-to-value approach that minimizes chemical use and water waste. This pivot aligns with global trends in clean energy and resource sustainability, and the company has attracted major investment to scale this new application.