Lithium and related compounds are essential for producing lithium-ion batteries, which are critical to power the energy transition. Lithium extraction and processing can be resource intensive, and a nanofiltration (NF)-based lithium extraction facility along the Zabuye Salt Lake in Western China, needed a solution to lower the energy consumption of nanofiltration for lithium separation.
The facility is located at a high altitude in a remote region, far from the local municipal power source. Because of these constraints, a concentrating solar power (CSP) station was designed and built for the facility. Due to high capital cost and footprint of the renewable CSP, the plant required an energy-efficient project design to save energy in order to reduce the capital expenses of the new power supply.