Everything being undertaken at EnergyX starts with our proprietary Lithium-Ion Transport and Separation or LiTAS™ technology. LiTAS™ uses a membrane with adjustable apertures that achieve incredible separation and transport of ions while only allowing certain elements – like lithium – to pass through.
When extracting lithium, the membrane is placed in a module housing. Brine is pumped through the system with several layers of membranes that conduct effective separation. No other technology has been able to do this at high salinities. While current membrane technology on the market falls short in one area or another, LiTAS™ is proving to be far more effective than any other technology currently available.
Previously, in order to obtain lithium for use from brine resources, it had to be extracted using ancient evaporation techniques followed by extensive technological process that involves special handling. Modern processes including reverse osmosis and nanofiltration won’t work for various reasons. Methods such as reverse osmosis can separate all ions out of water but are not selective. Nanofiltration can selectively separate ions, but cannot operate in high salinity environments (over 10% salinity) without dilution with freshwater. Other processes such as ion sorption and ion exchange cannot operate at high salinity, are batch processes versus a preferred continuous process, and require high amounts of freshwater and reagents with high power consumption.
Our Lithium Ion Transport and Separation (LiTAS™) technology is an innovative lithium extraction technology that reduces the amount of energy, cost, and time needed to extract lithium And stringing many of our EnergyX LiTAS™ modules together into a system will yield large outputs of lithium from lithium enriched brine to be used primarily in solid state lithium-ion batteries.
Sustainability remains at the forefront of our efforts. The result of this breakthrough technology is a radically smaller footprint in lithium production, coupled with little to no fresh water usage, significantly lower CO2 emissions, and zero harmful chemicals or reagents injected back into the ground. The benefits continue when the lithium is then incorporated into battery storage to advance the implementation of renewable energy.