DENSITY MANIPULATION TO ACHIEVE A GRAVITY STABLE FLUID INTERFACE DURING THE RECOVERY OF SUBSURFACE BRINES

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/663,777, filed Jun. 25, 2024 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Field

Subsurface reservoirs have reservoir zones that contain a mineral brine with a desired mineral in said mineral brine. Direct Mineral Extraction (DME) may be used to extract minerals from these reservoir zones. These systems generally consist of an extraction well and a processing facility. The extraction well extracts the brine from the reservoir zone and the processing facility extracts the mineral from the brine. The mineral may then be refined and sent off to be used in a variety of commercial applications.

While operating a DME system, it is important to manage the subsurface reservoir to maximize the production of the desired mineral from the extracted brine.

Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, the process for mineral mining comprises using evaporation pools. In this process, a mineral brine is extracted from a subsurface reservoir and the mineral brine is deposited in surface pools. Those surface pools permit the water components of the brine to evaporate leaving only the salts in the now dry pools. The salts may then be manually removed from the pools and transported for cleaning and refinement

Another method for mineral extraction, Direct Mineral Extraction (DME), is explained more thoroughly and improved upon within this application. DME involves using a well to extract a mineral brine from a subsurface reservoir made up of one or more reservoir zones. The mineral brine is then processed at a processing facility using at least sorption. The output of the process is a liquid highly concentrated with the desired mineral. This output is sent off to be further processed to extract the desired mineral.

A byproduct of the operation is the portion of the brine which has now been depleted of the desired minerals. This portion may not be completely depleted of the desired mineral. There are varied processes for disposing of this mineral-diluted brine. Presently, this mineral-diluted brine is pumped down into a reservoir zone that may be the same or different from the producing reservoir zone. However, this may lead to undesirable extraction of the mineral-diluted brine, thus reducing the mineral output.

Therefore, there is a need for management of reservoir zones and production in mineral extraction processes.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for extracting minerals from a subsurface mineral reservoir.

A method for extracting minerals from a reservoir zone including extracting a mineral brine from a subsurface reservoir zone, the mineral brine including minerals, extracting the minerals from the mineral brine and producing diluted effluent, increasing the density of the diluted effluent, and injecting the diluted effluent into the reservoir zone.

A system for extracting a mineral from a reservoir zone, comprising a direct mineral extraction (DME) plant and a diluted effluent manipulation plant. The DME plant is configured to extract a mineral from a mineral brine and output a diluted effluent. The diluted effluent manipulation plant is fluidly coupled to the DME plant, wherein the diluted effluent manipulation plant is configured to output a manipulated diluted effluent by mixing the diluted effluent and an additive.

A method for extracting a mineral from a subsurface reservoir zone, comprising: processing a mineral brine, wherein processing comprises extracting the mineral using sorption and producing a diluted effluent, wherein the diluted effluent comprises the mineral brine with less of the mineral; and manipulating a physical property of the diluted effluent, wherein manipulating the physical property of the diluted effluent comprises creating a manipulated diluted effluent by mixing an additive with the diluted effluent to increase a density of the diluted effluent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The appended figures illustrate only exemplary embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the scope of the disclosure, as the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a reservoir zone containing mineral brine, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a mineral extraction process utilizing evaporation ponds, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a Direct Mineral Extraction (DME) process, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A illustrates coning within a reservoir zone, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4B illustrates cusping within a reservoir zone, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4C illustrates underrunning within a reservoir zone, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an improved DME process, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates the diluted effluent manipulation plant of FIG. 5, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method for extracting minerals using the improved DME process, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for extracting minerals from a subsurface mineral reservoir.

FIG. 1 illustrates a subsurface mineral reservoir zone 101. These reservoir zones 101 contain mineral brines 102 and are below a surface 104. The mineral brines 102 contain, among other things, mineral product 103. The mineral product 103 may be lithium, magnesium, boron, bromine, manganese, vanadium or any other soluble minerals that may be desirable to extract from the reservoir zones 101. These mineral products 103 are extracted through different processes.

In some cases, the minerals are extracted utilizing evaporation ponds (such as evaporation pond 205 shown in FIG. 2). FIG. 2 illustrates a process utilizing evaporation ponds 205. A simplified version of the process is as follows: extraction wells 206 extract the mineral brine 102 from reservoir zones 101, the brine 102 may be processed at a plant 207, and then the brine 102 is allowed to evaporate in the evaporation ponds 205 leaving the minerals 103 at the base of the ponds 205. The minerals 103 may then be sent off for further processing.

However, the subject of the present invention is directed to another extraction process, an improved Direct Mineral Extraction (DME).

FIG. 3 illustrates the DME process 300. At a high level, the DME process 300 comprises using an extraction well 305 for extracting mineral brine 102 from the reservoir zone 101. The mineral brine 102 is pumped to the surface 104 where it is then pumped through a DME plant 308 which extracts the mineral product 103 via one or more processes, including sorption.

Within the DME plant 308, there is a sorption unit with a sorption medium that selectively adsorbs the desired mineral product 103 thereby isolating it from the remainder of the mineral brine 102, which becomes diluted effluent 309. The adsorbed mineral 103 adsorbed in the sorption medium is recovered using a clean stream that is loaded with the minerals to form an cluent. The eluent may also be further processed at additional stages including processes that increase concentration and/or remove impurities. A description of an example sorption process may be seen in U.S. Publication No. US 2022/0055910 A1 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

Thus the DME plant 308 effectively produces two products: the desirable mineral product 103, which is sent off for further processing and commercialization, and the diluted effluent 309, which is more of a byproduct, and is to be returned below surface 104 to the one or more reservoir zones 101 by one or more injection wells 310.

Diluted effluent 309 is the mineral brine 102 with a portion of the desirable mineral product 103 removed. The physical properties of the diluted effluent 309 and the mineral brine 102 are nearly indistinguishable other than the reduced amount of mineral product 103. Even so, the mineral brine 102 may comprise a mixture of 80-450 ppm of the mineral product 103 and the sorption process may be 50%-100% efficient. Thus, even the diluted effluent 309 still comprises some mineral product 103, sometimes in the range of 0%-50%. While still containing mineral product 103, the diluted effluent 309 may not be commercially feasible to cycle through the DME process 300 due to the cost to run the DME process 300 and the reduced amount of extractable mineral product 103.

In the DME process 300, there exists a possibility that diluted effluent 309 may “breakthrough” wherein the diluted effluent 309 is extracted through the extraction well 305 in addition to or rather than the mineral brine 102. This may cause the DME process 300 to no longer be commercially feasible, cost effective, or even possible because the DME process 300 will be attempting to extract mineral product 103 from already spent diluted effluent 309. This may be because the mineral product 103 extracted from the diluted effluent 309 may not be worth the cost or operation of the DME process 300. Breakthrough can occur through modes such as coning, cusping, and underrunning. It is difficult to track when breakthrough occurs because the mineral brine 102 is nearly indistinguishable from the diluted effluent 309 other than the reduced amount of desirable mineral product 103, and said desirable mineral content is commonly measured in parts per million (PPM).

FIG. 4A illustrates coning, FIG. 4B illustrates cusping, and FIG. 4C illustrates underrunning. Turning to FIG. 4A, coning occurs when the diluted effluent 309 is drawn past the mineral brine 102 from deeper in the reservoir zone 101 and into perforations 312 of the extraction well 305. Turning to FIG. 4B, cusping occurs when the diluted effluent 309 is drawn past the mineral brine 102 from a side of the reservoir zone 101 and into the extraction well 305. Finally, turning to FIG. 4C, underrunning occurs when the diluted effluent 309 is drawn up an inclined bottom surface of the reservoir zone 101 and past the mineral brine 102 and into the perforations 312 of the extraction well 305. Turning to FIG. 4D, still another mode of breakthrough is induced breakthrough due to the pressure difference between the exit of the injection well 310 and the entrance of the extraction well 305. This pressure difference may cause the diluted effluent 309 to form a bridge or tunnel through the mineral brine 102.

Turning back to FIG. 3, no matter the mode of breakthrough, breakthrough causes the DME process 300 to cycle diluted effluent 309 rather than mineral brine 102 reducing production and increasing uncertainty of production of the reservoir zone 101 and the DME process 300.

FIG. 5 illustrates an improved DME process 400 and system for extracting mineral product 103.

The improved DME process 400 begins by drilling one or more extraction wells 305 and one or more injection wells 310 into a reservoir zone 101 comprising mineral brine 102 with desirable mineral product 103 suspended therein.

The extraction well 305 is supplied with a pump 413, such as an electric submersible pump (ESP) 413, for pumping the mineral brine 102 up the extraction well 305 to the surface 104. The pump 413 pumps the mineral brine 102 from the reservoir zone 101 through perforations 312 of the extraction well 305 and up to the surface 104 where the desirable mineral product 103 is to be extracted from the mineral brine 102.

Before the mineral product 103 is extracted from the mineral brine 102 at the DME plant 308, the mineral brine 102 may be pretreated at a pretreatment facility 414. Pretreatment might involve concentrating the mineral brine 102, removing impurities in the mineral brine 102, filtering the mineral brine 102, or processing the mineral brine 102 in another way to make the sorption process quicker, more efficient, or both. The pretreated mineral brine 415 is then pumped to the DME plant 308.

At the DME plant 308, the pre-treated mineral brine 415 is separated into mineral product 103 and diluted effluent 309.

From the DME plant 308, the diluted effluent 309 is pumped to the diluted effluent manipulation plant 416. The diluted effluent manipulation plant 416 manipulates the diluted effluent 309 to change its physical properties, for instance increasing its density. In the presently illustrated embodiment, this is done by mixing the diluted effluent 309 with additives 417.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a diluted effluent manipulation plant 416. The presently illustrated diluted effluent manipulation plant 416 receives the diluted effluent 309 from the DME plant 308 and additives 417 from an additive supply. The diluted effluent 309 and additives 417 are then mixed. For example, they may be mixed in a blender type mixer with a paddle, a shear type mixer, and/or a convective type mixer. In some embodiments, the additives 417 are high molecular weight water soluble compounds. Some examples of high molecular weight water soluble compounds include sodium-chloride (NaCl) and calcium chloride (CaCl2). In some embodiments, the temperature of the mixture is controlled to maximize the amount of additive 417 dissolved or mixed into the diluted effluent 309. Thus, the output of the diluted effluent manipulation plant 416 is a manipulated diluted effluent 418, which for instance, may have an increased density. In embodiments where the density of the diluted effluent 309 is increased, it may be increased to a density higher than the density of the mineral brine 102.

Turning back to FIG. 5, the manipulated diluted effluent 418 leaves the diluted effluent manipulation plant 416 and enters a pump 419 for injection into the injection well 310. In the present embodiment, the pump 419 is on the surface 104 after the diluted effluent manipulation plant 416 and before the entrance to the injection well 310, however it should be understood that the diluted effluent 309 may be manipulated after being pumped by the pump 419 but before entering the injection well 310.

The pump 419 pumps the manipulated diluted effluent 418 through the injection well 310 and down into the reservoir zone 101. In some embodiments, there may be more than one injection well 310 and reservoir zone 101. In such embodiments, the manipulated diluted effluent 418 is distributed amongst the multiple injection wells 310 and reservoir zones 101. In some embodiments, the injection well 310 exit is at the furthest point from the inlet of the extraction well 305 while still being in the reservoir zone 101. In some embodiments, the outlet of the injection well 310 is at substantially the same depth as the inlet of the extraction well 305 and, in others, the outlet of the injection well 310 is deeper than the inlet of the extraction well 305.

Because the manipulated diluted effluent 418 entering the reservoir zone 101 has changed physical properties, mixing is delayed between the manipulated diluted effluent 418 and the mineral brine 102 yet to be extracted from the reservoir zone 101. The changed physical properties of the manipulated diluted effluent 418 creates a mixing boundary 420 between the manipulated diluted effluent 418 and the mineral brine 102. In embodiments where the density is increased by the diluted effluent manipulation plant 416, the manipulated diluted effluent 418 may rest at the bottom of the reservoir zone 101. Thus, the mixing boundary 420 is created above the manipulated diluted effluent 418 and below the mineral brine 102. As more manipulated diluted effluent 418 is injected into the reservoir zone 101, the mixing boundary 420 moves, pushing the mineral brine 102 higher in the reservoir zone 101 and towards the extraction well 305. In embodiments where the manipulated diluted effluent 418 sits below the mineral brine 102 in the reservoir zone 101 and the inlet of the extraction well 305 is higher in the reservoir zone 101 than the outlet of the injection well 310, the manipulated diluted effluent 418 and the mixing boundary 420 act as a piston to push the mineral brine 102 upward towards the inlet of the extraction well 305. In embodiments where the outlet of the injection well 310 and the inlet of the extraction well 305 are at opposite ends of the reservoir zone 101, the mixing boundary 420 may exist between those ends of the reservoir zone 101 and may push the mineral brine 102 towards the inlet of the extraction well 305 from the side of the reservoir zone 101 with the injection well 310.

The lack of mixing of the manipulated diluted effluent 418 and the mineral brine 102 enables the improved DME process 400 to minimize the extraction of a mixture of the mineral brine 102 and the manipulated diluted effluent 418 and/or extraction of solely manipulated diluted effluent 418 before the reservoir zone 101 is depleted of mineral brine 102 past feasibility of the DME process 400. Thus, the mineral brine 102 is not diluted by the manipulated diluted effluent 418. Therefore, the mineral brine 102 will have a higher concentration of mineral product 103 when it enters the extraction well 305 and is cycled through the improved DME process 400, allowing for more mineral product 103 to be extracted per cycle of the process improved DME process 400.

The improved DME process 400 is more efficient because the improved DME process 400 is delayed from processing the manipulated diluted effluent 418 and the highly concentrated mineral brine 102 is processed first. This causes the extraction process to extract more mineral product 103 in a shorter time span and before the improved DME process 400 becomes commercially unfeasible due to a reduced mineral product 103 per amount of work input.

Another benefit of the improved DME process 400 is that it is easier to keep track of how much of the mineral brine 102 within the reservoir zone 101 has been processed by the improved DME process 400. In some DME processes, it is difficult to keep track of how much remaining extractable mineral product 103 remains in the reservoir zone 101 and when the process should be halted. The difficulty is due to the fact that the mineral product 103 output of the process may fluctuate based on whether the extraction well 305 is extracting mineral brine 102, diluted effluent 309, or a mixture of both. In the improved DME process 400, once mineral product 103 output has reached a flat line indicative of an exhausted reservoir zone 101 containing only manipulated diluted effluent 418, there is no guesswork as to whether there is more extractable mineral product 103.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method 1000 for extracting mineral product 103 using the improved DME process 400.

Upon discovery of a mineral brine (such as mineral brine 102 of FIG. 5) containing reservoir zone (such as reservoir zone 101 of FIG. 5), at least two wells are drilled into the reservoir zone. At least one of the wells is an extraction well (such as extraction well 305 of FIG. 5) and at least one of the wells is an injection well (such as injection well 310 of FIG. 5). The extraction well is then fitted with a pump (such as pump 413 of FIG. 5) in the reservoir zone. Above surface, a pretreatment facility (such as pretreatment facility 414 of FIG. 5), a DME plant (such as DME plant 308 of FIG. 5), a diluted effluent manipulation plant (such as diluted effluent manipulation plant 416 of FIG. 5), and a pump (such as pump 419 of FIG. 5) are set up.

At step 1001 of the method 1000, the mineral brine is pumped into perforations (such as perforations 312 of FIG. 5) of the extraction well by the pump. From the extraction well, the mineral brine is pumped to the pretreatment facility. At the pretreatment facility, the mineral brine is pretreated. Pretreatment includes, but is not limited to, removing impurities, concentrating the mineral brine, and filtering the mineral brine. From the pretreatment facility, the pretreated mineral brine (such as pretreated mineral brine 415 of FIG. 5) is pumped to the DME plant.

At step 1002 of the method 1000, the DME plant extracts a mineral product (such as mineral product 103 of FIG. 5) from the pretreated mineral brine through the sorption process. The mineral product is sent off for further processing and commercialization. The DME plant also produces diluted effluent (such as diluted effluent 309 of FIG. 5) consisting of the pretreated mineral brine minus the extracted mineral product. The diluted effluent is then pumped to the diluted effluent manipulation plant.

At step 1003 of the method 1000, the diluted effluent manipulation plant receives the diluted effluent and additives (such as additives 417 of FIG. 5) and mixes the diluted effluent and the additives. The mixing of the diluted effluent and additives manipulates the physical properties of the diluted effluent. In some embodiments, manipulating the properties of the diluted effluent increases the density of the diluted effluent. Therefore, the diluted effluent manipulation plant produces manipulated diluted effluent (such as manipulated diluted effluent 418 of FIG. 5). The manipulated diluted effluent is then moved to the pump to be pumped into the injection well.

At step 1004 of the method 1000, the manipulated diluted effluent is through the injection well into the reservoir zone.

In the reservoir zone, the manipulated diluted effluent and the unprocessed mineral brine are prevented from mixing due to their difference in physical properties. These differences in physical properties create a mixing boundary (such as mixing boundary 420 of FIG. 5). The mixing boundary prevents dilution of the mineral brine with the manipulated diluted effluent. The mixing boundary also may act to push the mineral brine towards the inlet of the extraction well while keeping the manipulated diluted effluent away from the inlet of the extraction well. Thus, the mixing boundary and altered physical properties of the manipulated diluted effluent act to prevent breakthrough of the manipulated diluted effluent.

The method 1000 may be repeated until the reservoir zone is depleted of its mineral brine and mineral product to a point where the method 1000 is no longer commercially feasible, cost effective, or efficient.

It is contemplated that any one or more elements or features of any one disclosed embodiment or example may be beneficially incorporated in any one or more other non-mutually exclusive embodiments or examples. While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.

Example Aspects

• • Aspect 1: A method for extracting minerals from a subsurface reservoir zone, comprising: extracting a mineral brine comprising minerals from a subsurface reservoir zone; extracting the minerals from the mineral brine and producing diluted effluent; increasing the density of the diluted effluent; and injecting the diluted effluent into the subsurface reservoir zone.
  • Aspect 2: The method of Aspect 1, wherein the minerals comprise at least one of lithium, magnesium, boron, bromine, manganese, and vanadium.
  • Aspect 3: The method of any combination of Aspects 1-2, wherein increasing the density of the diluted effluent comprises mixing the diluted effluent with an additive.
  • Aspect 4: The method of Aspect 3, wherein the additive comprises at least one of sodium chloride and calcium chloride.
  • Aspect 5: The method of any combination of Aspects 1-4, wherein extracting the minerals from the mineral brine comprises using a sorption medium to extract the minerals from the mineral brine.
  • Aspect 6: The method of any combination of Aspects 1-5 further comprising pretreating the mineral brine before extracting the minerals from the mineral brine.
  • Aspect 7: The method of Aspect 6, wherein pretreating the mineral brine comprises filtering the mineral brine.
  • Aspect 8: The method of any combination of Aspects 6-7, wherein pretreating the mineral brine comprises removing impurities in the mineral brine additive.
  • Aspect 9: The method of any combination of Aspects 1-8, wherein extracting the mineral brine comprises pumping the mineral brine through an extraction well with an end disposed in the subsurface reservoir zone.
  • Aspect 10: The method of any combination of Aspects 1-9, wherein injecting the diluted effluent comprises pumping the diluted effluent using a surface pump through an injection well with an end disposed in the subsurface reservoir zone.
  • Aspect 11: The method of any combination of Aspects 1-10, wherein the density of the diluted effluent is increased to be greater than a density of the mineral brine.
  • Aspect 12: The method of any combination of Aspects 1-11, further comprising monitoring an amount of the extracted minerals.
  • Aspect 13: A system for extracting a mineral from a subsurface reservoir zone, comprising: a direct mineral extraction (DME) plant configured to extract a mineral from a mineral brine and output a diluted effluent; and a diluted effluent manipulation plant fluidly coupled to the DME plant, wherein the diluted effluent manipulation plant is configured to output a manipulated diluted effluent by mixing the diluted effluent and an additive.
  • Aspect 14: The system of Aspect 13 further comprising a pump configured to pump the mineral brine to the DME plant from a subsurface reservoir zone.
  • Aspect 15: The system of any combination of Aspects 13-14 further comprising a pump fluidly coupled to the diluted effluent manipulation plant, wherein the pump receives the manipulated diluted effluent and pumps the manipulated diluted effluent into a subsurface reservoir zone via an injection well.
  • Aspect 16: The system of any combination of Aspects 13-15 wherein the DME plant comprises a sorption medium.
  • Aspect 17: The system of any combination of Aspects 13-16 wherein the diluted effluent manipulation plant comprises: a first inlet, wherein the diluted effluent enters the diluted effluent manipulation plant; a second inlet, wherein the additive enters the diluted effluent manipulation plant; a mixer, wherein the mixer receives and mixes the diluted effluent and the additive; and an outlet, wherein the manipulated diluted effluent leaves the diluted effluent manipulation plant.
  • Aspect 18: The system of Aspect 17 wherein the mixer is at least one of a blender-type mixer, a shear-type mixer, and a convective-type mixer.
  • Aspect 19: The system of any combination of Aspects 13-18 further comprising a pretreatment facility fluidly coupled to the extraction well and the DME plant and the pretreatment facility treats the mineral brine before it enters the DME plant.
  • Aspect 20: The system of Aspect 19 wherein the pretreatment facility mixes the mineral brine with a second additive.
  • Aspect 21: The system of Aspect 20, wherein the pretreatment facility filters the mineral brine.
  • Aspect 22: The system of any of Aspects 13-21, wherein the additive comprises at least one of sodium chloride and calcium chloride.
  • Aspect 23: A method for extracting a mineral from a subsurface reservoir zone, comprising: processing the mineral brine, wherein processing comprises extracting the mineral using sorption and producing a diluted effluent, wherein the diluted effluent comprises the mineral brine with less of the mineral; and manipulating a physical property of the diluted effluent, wherein manipulating a physical property of the diluted effluent comprises creating a manipulated diluted effluent by mixing an additive with the diluted effluent to increase a density of the diluted effluent.
  • Aspect 24: The method of Aspect 23 further comprising pumping a mineral brine containing the mineral from a subsurface reservoir zone into an extraction well using a pump.
  • Aspect 25: The method of any combination of Aspects 23-24 further comprising pumping, via a pump, the manipulated diluted effluent through an injection well into the subsurface reservoir zone, wherein the manipulated diluted effluent and the mineral brine are prevented from mixing in the subsurface reservoir zone.
  • Aspect 26: The method of any combination of Aspects 23-25, wherein the mineral comprises at least one of lithium, magnesium, boron, bromine, manganese, and vanadium.
  • Aspect 27: The method of any combination of Aspects 23-26 wherein the additive comprises at least one of sodium chloride and calcium chloride.
  • Aspect 28: The method of any combination of Aspects 23-27 further comprising monitoring an amount of the extracted mineral.
  • Aspect 29: The method of any combination of Aspects 23-28 further comprising pretreating the mineral brine before the mineral brine is processed.
  • Aspect 30: The method of Aspect 29, wherein pretreating the mineral brine comprises mixing a second additive into the mineral brine.
  • Aspect 31: The method of Aspect 29, wherein pretreating the mineral brine comprises filtering the mineral brinc.
  • Aspect 32: The method of any combination of Aspects 23-31, wherein the density of the diluted effluent is increased to be greater than a density of the mineral brine.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the preceding embodiments are exemplary and not limiting. It is intended that all modifications, permutations, enhancements, equivalents, and improvements thereto that are apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings are included within the scope of the disclosure. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims may include all such modifications, permutations, enhancements, equivalents, and improvements. The present disclosure also contemplates that one or more aspects of the embodiments described herein may be substituted in for one or more of the other aspects described. The scope of the disclosure is determined by the claims that follow.

The following claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. Within a claim, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for”. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.