CO2 Emission Reduction by Integrating Concentrating Solar Power into Lithium Mining

An assessment of the energy requirements in the lithium brine mining and processing industry indicated that all active facilities currently satisfy their energy needs from fossil fuels. A more detailed analysis of two case studies allowed us to identify specific thermal and electrical energy requirements. Annual horizontal global solar irradiation values higher than 2000 kWh/m(2) are registered at most lithium brine deposits. These values make concentrating solar power (CSP) an interesting technology to supply mining activities with alternatively thermal or electrical energy, both from technological and economical perspectives. The temperature and heat consumption of the processes were considered as reference parameters to determine the thermal capacity of solar power plants. These plants were designed using the system advisor model. Furthermore, CO2 mitigation was analyzed. A parabolic trough plant for power electric generation with a thermal storage system was found to be a more suitable option to substantially diversify the energy matrix and reduce greenhouse emissions of the lithium mining industry, if compared with using CSP for thermal processes in the absence of energy storage. Simulation results showed similarities in the emission reduction potential when parabolic trough and linear Fresnel technologies without thermal storage were compared: 154.3 and 161.6 gCO(2)/kgLCE, respectively. On an annual basis, these technologies cover over 20% of the thermal energy matrix. An electric plant designed based on a parabolic trough system coupled to thermal energy storage can achieve a matrix penetration of over 51% and an annual CO2 mitigation of 403.3 gCO(2)/kgLCE.