The start-up Princeton Critical Minerals wants to use a new technology to increase the efficiency of evaporation ponds—and thus accelerate lithium extraction.
PCM CEO Sean Zheng presented the team's work at the Keller Center's 17th Innovation Forum in 2022 and won first prize in the STEM category.
Bumper DeJesus
An innovation from Princeton could permanently change global lithium extraction: The start-up Princeton Critical Minerals (PCM) has developed a technology that significantly increases the efficiency of evaporation ponds. These ponds currently supply around 40% of the lithium produced worldwide and a large proportion of natural nitrate.
The process is based on floating black discs with a special anti-fouling coating. These so-called “lily pads” double the conversion of sunlight into heat energy, thereby significantly accelerating evaporation. The technology is over 96% efficient, compared to less than 50% for conventional ponds, explains Z. Jason Ren, co-founder and chief scientific officer of PCM and professor at Princeton University.
Evaporation Rates Increased by 40 to 122%
In pilot tests in northern Chile, conducted in collaboration with the chemical company Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, PCM was able to increase evaporation rates by 40 to 122%, depending on the composition of the brine. The advantage: existing plants could operate more productively, new projects could be designed more compactly, and environmental impact would be reduced.
The practical experience also provided the research team with new scientific questions: For example, it was found that the basins with the Lily Pads maintain a higher surface temperature and less heat is transferred to the depths – an effect that influences the behavior of minerals in the brine and could lead to further optimizations.
This is a partly automated translation of this german article.
