Lithium detection apparatus systems and methods
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorsMarkus Berheide, Jeffrey Miles, Rod William Shampine, Dominic Vincent Perroni
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Abstract
A system includes a neutron source that emits neutrons. The system also includes a vessel that holds a lithium-containing material including a lithium-sorbent material and a lithium-containing brine. Further, the system includes a neutron detector that receives a subset of the neutrons emitted from the neutron source that are transmitted through the lithium-sorbent material and the lithium-containing brine. The neutron detector also determines a concentration of lithium based on the received subset of neutrons.
Claims19
A system, comprising:
- a neutron source configured to emit neutrons;
- a vessel configured to hold a lithium-containing material, which is a mixture of lithium-sorbent material and a lithium-containing brine;
- and
- a neutron detector configured to:
- receive a subset of the neutrons emitted from the neutron source that are transmitted through the lithium-containing material;
- and
- determine a concentration of lithium based on the received subset of neutrons, wherein the determining the concentration of lithium comprises comparing a measured concentration of the mixture of the lithium-sorbent material and the lithium-containing brine in the vessel with a separate measurement of the lithium-containing brine to derive a loading capacity of the lithium-sorbent material in the vessel.
A method, comprising:
- providing a lithium-containing brine to a vessel holding a lithium-sorbent material;
- emitting neutrons into the vessel using a neutron source;
- collecting, using a neutron detector, a subset of the emitted neutrons that traverses a collection volume of the vessel, wherein the collection volume is disposed between the neutron source and the neutron detector;
- and
- determining a loading capacity of a lithium-containing material based on the collected neutrons, wherein the lithium-containing material comprises the lithium-sorbent material and the lithium-containing brine.
A system, comprising:
- one or more adsorption beds configured to receive a lithium-containing stream, wherein each adsorption bed comprises a lithium-sorbent material configured to bind lithium-ions in the lithium-containing stream;
- and
- a lithium detection apparatus, wherein the lithium detection apparatus comprises:
- an emission source configured to emit radiation and a detector configured to receive a subset of the emitted radiation from the emission source that is transmitted through the lithium-sorbent material, wherein the radiation comprises neutrons;
- one or more detectors configured to receive a subset of the neutrons emitted from the emission source that are transmitted through the lithium-sorbent material and determine a concentration of lithium adsorbed by the lithium-sorbent material based on the received subset of neutrons;
- and
- a controller comprising one or more processors configured to:
- receive data from the one or more detectors based on the received subset of neutrons;
- determine a concentration of lithium based on the data;
- and
- determine an operational adjustment of the one or more adsorption beds, the lithium detection apparatus, or both, based on the determined concentration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.