In-situ chemical reactor for recovery of metals or purification of salts
AssigneeTarim Associates for Scientific Mineral and Oil Exploration AG
InventorKenneth J. Hsu
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Abstract
An in-situ reactor with hydrologic cells is provided to facilitate recovery of metals such as gold from rocks, or purification of salts such as potium or magnesium chloride formed by evaporation of brines, by injecting into a source aquifer a fluid, which flows through and reacts with the solids or host rock within the in-situ reactor and then flows into a sink aquifer, from it is drained or pumped out via an exhaust borehole into a plant or a facility for further chemical treatment.
Claims10
An in-situ reactor for recovering metals and energy resulting from a chemical reaction between a solid in said reactor and a liquid or gas injected into said reactor comprising one or more hydrologic cells having a first porous, permeable bed forming a source aquifer and being located in a fracture adjacent to relatively impermeable solid rock within said reactor, a second porous, permeable bed forming a sink aquifer and being located in a fracture at the side of said solid rock opposite and most distant from said source aquifer, means for moving reaction fluid through said source aquifer, said relatively impermeable solid rock and said sink aquifer and means for recovering said reaction fluid from said sink aquifer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.