Valorization of saltwork brines for the production of acid and base using electrodialysis with bipolar membranes

Valorization of brines, usually considered as wastes, has become an alternative to extract critical and valuable raw materials, but also for energy recovery and generation of reactants. Within this context, the H2020 SEArcularMINE project aims to recover from saltwork brines Mg(II), Li(I) and some trace elements (B(III), Co(II) and Sr(II), among others), all of them listed as critical raw materials by the European Union [1]. Due to the fact that the technologies devoted to the recovery of the above mentioned elements require acid and bases, the SEArcularMINE project aims to produce them in-situ (HCl and NaOH) from exhausted brines (free of Mg(II) and Ca(II)) using Electrodialysis with Bipol…