Evaluation of the Adequacy of Lithium Resources for Fusion Reactor with the Aspect of Li-ion Battery-Driven Vehicles

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2 Evaluation of the Adequacy of Lithium Resources for Fusion Reactor with the Aspect of Li-ion Battery-Driven Vehicles Chao Wang Contributed by FDS Team Key Laboratory of Neutronics and Radiation Safety Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology (INEST) Chinese Academy of Sciences

3 Content 1. Introduction 2. Adequacy of Li Resources for Fusion Industry 3. Solutions to Li Resources Shortage 4. Conclusion

4 Industrial Application of Lithium 景 Lithium is Necessary in Various Industries Glass & Ceramics: lowering the melting point of material Lubricating Grease: major constituent (lithium stearate) Flux Powder: major constituent (lithium-magnesium alloy) Relatively small and constant demands; can hard be recycled Lithium is Essential for the Emerging Liion Battery (LIB) LIB is the only industrially practical ion battery due to the small mass, small size, chemical inertness and ready adsorption and desorption on electrodes Extensively used in commercial electronics, battery-driven electric vehicles and grid storage Tesla Model S electric vehicle Great and fast-growing demands and can be easily recycled

5 Lithium in Fusion Energy 景 Lithium is fuel for the future fusion power Nuclear fusion reaction takes place between deuterium and tritium Self-sufficient of tritium relies on Li: 6 Li+n T+ 4 He+4.8 MeV (primary) 7 Li+n T+ 4 He+n -2.5 MeV (secondary) Li-6 (natural occurring=7.24%) is the essential constituent of tritium breeding blanket. Li is: the essential for tritium supply in future fusion power the only element that can be used in both power generation and storage.

6 Lithium Resources on the Earth Lithium resources on the earth Lithium Reserve (mineral resources that can be economically exploited): Ore, saline lake brine, some clay minerals. ~ 13 Million tons ( 2014 Mineral Commodity Summary) Lithium Resource (all mineral resources that can be exploited): low grade ore and brine, clay. ~ 40 million tons ( 2014 Mineral Commodity Summary) Ultimate lithium supply: Sea water, 230 million tons of lithium Reference Yaksic and Tilton (2005) Fasel and Tran (2005) Tahil (2007&2008) Evans (2008) Clarke and Harben (2009) Reserves (Mt) Resources (Mt) n.a 29.8 n.a 39.4 SQM(2009) n.a 56.1 Grosjean et al. (2012) Gruber et al. (2012) Kesler et al. (2012) Kushnir and Sandén (2012) Mohr et al. (2012 ) Rockwood Lithium (2012) n.a < n.a n.a n.a >30 Reference (1999) (2000) (2001) (2002) (2003) (2004) (2005) (2006) (2007) (2008) (2009) (2010) Reserves (Mt) Resources (Mt) 3.4 > > > > > > > > > > > The fast-growing LIB industry s influence on the future lithium supply of fusion power? Hanna Vikstrom (2013) (1996) (1997) > >12.8 (2011) (2012 ) (2014 ) (1998) 3.7 >12.8

7 Content 1. Introduction 2. Adequacy of Li Resources for Fusion Industry 3. Solutions to Li Resources Shortage 4. Conclusion

8 2.1 Lithium Demands of Fusion Power Prediction of the development of fusion power industry Analysis on the historic installed fission demonstrates that Logistic model can well describe the development of nuclear power industry The development of fusion power was predicted using Logistic model under the following condition: commercial fusion power initiates in 2050 with 1 GW installed power; the Logistic growth rate equals to that of fission power and the ultimate installed fusion power is 10,000 GW The total installed fusion power in 2100 would to 6900 GW according to the Logistic model. Global fission power development Predicted future fusion power of the world ( )

9 2.1 Lithium Demands of Fusion Power Lithium demand of fusion reactors built in 2050 to 2100 in the whole operating life The lithium in breeder constitutes the major demand. the lithium demand was evaluated assuming the fusion reactors are all FDS-II type (2.5 GW). In the whole operating life (50 years) of the fusion reactors, 2.95 million tons of natural lithium are needed for both tritium breeder and burnup. Tritium Breeder of FDS-II Chemical composition Pb 83 Li 17 Li-6 enrichment 90% Li-6 enrichment efficiency 5% Mass of Li in breeder Natural Li demand of breeder Burnup per GW year Natural Li demand of burnup 39.3t (90%Li-6) 786.5t (natural Li) 0.1t (90%Li-6) 2.0t (natural Li) Predicted cumulate lithium consumption of fusion industry 2.95 million tons should be reserved for fusion power in 2050.

10 2.2 Lithium Demands of Traditional Industries Natural lithium demands of traditional industries Application: Glass, Ceramics, Lubricating Grease, Flux Powder, etc Recycling: Very Hard The current growth of lithium demands very little (from in 2012 tons to tons in 2013) ( Mineral Commodity Summary) Growth prospects of these industries are limited Present techniques involving lithium could be readily replaced when they are no longer profitable The constant demands of tons per year is used in assessment Cumulate lithium consumption by traditional industries 0.78 million tons in 2050

11 2.3 Lithium Demand of Lithium-ion Battery Industry Application: Smartphone, Electric vehicle, Electric tools, Grid storage Recycling: Feasible Evaluation method: m Li =A/(F η) M Li, where A is the capacity of the battery; F is the Faraday constant; η is transfer ratio (η<0.55 for lithium colaltate electrodes); and MLi is the molar mass of lithium Lithium content of a LIB with capacity of A ma h is A g LIB Capacity (mah) Lithium Content (g) Smartphone (Xiaomi 2) Talblet Computer (ipad 2) Electric Vehicle (Tesla Model S) Lithium Contents of Some Typical LIBs

12 2.3 Lithium Demand of Smartphone Global smartphone population Assuming that the population of cellphones would grow in a constant rate until saturation (owning rate of 80%-90%) Assuming that a smartphone contains a LIB with capacity of 2000mAh and life of 1.5 years; in other word, g of lithium is demanded by a smartphone per year million tons in 2050 Cumulate lithium consumption by smartphone

13 2.3 Lithium Demand of Electric Vehicles Electric vehicle population ( ) Cumulate lithium consumption by electric vehicle According to the schedule of Electric Vehicle Initiation (EVI), 20 million electric vehicles would be deployed before 2020, indicating that annual growth rate is 100% from 2015 to Assuming that the growth rate would be reduced by 50% every five years, the electric vehicles population would reach to 900 million in Take Tesla Model S electric vehicles as an example, the capacity of the LIB pack is about 85 kwh and the lifetime is 8 years. The lithium demand per year is about 1.0 kg million tons in 2050

14 2.4 Lithium Consumption on Condition of No Recycling In 2043, the left lithium reserve cannot provide future lithium demand from fusion power. In 2047, all lithium reserve is depleted The consumption of electric vehicle constitutes 94% of the whole lithium consumption Cumulate lithium consumption of all involved industries Lithium shortage could take place before commercial fusion power

15 Content 1. Introduction 2. Adequacy of Li Resources for Fusion Industry 3. Solutions to Li Resources Shortage 4. Conclusion

16 3 Solutions to Lithium Shortage Exploiting Oceanic Lithium The lithium concentrate of sea water is about 170 ppm; all lithium resources in ocean is 230 billion tons. Technical Feasibility: Theoretical energy consumption of concentrating oceanic lithium into 2% is only 30kJ/mol Li. However there is no practical techniques at present. Economic Feasibility: The cost of one kg of lithium is US dollar (market price is 6-8 US dollar). And 400 m 2 of sun pool is needed for one kg/year production. Oceanic lithium Environmental Sustainability: the environmental impacts of sun pool and adsorbing material have not been assessed.

17 3 Solutions to Lithium Shortage Exploiting Low-grade Brine Nowadays most of lithium production is extracted from brine. Lithium cannot be economically exploited in some saline lakes because of low concentration and impurities. Technical Feasibility: Extracting lithium from brine with high concentrations of magnesium is a global problem. Economic Feasibility: Not feasible for brine with high concentrations of magnesium. Environmental Sustainability: Some negative environmental impacts such as saline lake desertification Low grade brine

18 3 Solutions to Lithium Shortage Lithium recycling of LIB Since LIB industry would be the greatest lithium consumer, recycling lithium from wasted LIB could effectively solve the lithium shortage Technical Feasibility: In 1992, Toxco Inc. developed a process of recycling lithium from wasted batteries. Economic Feasibility: 98% of lithium in wasted batteries can be economically recycled. (Jungst American Science Information Institute) Environmental Sustainability: Co, Ni and Mn in LIBs can be recovered simultaneously and the heavy metals environmental impact can be prevented. Supporting Policies: US Department of Energy has subsidized lithium recycling companies. Lithium recycling of LIB

19 Content 1. Introduction 2. Adequacy of Li Resources for Fusion Industry 3. Solutions to Li Resources Shortage 4. Conclusion

20 4 Conclusion: Lithium Recycling Is Necessary Recycling lithium from electric vehicles Electric vehicles is the major consumer of Li (94% of the total consumption) The replaced batteries could be efficiently recovered and the lithium in the batteries could be recycled. The first factory that recycles lithium from wasted batteries has opened in Cumulate Lithium Consumption by industries( ) Industry Li consumption (Mt.) Li consumptio n with recycling (Mt.) Recycling feasibility Traditional hard Smartphone medium Electric Vehicle Very easy Reserve for Fusion Total Lithium Recycling is the most effective solution to Lithium shortage

21 Development of Li recycling from batteries Li recycling from batteries is technical and economic feasible. The fast growing period is at around 2030, when large quantities of replaced electric vehicle LIBs can be processed. Logistic growth rate=0.5 Predicted recovery of lithium from LIBs Li consumption with recycling The recycle of electric vehicle LIBs is simulated with the Logistic model. The fast growing period is set to be started at around 2030,The ultimate recycle ratio is set to be 90%. The cumulate Li consumption is reduced under the critical line by Li recycling Recycling Li from wasted batteries for future fusion power

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