The media is built!"Guangming Daily" reported that Wang Lei's innovative team salt la

"Guangming Daily", June 11, 2022 Edition 04

When you mention new energy vehicles, you can think of "lithium battery". But where does the lithium come from? Few people know. In fact, more than 70%of the world's lithium extracts salt lakes rich in minerals. Because the technology of extracting lithium is difficult to break through for a long time, my country has to rely on imports for a long time.

The Wang Lei team of the School of Environment and Municipal Engineering of Xi'an University of Architecture and Sciences anchor the national needs, explores the way independently, and go from Xi'an, Shaanxi to Qinghai Leng Lake, Golmud and Chai Dan to realize the core technology of independent innovation. The extraction cost has been reduced from 30,000 yuan/ton to 15,000 yuan/ton, and it is more environmentally friendly, which greatly reduces my country's dependence on import lithium resources.

The challenge of the "unmanned area" is difficult to challenge

In 2021, the explosive growth of the new energy vehicle market, and the lithium carbonate of the main raw material of automobile lithium batteries became barriers to restrict development. As early as 2016, in the "National Mineral Resources Planning (2016-2020)" released by my country, lithium was included in the "National Strategic Mineral" catalog, and the lithium was to hold the strategic "life pulse" in its own hands.

"The cost of lithium raising in salt lake brine is relatively low, you can directly obtain industrial -grade lithium carbonate, and then it can be transformed into deep -processed lithium products." Wang Lei said that to vigorously develop our country's lithium resources, the "salt lake lithium lifting" technology is very critical Essence

Wang Lei's technical practice place for "Salt Lake Lake" is located in Lenghu, Golmud and other places in Qinghai. However, the lithium content in the lakes of these areas is extremely low and the quality is poor. Few people were willing to invest here in the past.

"The lithium ion content in the salt lake here is only 0.06 grams/liter, which is the lowest in the world, and the endowment is poor, and the extraction is extremely difficult." Although the resource conditions are poor, they still choose to enter this "unmanned area" The hardest hard bone that is the hardest bone is not only to believe in the excellent independent research and development technology, but more importantly, to collect lithium resources as much as possible for the country.

In September 2017, Wang Lei led the team to build the first pilot station in Lenghu. In December of the same year, the Chinese trial production line was successfully put into production. The cost of extracting lithium carbonate by traditional methods will be reduced by more than half, and its economy and environmental protection have reached the world's advanced level, providing a strong technical guarantee for the development of valuable precious metals in my country.

After several years of development, production lines with an annual output of thousands of tons are exporting valuable lithium resources for the country.

Use "membrane separation" to solve the problem of lithium lifting

Why can Wang Lei be so confident and dare to challenge the lithium salt lake in Qinghai? The key is that he and the team's independently developed solid -phase ion restraint material with membrane separation technology.

"This new material can be made into a thin film, like a layer of filter. During the lithium lifting process, lithium ions are adsorbed on the filter and filtered the rest of the impurities." Wang Lei introduced.

Who would have thought that this core technology was originally developed for purifying sewage. In 2016, a series of scientific and technological innovation achievements with film separation technology as the core were widely used in municipal and industrial water treatment in Ningxia, Gansu and other places, with an output value of more than 300 million yuan.

"To make a breakthrough in original innovation." This is always Wang Lei's insistence. He graduated from the major of water drainage engineering and is good at reverse thinking- "Purifying sewage is to remove mineral pollutants and retain water resources. So, can you extract precious metals from water in turn?" Is this solid -phase ion ion? The constraint material is used to extract the starting point of the idea of ​​lithium.

Since then, with the independent research and development of solid -phase ion restraint technology, adheres to the idea of ​​"one lake, one material, one lake and one process", they have developed "high -efficiency adsorption+relief+lithium lithium" distributed green brine lithium lifting minimalist technology. The adsorption of salt lake brine —— to obtain a lithium sinking solution suitable for new energy vehicle batteries in one step, and then lithium sinks to obtain related products.

"This is a real original innovation technology, which solves problems such as low separation efficiency, low stability, and pollution of magnesium lithium choice. Reaching a battery -level problem at a time, "Wang Lei said.

Open the innovative chain industry chain cracked fusion dilemma

The winter in Qinghai is the severe cold of more than 20 degrees Celsius. Cui Zheng, a member of the team and the head of the production project of Chaidan area, recalled: "Initially, five of them were squeezed in a house, the conditions were very difficult, and they returned in the early morning.

The hard environment cannot block the pace of innovation. In just a few cold and summer, Wang Lei team realized the leap from primitive innovation to industrialization development. The key is to innovate the innovation chain and deep integration model of "Research Institute+Co., Ltd.+Seed Fund". In Wang Lei's view, the previous theoretical verification, the trial, the capital, and the marketization of the past are relatively independent. It needs to be coordinated back and forth. The uncertainty is high. No matter what link The most difficult crux of transformation. After repeated exploration and practice, they successfully opened up these links.

In 2017, it was supported by the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology. Wang Lei relied on the advantages of Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology to form a Shaanxi Provincial Film Separation Technology Research Institute to conduct basic research and technology development around the separation of membrane separation science and technology, and provide a common technology platform for industrialization. Relying on the platform, Wang Lei has formed innovative enterprises and seed funds that are controlled by team holding high -performance ultrafiltration, micro filter, nathe filtration, positive penetration, etc. —The new model of the entire industry chain transformation of enterprise incubation -capital operation. "This model has transformed the basic research platform, scientific research base and achievements to a fast channel, crossing the 'Death Valley' from basic research to technological innovation." Relying on this, they are currently in energy conservation and environmental protection, new energy and new energy and new energy. More than ten high -tech enterprises have been incubated in the three major fields of materials and medical equipment, more than 80 patents have been applied for, and more than 40 patents have been authorized, of which more than 30 have been transformed in production and patent transformation of nearly 100 million yuan.

The innovation chain drives the industrial chain, and the industry chain is anti -nurturing the innovation chain. More talents have grown rapidly. The incubated enterprises are both production bases and practical bases, and they are also deep R & D bases. In this chain, the team has cultivated nearly 200 talents and doctoral innovative talents, forming a complete talent system such as basic research, technology development, engineering applications, and management. They published more than 70 high -level papers in international and domestic journals such as "Natural Communications", and published 7 books such as "Water Treatment Membrane Pollution Structure Parameters and Micro -Practice Evaluation Methods".

"In the future, we will continue to adhere to the forefront of the world technology, the main battlefield of the economy, the major needs of the country, the health of the people's lives, and continue to march into scientific and technological breadth and in -depth. Technical and economic and society, "Wang Lei said.

(Reporter Zhang Zhehao Li Jie Correspondent Zhan Pengchao)

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