Topic 1: Water treatment: As mining and oil and gas sites continue to expand, developers are faced with the challenge of minimizing the impact of large runoff streams and metals-laden wastewater on the local environment. Wastewater or produced water from extractive operations has to be properly managed to prevent any water or soil pollution arising from acid or alkaline leaching of heavy metals. Miss management of wastewater can lead to serious environmental damage or early closure of the site. We developed a a modular, portable, and scalable technology that extracts clean water from produced water using low-grade heat.
Topic 2: Production of Li2CO3 and LiOH : The demand for Li in batteries for electric vehicles, grid storage, and other applications is expected to grow over the coming decades. A modular, portable, and scalable technology to produce Li carbonate (Li2CO3) and Li hydroxide (LiOH) from continental, geothermal, and other Li-containing brines for battery applications is under development. The technology is energy efficient, highly cost-competitive, and suitable for extremely low Li+ concentration brines, which are abundant in the U.S. This method is turning U.S. brine deposits into valuable resources for environmentally benign Li production, thereby enhancing our national energy security in an era marked by rapid electrification of the transportation sector and grid scale electricity storage.
Bio: Dr. Abbasi is an Assistant Professor at Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Engineering Science from Southern Illinois University. He worked for more than six years as a mining engineer in open pit, underground, and quarry mines, and with Itasca Consulting Group, CH2M HILL, and Golder Associates, Inc. His research focuses on sustainability of natural resources (water treatment, and energy, Li extraction). He is part of $8.2M of externally sponsored projects from a variety of funders as the lead PI or co-PI (CDC-NIOSH, DOE, ARPA-e, and DOS). He received three awards form DOE for his water treatment and Li extraction research. He is the co-founder of a spin-off company, Espiku. The company was founded to commercialize technology and tackle the growing water scarcity and pollution problem, specifically targeting industrial wastewater.