Lithium adsorptive properties of HTiO adsorbent from shale gas produced water containing organic compounds.

Shale gas produced water is a by-product from shale gas production which causes environmental issues and needs for a wastewater treatment process. Lithium is one of the valuable metals that exists in the shale gas produced water, and it can be recovered during the water treatment process. However, the concentration of organic carbon in the produced water is significantly high, and these organic compounds may affect the lithium recovery efficiency. Therefore, the lithium adsorption from shale gas produced water containing organic compounds was carried out in this study to observe the influence of organic compounds on lithium adsorption using HTiO adsorbent. The equilibrium time from the kinetic study and the maximum adsorption capacity calculated from the Langmuir isotherm equation decreased with the addition of organic compounds to the produced water. Overall, lithium was selectively recovered from the pH buffered shale gas produced water with or without organic compounds. However, the results indicate the addition of organic compounds, especially the smaller-molecular-weight organic compound, to the produced water inhibits the lithium adsorption significantly.