CMI Webinar: PrOMMiS: design & performance optimization of membrane systems for Co/Li separation

For the CMI Webinar on September 24, 2024, Tom Tarka, National Energy Technology Laboratory, and Alexander Dowling, University of Notre Dame, described "Applying PrOMMiS: design and performance optimization of membrane systems for Co/Li separation"

The Process Optimization and Modeling for Minerals Sustainability (PrOMMiS) Initiative is a process modeling and optimization toolkit designed to de-risk and compress the “discovery to deployment” timeline for critical mineral and material (CMM) production technologies. The webinar will provide a short overview of PrOMMiS and an initial case study, examining a membrane process to separate lithium (Li) and cobalt (Co) generated from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). A Generalized Disjunctive Programming (GDP) model to was developed to identify the optimal design of a multistage diafiltration cascade for Li-Co separation, which allows for the identification of an optimal flowsheet for a given Li/Co recovery. The same membrane diafiltration case study was used to demonstrate PrOMMiS capabilities for technical risk reduction via robust optimization, and initial results underscore the intriguing potential for de-risking technologies during scale-up and deployment. PrOMMiS is open-source and part of an integrated modeling platform (IDAES-IP). It is designed for ease of adaptation and implements modern software development and release practices. It includes (1) model & cost libraries for simulation, optimization, and techno-economic analysis of mineral processing technologies; (2) optimization capabilities for screening process configurations to identify the most promising flowsheets; (3) optimization-under-uncertainty approaches to produce designs that are robust to process variability; and (4) uncertainty quantification capabilities to maximize knowledge gained from budget- and schedule-constrained experimental campaigns. The multi-laboratory initiative is funded by the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.