Energy efficiency by design: The Danfoss APP and iSave® platform for brine mining

As demand for critical minerals grows, brine mining is becoming a practical solution for large-scale extraction, turning high‑salinity sources such as salt flats, desalination reject and industrial waste into valuable commodities including salt, lithium and magnesium while reducing the environmental footprint of traditional mining. A major barrier to scaling these operations has been the high energy and capital cost of thermal concentration stages such as evaporators and crystallizers. Recent advances in high‑pressure membrane technology, especially seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) and osmotic‑assisted reverse osmosis (OARO), are reshaping the economics of brine valorization by pre‑concentrating brines far more energy‑efficiently than thermal methods alone.

At the center of this shift is the Danfoss platform of APP high‑pressure positive displacement pumps and iSave isobaric energy‑recovery devices (ERDs). APP pumps maintain efficiencies above 91 percent across a wide operating range, allowing one pump platform to serve both SWRO and OARO without efficiency penalties. iSave ERDs recover up to 93 percent of hydraulic energy while also providing active control over pressure and mixing, turning energy recovery into a process‑control advantage. Together they deliver a unified, modular, high‑efficiency platform that lowers OPEX, CAPEX and CO₂ emissions, extends membrane life, and simplifies plant design and maintenance. Proven at scale in projects such as Hyrec’s Indonesian brine‑mining plant, the APP + iSave platform makes energy‑efficient brine pre‑concentration practical and reliable, enabling more flexible, lower-impact, and commercially viable brine‑valorization projects worldwide.