Chemical Engineering August 2014 - 21

Receive
Natural gas
Alpha
Spodumene
spodumene
Calciner
1,080°C
Cooler
Beta
spodumene
Ball
milling
Process liquor
Wash
Sodium
sulfate
product
Dryer
Natural gas
o/flow
Battery grade
lithium
carbonate
product
u/flow
Micronizer
Dryer
Tech grade bypass
Bi carb
purification
process
Repulp
Primary
Li2CO3
precipitation
Sulfuric
acid
Figure 2. Reed Resources' patented process that produces battery-grade lithium
carbonate and lithium hydroxide
veloped processes to obtain highpurity
lithium carbonate from both,
spodumene ore, and from lithiumbearing
brines. Its process to obtain
lithium carbonate from spodumene
ore is alkaline. After crushing, separation,
grinding and flotation, the
ore is filtered in the company's automatic
pressure filters. It is then
calcined and subjected to pressure
leaching and hydrocarbonation in
alkaline media. After dewatering,
impurity removals and crystallization,
it is filtered in vacuum belt filters
into lithium carbonate.
The company's processing of brine
comprises: pretreatment, boron solvent
extraction, calcium and magnesium
precipitation and purification,
lithium carbonate precipitation,
dewatering, and filtration to obtain
high-purity lithium carbonate. Byproducts
include potassium and sodium
salt, calcium and magnesium
precipitates, and boric acid.
A few companies claim to have developed
methods to obtain lithium
compounds from brines without the
need for evaporation ponds, or drastically
reducing the area required
for the ponds, and drastically reducing
the processing time from many
months to less than 24 hours.
One of these companies is Tenova
Bateman Technologies Australia
(Perth; www.tenovagroup.com).
The company has developed a solvent
extraction, combined with a
membrane technology for the pretreatment
of the initial brine. The
loaded solvent is stripped using a
strong mineral acid, and the product
solution is the lithium derivative
of that stripping acid. This results
in reducing the area needed
for a commercial plant and also
reduces the residence time. The
application of different stripping
acids can also diversify the product
line of such a facility.
South Korean steel-maker Posco
(Pohang, South Korea; www.posco.
com), which also produces lithium
compounds, claims to have also
developed a technology to obtain
lithium from brines by chemical
means, eliminating the need for
evaporation ponds, and reducing
the time to obtain lithium from
many months to a few hours.
Simbol, Inc. (Pleasanton, Calif.;
www.simbolmaterials.com), also
claims to have developed a separation
technology capable of extracting
high-purity lithium carbonate from
hydrothermal brines, using a reverse
osmosis process that eliminates the
need for solar evaporation.
The great effort by many companies
to develop technologies for producing
lithium compounds of high
purity is a response to the prediction
of a market boom for lithium compounds
by several market analysts.
If the predicted market expansion
does in fact materialize, it will find
businesses well prepared.
■
Paul Grad
ChemiCal engineering www.Che.Com august 2014 21
each infoRmation packed pdf
article includes graphs, charts, tables,
equations and columns on the full
chemical engineering processes you
deal with on a daily basis. This is the
tool you will come to rely on, referring
back to the information again and
again with just the click of a mouse.
Facts at Your Fingertips Topics Include:
 Conservation Economics: Carbon
Pricing Impacts
 Distillation Tray Design
 Burner Operating Characteristics
 Measurement Guide for
Replacement Seals
 Steam Tracer Lines and Traps
 Positive Displacement Pumps
 Low-Pressure Measurement for
Control Valves
 Creating Installed Gain Graphs
 Aboveground and Underground
Storage Tanks
 Chemical Resistance of
Thermoplastics
 Heat Transfer: System Design II
 Adsorption
 Flowmeter Selection
 Specialty Metals
 Plus much, much more...
Ion
exchange
Polishing
filter
Centrifuge
Leaching tank
Sodium sulfate
crystallizer
Sodium
carbonate
Polishing
filter
Filter
Alumina
silicate
Mg
precip
Sulfuric
acid
Sulfating
kiln
Natural gas
Water
Hydrated
lime
Hydrogen
peroxide
Thickener
Ca
precip
Source: Reed Resources
Hydrated
lime
Sodium
carbonate
full access
17872
Receive full access today by visiting
www.omeda.com/cbm/facts
Receive full access today by visiting
http://store.che.com/product/facts
to all of chemical engineering's
facts at Your fingertips articles in
one convenient location.
http://www.posco http://www.simbolmaterials.com http://www.tenovagroup.com http://www.omeda.com/cbm/facts http://store.che.com/product/facts http://www.Che.Com
Chemical Engineering August 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering August 2014
