The Need of High Purity Lithium Hydroxide
The electrical vehicle (EV) market is undergoing a revolution transforming the transportation landscape using lithium-ion battery technology. The demand for electric vehicles is not just increasing; it's projected to skyrocket over five times the 2022 production values by 2031. To meet this challenge, high-purity lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate are required as essential materials for the formulation of these batteries.
The primary sources of lithium are brine lakes (Salars) and mineral deposits, mainly Spodumene ore. The Spodumene ore contains up to 6 % lithium. Conventional mining operations extract minerals from the ground through either underground pit excavation or surface strip mining, depending on the location of the mineral lode.
Lithium Conversion
Producing high-quality lithium products for EV batteries is not without its challenges. In many cases, Lithium Carbonate may be produced that is a lower quality than needed for EV batteries. It may also be desirable to use high grade Lithium Hydroxide as part of the cathode materials instead of the carbonate form. However, plants that are designed to produce the lower quality Lithium Carbonate may be difficult to modify to produce a high-quality battery grade material or lack resources such as fresh water needed in the conversion. Despite these challenges, a number of plants currently produce the Lithium Carbonate and then ship this material to plants specially designed to convert the lower grade Lithium Carbonate to a high-quality battery grade Lithium Hydroxide with most of these currently found in China.
Process to Convert Lithium Carbonate to Lithium Hydroxide
The process to convert lithium carbonate to lithium hydroxide involves first dissolving lithium carbonate in water to form a lithium carbonate solution. This solution is then reacted with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) to precipitate calcium carbonate and form lithium hydroxide in solution. Finally, the lithium hydroxide solution is filtered to remove the precipitated calcium carbonate and then concentrated and crystallized to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide.
| Filter | Filtration Value | Separation Product |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prevent ingression of impurities into system from feed Lithium Carbonate solution | 1 - 5 Micron Filter |
| 2 | Prevent ingression of impurities into system from injected hydrated lime solution | 1 - 5 Micron Filter |
| 3 | Recover fine Lithium Hydroxide particles and protect Ion Exchange (IX) from carryover solids coming from the centrifuge | Regenerable Filter |
| 4 | Remove trace solids and Ion Exchange resin fines before the crystallizer | 1 Micron Filter |
| 5 | Recover fine particles of Lithium Hydroxide from mother liquor recycle and water wash streams | Regenerable Filter |
| 6 | Protect RO filtration unit from fouling enabling consistent supply. RO water used to rinse final product | 10 Mircon Filter |
| 7 | Recover fine particles of Lithium Hydroxide from mother liquor recycle and water wash streams | Regenerable Filter |
Maximize your lithium production efficiency with our efficient filtration solutions. Contact our experts and let us help you take your process to the next level.