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1 EP 2 591 130 B1 2 Description Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a method of extracting lithium from a lithium bearing solution. Background Art [0002] The application of lithium currently extends to diverse industries,including the rechargeable battery, glass, ceramic, alloy, lubricant, and pharmaceutical in- dustries. The lithium rechargeable battery has recently been receiving attention as a main power source for hy- brid and electric cars, and the market for lithium recharge- able batteries for cars is expected to continue growing to approximately one-hundred times the conventional compact battery markets for cell phones and notebooks. [0003] In addition, a global movement towards more stringent environmental regulations is likely to expand the application of lithium to not only the hybrid and electric car industries, but to the electrical, chemical and energy fields as well. Thus, a dramatic increase of both domestic and foreign demand for lithium is expected. [0004] The main sources for the lithium could be min- erals, brine and seawater. Although minerals such as spodumene, petalite and lepidolite contain relatively large amountsof lithium, ranging from approximately 1 to 1.5%, the extraction involves complicated processes such as floatation, calcining at a high temperature, grind- ing, acid mixing, extraction, purification, concentration and precipitation. These processes, require high energy consumption, are considered to be cost-ineffective, and the use of acids during the lithium extraction also causes environmental pollution. [0005] It has been reported that approximately 2.531011 tons of lithium is dissolved in seawater. Al- though the majority of technologies involve inserting an extraction device containing an absorbent into the sea- water in order to extract lithium by treating with acids after selectively absorbing the lithium, it is extremely inefficient and uneconomical to directly extract the lithium from sea- water because the concentration of lithium contained in the seawater is limited to 0.17ppm. [0006] Due to the aforementioned disadvantages, lith- ium is currently extracted from brine produced from nat- ural salt lakes, but salts such as Mg, Ca, B, Na, K, SO4 are also dissolved in the brine. [0007] Further, the concentration of lithium contained in the brine ranges from approximately 0.3 to 1.5g/L, and lithium contained in the brine is usually extracted in the form of lithium carbonate having a solubility of about 13g/L. Even assumingthat lithium contained in the brine is completely converted to lithium carbonate, the concen- tration of lithium carbonate in the brine is limited to 1.59 to 7.95g/L (the molecular weight of Li2CO3 is 74, and the atomic weight of Li is 7. If the concentration of lithium is multiplied by 5.3 (74414 6.3), the concentration of lith- ium carbonate can be estimated). Since most of the lith- ium carbonate concentration is lower than the solubility of lithium carbonate, the extracted lithium carbonate re- dissolves,and thus there is a problem of the lithium ex- traction yield being extremely low. [0008] Traditionally, in order to extract lithium carbon- ate from lithium contained in brine, the brine pumped from the natural salt lake was stored in evaporation ponds and subsequently naturally evaporated outdoors over a long period of time, for instance about one year, to con- centrate the lithium by several tenfold. Then, the impuri- ties such as magnesium, calcium, boron were precipitat- ed in order to be removed, and the method required an amount greater than the solubility of lithium carbonate to precipitate. [0009] For instance, Chinese Patent Pub. No. 1,626,443 describes a method of extracting lithium, wherein brine is evaporated and concentrated under so- lar heat, and the concentrate is subject to repeated elec- tro-dialysis in order to obtain brine containing concen- trated lithium with a low amount of magnesium. [0010] ’Lithium Production From Highly Saline Dead Sea Brines’ Tandy et al. Reviews in Chemical Engineer- ing, vol. 9, no. 3-4, 1993 describes a method of lithium extraction from Dead Sea brines through the addition of a sodium phosphate solution. [0011] Such conventional methods require the evapo- ration and concentration of the brine, which are time- consuming and unproductive, especially during rainy seasons. Further, the loss of lithium is unavoidable when lithium is precipitated along with other impurities in the form of a salt. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem [0012] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of economical extraction of high purity lithium phosphate with high extraction yield from brine, which does not require the processes of evap- oration and concentration of the brine for a long period of time, by using lithium phosphate having low solubility may be provided. Solution to Problem [0013] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of economical extraction of lithium from a lithium bearing solution by adding a phos- phorous supplying material to the solution to precipitate lithium phosphate from the dissolved lithium is provided, wherein the lithium bearing solution is brine and the con- centration of lithium in the brine is 0.1g/L or more. [0014] In one embodiment of the present invention, the phosphorous supplying material may be one selected from the group consisting of phosphorous, phosphoric acid, phosphate and a mixture thereof. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 2PDF Image | Patent Lithium European Patent Spec
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Product and Development Focus for Infinity Turbine
ORC Waste Heat Turbine and ORC System Build Plans: All turbine plans are $10,000 each. This allows you to build a system and then consider licensing for production after you have completed and tested a unit.Redox Flow Battery Technology: With the advent of the new USA tax credits for producing and selling batteries ($35/kW) we are focussing on a simple flow battery using shipping containers as the modular electrolyte storage units with tax credits up to $140,000 per system. Our main focus is on the salt battery. This battery can be used for both thermal and electrical storage applications. We call it the Cogeneration Battery or Cogen Battery. One project is converting salt (brine) based water conditioners to simultaneously produce power. In addition, there are many opportunities to extract Lithium from brine (salt lakes, groundwater, and producer water).Salt water or brine are huge sources for lithium. Most of the worlds lithium is acquired from a brine source. It's even in seawater in a low concentration. Brine is also a byproduct of huge powerplants, which can now use that as an electrolyte and a huge flow battery (which allows storage at the source).We welcome any business and equipment inquiries, as well as licensing our turbines for manufacturing.| CONTACT TEL: 608-238-6001 Email: greg@infinityturbine.com | RSS | AMP |