Lithium Extraction Technology and Turnkey Systems

Lithium extraction from brine is a promising new source to supply the growing lithium market.  Demand is growing with the emergence of the lithium battery powered automobile.  Battery development is generating many improvements in the energy storage capacity, however most technology has lithium as a key component to the system.  The demand for lithium should continue to rise as the popularity of the battery powered car grows.  A typical lithium plant can be broken down into the following six major unit operations, each a plant onto themselves.

1. Ore Extraction
2. Brine Preparation
3. Lithium Extraction
4. Purification
5. Product Conversion
6. Utilities

The critical factor for the lithium extraction plant is control of the separation effectiveness of the constituent removal unit operations.  Batteries require high purity lithium.  The ability to remove low level constituents from the product is the key to any lithium operation.