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US 10,661,227 B2Granted
Method for producing lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate
AssigneeResearch Institute of Industrial Science & Technology
InventorsSung Kook Park, Kwang Seok Park, Sang Gil Lee, Woo Chul Jung, Ki Young Kim, Hyun Woo Lee
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method for producing lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate, wherein the lithium hydroxide and the lithium carbonate can be produced by a series of steps of: performing bipolar electrodialysis of a lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities have been removed; concentrating lithium in the lithium-containing solution and at the same time, converting the lithium to lithium hydroxide; and carbonating the lithium hydroxide to obtain lithium carbonate.
Claims18
A method for producing lithium hydroxide, comprising
- chemically purifying a lithium-containing solution to remove divalent ion impurities;
- performing a bipolar electrodialysis of a lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed, concentrating lithium in the lithium-containing solution, and at the same time, converting the lithium to lithium hydroxide;
- and
- performing an electrodialysis of the solution containing the lithium hydroxide to concentrate lithium therein, after the step of performing the bipolar electrodialysis of the lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed,
- wherein the bipolar electrodialysis is performed using a bipolar electrodialysis device including an anode cell containing an anode, a first bipolar membrane, an anion selective-type dialysis membrane, a cation selective-type dialysis membrane, a second bipolar membrane, a cathode cell containing a cathode in a sequential order, an acidic solution tank outside the anode cell, and a basic solution tank outside the cathode cell, wherein a solution between the first bipolar membrane and the anion selective-type dialysis membrane is circulated through the acidic solution tank, and a solution between the second bipolar membrane and the cation selective-type dialysis membrane is circulated through the basic solution tank,
- the step of performing bipolar electrodialysis of a lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed, concentrating lithium in the lithium-containing solution, and at the same time, converting the lithium to lithium hydroxide includes injecting the lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed between the anion selective-type dialysis membrane and the cation selective-type dialysis membrane in the bipolar electrodialysis device and injecting water between the first bipolar membrane and the anion selective-type dialysis membrane and between the second bipolar membrane and the cation selective-type dialysis membrane, respectively;
- and applying a current to the bipolar electrodialysis device to which lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed and the water are injected to form an acidic solution between the first bipolar membrane and the anion selective-type dialysis membrane and to form a basic solution including the lithium hydroxide between the cation selective-type dialysis membrane and the second bipolar membrane,
- a weight ratio of an amount of water relative to an amount of the lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed (water:lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed) is 1:1 to 1:5, and
- the step of performing electrodialysis of the solution containing the lithium hydroxide to concentrate lithium therein includes feeding the solution containing the lithium hydroxide to a dilute compartment of an electrodialysis device.
6 more elements
A method of producing lithium carbonate, comprising
- chemically purifying a lithium-containing solution to remove divalent ion impurities;
- performing bipolar electrodialysis of a lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed, concentrating lithium in the lithium-containing solution, and at the same time, converting the lithium to lithium hydroxide;
- performing an electrodialysis of the solution containing the lithium hydroxide to concentrate lithium therein, after the step of performing the bipolar electrodialysis of the lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed, and
- carbonating the solution containing the lithium hydroxide to precipitate lithium carbonate,
- wherein the bipolar electrodialysis is performed using a bipolar electrodialysis device including an anode cell containing an anode, a first bipolar membrane, an anion selective-type dialysis membrane, a cation selective-type dialysis membrane, a second bipolar membrane, a cathode cell containing a cathode in a sequential order, an acidic solution tank outside the anode cell, and a basic solution tank outside the cathode cell, wherein a solution between the first bipolar membrane and the anion selective-type dialysis membrane is circulated through the acidic solution tank, and a solution between the second bipolar membrane and the cation selective-type dialysis membrane through the basic solution tank,
- the step of performing bipolar electrodialysis of a lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed, concentrating lithium in the lithium-containing solution, and at the same time, converting the lithium to lithium hydroxide includes injecting the lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed between the anion selective-type dialysis membrane and the cation selective-type dialysis membrane in the bipolar electrodialysis device and injecting water between the first bipolar membrane and the anion selective-type dialysis membrane and between the cation selective-type dialysis membrane and the second bipolar membrane, respectively;
- and applying a current to the bipolar electrodialysis device to which lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed and the water are injected to form an acidic solution between the first bipolar membrane and the anion selective-type dialysis membrane and to form a basic solution including the lithium hydroxide between the cation selective-type dialysis membrane and the second bipolar membrane,
- a weight ratio of an amount of water relative to an amount of the lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed (water:lithium-containing solution from which divalent ion impurities are removed) is 1:1 to 1:5, and
- the step of performing electrodialysis of the solution containing the lithium hydroxide to concentrate therein includes feeding the solution containing the lithium hydroxide to a dilute compartment of an electrodialysis device.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.