Ion exchange reactor with particle traps for lithium extraction

A method for extracting lithium from a liquid resource, comprising:

• a) providing an ion exchange reactor comprising one or more particle traps;
• b) providing ion exchange particles in said ion exchange reactor;
• c) contacting said ion exchange particles in said ion exchange reactor with said liquid resource, wherein hydrogen ions from said ion exchange particles are exchanged with lithium ions from said liquid resource to produce lithium-enriched ion exchange particles in said ion exchange reactor;
• d) removing said liquid resource from said ion exchange reactor while retaining said ion exchange particles in said ion exchange reactor using said one or more particle traps;
• e) treating said lithium-enriched ion exchange particles with an acid solution, wherein said lithium ions from said lithium-enriched ion exchange particles are exchanged with hydrogen ions from said acid solution to produce a lithium eluate solution;
• and
• f) removing said lithium eluate solution from said ion exchange reactor while retaining said ion exchange particles in said ion exchange reactor using said one or more particle traps;
• wherein said one or more particle traps comprise one or more filters, and wherein said one or more filters comprise a belt filter, a filter press, a pressure vessel containing filter elements, a rotary drum filter, a rotary disc filter, a centrifugal filter with a fixed or moving bed, a perforated basket centrifuge, a three-point centrifuge, a peeler type centrifuge, or a pusher centrifuge.