Preparation of Lithium Carbonate From Lithium Chloride Containing Brines

A method for the preparation of lithium carbonate from a lithium chloride containing brine solution, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a lithium chloride containing brine solution;
• removing at least a portion of silica present in said lithium chloride containing solution to produce a silica-lean lithium chloride containing solution;
• isolating lithium chloride from said silica-lean lithium chloride containing solution;
• recovering isolated lithium chloride to produce a lithium chloride-rich solution;
• supplying said lithium chloride-rich solution to an electrochemical cell and operating said electrochemical cell to produce a lithium hydroxide solution;
• recovering the lithium hydroxide solution from said electrochemical cell;
• contacting said lithium hydroxide solution with carbon dioxide to produce a slurry that include lithium carbonate;
• and
• recovering lithium carbonate from said slurry.

A method for the preparation of lithium carbonate from a lithium chloride containing brine solution, the method comprising the steps of:

• supplying a substantially silica-free lithium chloride solution to a lithium chloride capture step, said lithium chloride capture step being operable to capture said lithium chloride from the silica-lean lithium chloride containing stream;
• recovering lithium chloride from the lithium capture step to produce a concentrated lithium chloride rich stream;
• contacting the concentrated lithium chloride-rich stream and a sodium carbonate solution in a reaction vessel, wherein said sodium carbonate solution is prepared by contacting a sodium hydroxide solution with carbon dioxide gas, wherein the sodium hydroxide is prepared by electrolyzing sodium chloride;
• separating a product stream from the reaction vessel to provide a lithium carbonate product and a stream comprising sodium chloride;
• and
• optionally recycling at least a portion of the sodium chloride stream to the electrochemical cell for the production of sodium hydroxide.

A method for the preparation of lithium carbonate from a lithium chloride containing brine solution, the method comprising the steps of:

• supplying a substantially silica-free lithium chloride solution to a lithium chloride capture step, said lithium chloride capture step comprising contacting the substantially silica-free lithium chloride solution with a lithium aluminum intercalate column operable to capture the lithium chloride from the silica-lean lithium chloride containing stream;
• recovering lithium chloride from the lithium aluminum intercalate column to produce a concentrated lithium chloride rich stream;
• contacting the concentrated lithium chloride-rich stream and a sodium hydroxide solution in a reaction vessel to produce a solution comprising lithium hydroxide, wherein said sodium hydroxide solution is prepared by electrolyzing sodium chloride in an electrochemical cell, said electrochemical cell comprising an anode, a cathode, and a semi-permeable membrane separating an anode chamber and a cathode chamber;
• contacting the solution comprising lithium hydroxide with carbon dioxide gas in a reaction vessel to produce a solution that includes lithium carbonate;
• separating a product stream from the reaction vessel to provide a lithium carbonate product and a stream comprising sodium chloride;
• and
• optionally recycling at least a portion of the sodium chloride stream to the electrochemical cell for the production of sodium hydroxide.