Filter Cartridge for Extracting Lithium from Brine, Filter Cartridge Assembly and Apparatus

Abstract

The present invention provides a filter cartridge (1) for extracting lithium from lithium-containing brine, a filter cartridge assembly comprising a cartridge container (80) which contains such a filter cartridge (1), and an apparatus comprising a plurality of such filter cartridge assemblies (1, 80). The filter cartridge (1) at least comprises a capture electrode (47) for capturing lithium ions from the brine, a capture electrode current collector (48) for imparting a negative charge to the capture electrode, a counter electrode (51), and a counter electrode current collector (52) for imparting a positive charge to the counter electrode. Each of the capture electrode, the capture electrode current collector, the counter electrode and the counter electrode current collector comprises a brine-permeable sheet. The sheets are each in the form of a long strip, so that each sheet has an opposing pair of long edges and an opposing pair of short edges. The sheets are stacked in layers forming a stack (67) which is wound into a spiral cylinder, so that the opposing pairs of long edges of all the sheets form opposite ends of the cylinder, allowing the lithium-containing brine to flow radially through the cylinder. At least one of the capture electrode current collector and the counter electrode current collector are provided with a respective plurality of electrical contacts along a respective one of the opposing pair of long edges of the respective current collector, and the plurality of electrical contacts are electrically connected to each other and to a common electrical current connector. The apparatus comprises a plurality of the filter cartridge assemblies (1, 80) arranged in series and/or parallel with each other and sharing a common electrical supply.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.