Device for producing lithium carbonate crystals
AssigneeK-Utec AG Salt Technologies
InventorsBernd SCHULTHEIS, Christoph NEY, Markus PFÄNDER, Jenny HESS, Georg KATZMANN, Jing WANG
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Abstract
The invention relates to a device and a method for the continuous, controlled crystallisation of metal salt crystals, in particular lithium carbonate crystals. These crystals can be produced with a high degree of homogeneity on a large scale.
Claims20
A reactor comprising a cylindrical vessel with a centrally arranged axial agitator (6) with a guide tube (3), which generates a flow directed towards the bottom of the vessel, as well as an annular clarifying ring (1) concentrically surrounding the axial agitator (6) and an overflow (2),
- characterized in that the reactor comprises a thermally insulated feed pipe (7) for introducing an aqueous phase, solid suspension, or a gas phase, which protrudes into the interior of the reactor vessel.
A method for crystallization in a cylindrical reactor equipped with an agitator, wherein the crystallization method comprises the following step:
- a) initiating a precipitation reaction by supplying at least one liquid or gaseous medium into a medium inside the reactor, wherein the supplied medium has a higher temperature than the reactor medium, whereby a temperature change occurs in the reaction medium inside the reactor, which induces or promotes the precipitation reaction, without introducing a surface into the reactor that creates a temperature gradient with respect to the reactor medium.
Lithium carbonate as a spherical crystalline substance with a median diameter of 0.15 mm to 0.75 mm as the median value with a narrow particle size distribution with a 10% size percentile between 0.09 and 0.65 mm up to a 90% size percentile between 0.20 mm and 0.80 mm and, particularly preferably, with a particle diameter of 0.208 mm with a particle size distribution from a 10% size percentile of 0.169 mm to a 90% size percentile of 0.255 mm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.