Recovery of lithium from brines
AssigneeThe Dow Chemical Company
InventorsJohn M. Lee, William C. Bauman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Lithium is preferentially extracted from brine containing Li salts along with salts of other metals, e.g. Na, Ca, Mg, K, and/or B, by contacting the brine with a particulate anion exchange resin having suspended therein a microcrystalline form of LiX.sup.. 2A1 (OH).sub.3, where X=halide.
Claims5
A process for removing Li.sup.+ from aqueous brines, said process comprising, in sequence, the steps of:
- a. contacting a Li.sup.+ -containing brine with an anion exchange resin having suspended therein a microcrystalline form of LiX.2Al(OH).sub.3, where X is halogen;
- b. eluting Li.sup.+ values from the resin by contacting it with an aqueous wash liquor;
- and
- c. repeating steps (a) and (b), sequentially, a plurality of times by using the resin from step (b) as the resin in step (a).
The process of claim 4 wherein the amount of lithium halide dissolved in the wash liquor is about 50 to about 200 mg. per liter, as Li.sup.+.
A process for recovering Li.sup.+ values from Li.sup.+ containing ores, said process comprising:
- providing the ore in particulate form and leaching water-solubles from the ore using an aqueous brine wash, thereby forming an aqueous brine solution containing Li.sup.+ values,
- contacting the so-formed Li.sup.+ -containing aqueous brine solution with an anion exchange resin having suspended therein a microcrystalline form of LiX.2Al(OH).sub.3, where X is halogen,
- eluting Li.sup.+ values from said exchange resin, by using an aqueous wash, and
- recovering Li.sup.+ values from said aqueous wash.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.