Lithium metatungstate
AssigneeBHP-Utah International Corp.
InventorsWillem P. C. Duyvesteyn, Houyuan Liu, Nicholas L. Labao, Purusotam L. Shrestha
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Abstract
Lithium metatungstate as a new composition of matter and the production thereof are disclosed. A solution of lithium monotungstate is treated with an extractant to remove sufficient lithium ions to produce a dilute solution of lithium metatungstate and the dilute solution is then concentrated. Lithium metatungstate solutions are more dense than other alkali metal metatungstates and have lower viscosities which properties make the solutions highly useful for heavy media separations.
Claims14
A composition of matter comprising lithium metatungstate dissolved in water to provide a solution having a density of at least about 3.2 g/cc.
A process for producing lithium metatungstate which comprises establishing an aqueous solution of lithium monotungstate, treating the lithium monotungstate solution with a cation extractant to lower the pH value of the solution to between about 3.5 and 5.0 to produce a dilute solution of lithium metatungstate and removing water from the dilute solution to provide a concentrated lithium metatungstate solution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.