Simulation in Aspen Adsorption of a process for obtaining Lithium by using adsorption resins

JUAN RAMIRO LEZAMA; LAURA GIMÉNEZ; BENJAMÍN GALVEZ; JUAN PABLO GUTIERREZ; ELEONORA ERDMANN

Buenos Aires

Congreso; WCCE11 - 11th WORLD CONGRESS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING IACCHE - XXX INTERAMERICAN CONGRESS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CAIQ2023 - XI ARGENTINIAN CONGRESS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CIBIQ2023 - II IBEROAMERICAN CONGRESS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING; 2023

Asociación Argentina de Ingenieros Químicos

In this work, a non-evaporative process is described and simulated. Lithium is extracted from brine by adsorption on a column charged with the MAS Aluminate resin. This resin can be operated from 0 to 90 °C and it has an adsorption capacity of 4.5 mg Li+/g resin. The column was simulated by using Aspen Adsorption. A Cycling Liquid Adsorption model is proposed to remove the Lithium ion from the brine. It includes the stages of adsorption and subsequent recovery of Lithium. A brine composed of lithium and water with a low lithium concentration is simulated, which places the work in the most unfavorable situation and in a position to apply a direct extraction method with adsorption resins. The thermodynamic model selected is Electrolyte NRTL. A laboratory-scale experiment was carried out to validate the model, where a brine flow rate of 0.3 l/h was circulated through the resin. From the results it is obtained that the adsorption capacity is affected by temperature. It is demonstrated that 40 °C is the optimal temperature for the brine and the resin evaluated. Other results show the evolution of the Lithium concentration in the depleted brine and in the elution water over time. This behavior is then compared with laboratory data to determine the design parameters of the adsorption and desorption stages. The design parameters are the adsorption rate of Lithium ion into the bed and the breakpoint where the resin collapses, which is taken from both laboratory experiences and the dynamic simulation. The breakpoint time from the simulation is 11.7 h.