PRELIMINARY STUDY OF ALUMINIUM CONTENT IN THE LITHIUM EXTRACTION PROCESS

GONZALEZ DIEGO A; GRAMAJO MONICA BEATRIZ; BRUHL GONZALO

Avances en Ciencias e Ingenieria

Executive Business School

Año: 2020 vol. 11 p. 1 - 9

0718-8706

In the production of lithium carbonate, various analytes contained in the raw material are present. Among them, aluminum, which in concentrations higher than 10 ppm is considered a contaminant. In this work, an analysis of the different lines of the process of a lithium extraction plant will be carried out in order to evaluate in a preliminary way which is the current with the highest concentration of aluminum and propose an alternative to modify the process and meet the requirements that the market demands. Liquid and solid samples were taken from different points of the process and the concentration was measured by ICP-POES plasma spectroscopy. From the experimental results, it could be established that the highest concentration of aluminum is provided in the carbonation reaction, so it would be useful to place an aluminum retention column in this stage.