The present disclosure generally relates to processes and apparatuses for preparing lithium, lithium solutions, lithium compounds, or the like. Certain aspects are generally directed to enriching lithium-rich or feed solution using various techniques, including electrically-based techniques such as electrochemical ion exchange or galvanic ion extraction, to produce enriched or recovery solutions that enriched concentrations of lithium. In some cases, non-lithium monovalent, divalent, trivalent, or other multivalent ions may also be removed, e.g., to produce a polished solution, e.g., from which lithium may be more easily purified. The enriched or polished solutions may also be further treated in certain embodiments, for example, by removing water or adding various agents to produce various lithium compounds or lithium metal.
The present disclosure generally relates to flow-through electrodes, for example, for use in the extraction of ions such as lithium ions from a fluid. For example, certain aspects are generally directed to apparatus and methods for extracting lithium using lithium-selective electrodes or other electrodes, e.g., with a compartment. Electricity may be applied to incorporate lithium from a fluid within a compartment into an electrode and/or to remove lithium from an electrode into a fluid within a compartment. In some cases, some or all of the electrodes may allow fluid flow to occur through the electrode. This may allow, for example, improved separation efficiencies, novel device configurations for separating lithium, etc. In addition, in some cases, a plurality of compartments may be present, for example, in a stack. In certain embodiments, fluid may flow between compartments, for example, e.g., passing through one or more electrodes.
C02F 1/469 - Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage by electrochemical methods by electrochemical separation, e.g. by electro-osmosis, electrodialysis, electrophoresis
H01M 10/54 - Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste accumulators
3.
APPARATUSES, MANUFACTURING, AND OPERATION OF ELECTROCHEMICAL STACKS FOR METALS EXTRACTION, AND METHODS THEREOF
The present disclosure generally relates to apparatuses and methods for extraction of ions, including lithium ions. Certain aspects are generally directed to compartments that allow fluid to flow between electrodes from an inlet to an outlet, and in some embodiments, more than one fluid may flow through the compartment. For example, an ion-rich fluid may flow through a compartment and ions incorporated from the fluid into an electrode, which may be switched with an ion-poor fluid such that ions may be removed from the electrode into the ion-poor fluid. In some embodiments, the mixing of different fluids in a compartment may be minimized. For example, the compartments may be physically shaped to minimize mixing (e.g., by using a variety of configurations that produce converging flow fields), a rinse fluid may be used to separate the other fluids, etc.
The present disclosure generally relates to flow-through electrodes, for example, for use in the extraction of ions such as lithium ions from a fluid. For example, one aspect is generally directed to electrodes in a compartment that separate an inlet from an outlet, e.g., such that fluid flowing from the inlet to the outlet flow through the electrode. For instance, the electrode may contain channels, pores, etc. that cause fluid to flow transversely from a first surface to a second surface of the electrode. In some cases, a plurality of compartments may be present, e.g., as a stack, and in some embodiments, the compartments may have shapes such as cylindrical, rectangular, spiral, or the like, e.g., to reduce mixing or dispersion.
C25B 9/23 - Cells comprising dimensionally-stable non-movable electrodes; Assemblies of constructional parts thereof with diaphragms comprising ion-exchange membranes in or on which electrode material is embedded
The present disclosure generally relates to apparatuses and methods for extraction of ions, including lithium ions. For example, certain aspects are generally directed to electrochemical ion exchange techniques, in which ion exchange is driven by electricity. In some embodiments, a fluid rich in target ions (e.g., a feed solution) may be present in a compartment containing a target-ion selective electrode, and target ions from the fluid may be incorporated into the electrode, e.g., by applying a suitable current to drive ion exchange. At a second time, the target ions may be removed from the electrode, e.g., into a fluid poor in target ions (e.g., a recovery solution), for example, by applying a suitable current to drive ion exchange. In addition, certain embodiments are generally directed to a stack of such compartments.
The present disclosure generally relates to apparatuses and methods for extraction of ions, including lithium ions, e.g., from aqueous solutions. For example, some aspects are generally directed to apparatuses in which ion exchange can be driven by electricity. Such apparatuses can be used, for example, to extract target ions (e.g., lithium) from a target-ion rich fluid to a target-ion poor fluid. However, in some cases, the target-ion rich fluid may be substantially impure or contain a variety of contaminants, which can adversely affect various components within the apparatus, for example, the electrodes used to supply electricity. Thus, certain embodiments are generally directed to apparatuses and methods that can address various physical, chemical, and/or biological problems associated with such fluids, including hydrodynamic dispersion, water splitting, pH variations, bubble generation, corrosion, scaling, fouling, bio-fouling, dissolution, softening, erosion, freezing, boiling, or the like.
The present disclosure generally relates to apparatuses and methods for extraction of ions, including lithium ions. For example, certain aspects are generally directed to galvanic ion extraction techniques, which spontaneously passes current driven by potential differences between ions in two different fluids (e.g., one rich in a target ion, such as lithium, and one poor in the target ion). In some embodiments, target ions may be incorporated (e.g., deposited, intercalated, etc.) from an ion-rich fluid into a first electrode, while target ions may be removed from a second electrode into an ion-poor fluid, and in certain cases, the fluids may be intermittently switched, for example, such that the target ions may be removed from the first electrode and incorporated into the second electrode. In addition, certain embodiments are generally directed to a stack of compartments containing such electrodes, e.g., separated by anion-selective membranes, where the fluids may be alternated between adjacent compartments and anions passed across the anion-selective membranes to create the potential differences.
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