Purification of lithium salts by CSA continuous countercurrent ion exchange

Technical Report · Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:6836950

Higgins, I R ^[1]

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1. CSA, Inc., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

A Continuous Countercurrent Ion Exchange (CCIX) process was developed for extraction of low levels of sodium, potassium, iron, and nickel from strong solutions of lithium chloride and lithium hydroxide. This study was done on a two-inch diameter CSA, Inc. CCIX pilot unit. A standard 8% cross-linked cation exchange resin was used. The feed was either 2[und M] LiCl or 2[und M] LiOH. The trace levels of contaminants had a slightly higher affinity for the resin than lithium and extracted 90% or better. Residual lithium on the resin was scrubbed of with KOH to render a lithium loss of less than 1% in the waste. Contaminants were stripped from the resin with 3[und M] HCl. Zinc was one metal that was not extracted because it formed an anionic chloride complex. However zinc and certain other metals were extracted with high efficiency using strong-base type resin. Other resins are available for efficient extraction of many other metal contaminants, but the alkali metals, Na and K, were dependent on the CCIX common cation exchange system.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, TN (United States); CSA, Inc., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OS21400
• OSTI ID: 6836950
• Report Number(s): Y/DZ-835; ON: DE93004754
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
PURIFICATION
ALKALI METALS
CALCIUM CHLORIDES
COUNTER CURRENT
EXTRACTION
ION EXCHANGE
NICKEL
POTASSIUM CHLORIDES
PROGRESS REPORT
SCRUBBING
SODIUM CHLORIDES
STRIPPING
ZINC
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM HALIDES
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DIRECT REACTIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
METALS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
TRANSFER REACTIONS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
400105* - Separation Procedures