Li, Cu, Co, Ni, Mn
FE develops complete thermal solutions for production processes in the mining and metallurgical industries. FE’s evaporation and crystallization systems allow the production of pure minerals, the recovery of by-products, and wastewater treatment.
Lithium
Lithium can be primarily produced either from brines (geothermal brines, continental brines, etc.), or from minerals (spodumene, lepidolite, etc.). Production of pure lithium compounds from both sources involve technologies mastered by FE: evaporation, crystallization, and precipitation. FE also integrates complementary technologies in its units including filtration systems, ion exchange resins, and drying of the crystals.
The lithium crystallization stages may come downstream a Direct Lithium Extraction unit. This DLE process is a complementary technology mastered by an FE reputable partner, world leader in this field.
At FE, we design turnkey solutions allowing the production of lithium chloride, lithium hydroxide, and lithium carbonate through evaporation and crystallization. Production of lithium hydroxide can also be the result of a conversion of lithium carbonate.
Refining
Among all the products involved in the lithium battery production, other metal salts are also key products, such as Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese and Copper in sulfate or hydroxide forms. To meet battery-grade level of purity, crystallization process is often the solution to reach the required target.
Furthermore, other by-products will go through evaporative crystallization. Sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate, potassium chloride or sodium chloride are typical salts for which FE can integrate dedicated crystallizers to provide a global answer.