Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Lithium Processing
Decanter Centrifuges for Lithium DewateringLithium dewatering and recovery are optimized by Flottweg’s German-engineered Centrifuges. Our technology ensures efficient spodumene beneficiation, significant water recovery, and increased safety. Enjoy the benefits of continuous recovery, recycling of captured process water, and solutions for tackling geographic constraints, all within a compact design that requires minimal infrastructure. Discover how Flottweg is leading the way in sustainable lithium processing. Contact us today to learn more!
Lithium has been intentionally mined since the 1950s, and now, the global market is searching for better processing methods/technology.
Production of lithium has become increasingly vital with the growing demand for lithium-ion batteries used in various applications, including electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems. However, the process of extracting lithium faces several challenges that impact efficiency and profitability. Flottweg’s expertise is expanded into the lithium market, with solutions for top challenges in the lithium processing arena.
Choose your process to learn how Flottweg optimizes your lithium production
Centrifuges for optimizing the lithium extraction process.
Spodumene Lithium Beneficiation & Extraction
In the hard-rock mining of spodumene, or other lithium-bearing ores, the decanter centrifuge is employed at two stages during post-communition/beneficiation. The first stage provides dewatering of slurried tailings, providing significant water recovery, along with a spadeable solid. The second stage is found in the value stream of further concentration of lithium-bearing slurry, to produce a lithium/spodumene concentrate for additional refinement, while providing additional water recovery for re-utilization.
Example of Spodumene Lithium Beneficiation & Extraction
Your advantages for mineral & ore processing
Flottweg centrifuges play a key role in separating process water from slurry, enabling recycling and reuse. A key advantage is the continuous recovery that the centrifuge creates, as opposed to alternative technology. This contributes to sustainable water management while reducing the environmental impact.
Flottweg centrifuges require minimal infrastructure for installation, offering practical advantages for lithium producers. With their compact design, Flottweg centrifuges are easily installed in confined spaces, making them suitable for operations with limited space availability. This design permits additional maneuverability of the unit, to ensure the perfect placement for your process flow.
Flottweg lithium centrifuges separate fine tailings from the slurry, contributing to safer and more stable tailings storage facilities, while also extending the life of the site’s TSF or ponds, delaying costly construction and investment.
Lithium-bearing Clay: Dewatering and Processing
Flottweg decanter technology accomplishes two crucial stages in lithium-bearing clay processing. Handling a lithium-bearing clay slurry, decanter centrifuges create a further refined, lithium clay concentrate. This step also produces additional water recovery via the centrate output. In refinement steps, the Flottweg centrifuge will handle enriched leachates, post-crystallization.
Example of Lithium-bearing Clay: Dewatering and Process Flow
Your advantages for dewatering and processing
Flottweg centrifuges play a key role in separating process water from slurry, enabling recycling and reuse. A key advantage is the continuous recovery that the centrifuge creates, as opposed to alternative technology. This contributes to sustainable water management while reducing the environmental impact.
Flottweg centrifuges require minimal infrastructure for installation, offering practical advantages for lithium producers. With their compact design, Flottweg centrifuges are easily installed in confined spaces, making them suitable for operations with limited space availability. This design permits additional maneuverability of the unit, to ensure the perfect placement for your process flow.
Flottweg lithium centrifuges separate fine tailings from the slurry, contributing to safer and more stable tailings storage facilities, while also extending the life of the site’s TSF or ponds, delaying costly construction and investment.
Refining into Technical and Battery-Grade Lithium
Flottweg decanter technology engages in a multitude of stages in the refining of producing technical and battery-grade Lithium. The Flottweg centrifuge will process lithium carbonate slurry, sodium sulfate slurry and lithium hydroxide slurry, producing dewatered salts, and thickened value material for additional handling, while capturing process water for re-utilization, promoting water stewardship.
Example of Refining into Technical and Battery-Grade Lithium
Your advantages for refining and processing
Designed to exacting specifications to ensure the highest purity of separated phases at required cutoff points ensures consistency of quality for additional downstream refining and handling.
Flottweg centrifuges play a key role in separating process water from slurry, enabling recycling and reuse. A key advantage is the continuous recovery that the centrifuge creates, as opposed to alternate technology. This contributes to sustainable water management while reducing the environmental impact.
Concentrating Lithium-bearing Brine via Liquid/Liquid Separation
Flottweg Tricanter® technology separates three-phases from a single feed. In the lithium-bearing brine space, this technology is utilized to concentrate the brine, by separating two liquids from a feed of varying densities. A light phase and a heavy phase are produced, permitting further refinement into the final value material. If required for your process, Flottweg can program an output of an additional solid phase from your feed, creating three-phases of output from a single feed.
Your advantages for concentration and refinement
During the lithium brine concentration process, recovering valuable liquid, known as a pregnant liquor, is crucial for increasing overall yield and minimizing waste. Flottweg’s Tricanter® offers the potential for a highly efficient extraction process, ensuring high purity of the separated phases.
Flottweg centrifuges play a key role in separating process water from slurry, enabling recycling and reuse. A key advantage is the continuous recovery that the centrifuge creates, as opposed to alternate technology. This contributes to sustainable water management while reducing the environmental impact.
Benefitting Every Flottweg Customer
Flottweg's commitment to environmental sustainability extends to energy efficiency. Flottweg centrifuge systems are engineered for optimized power consumption, reducing the carbon footprint of the extraction process.
Flottweg lithium centrifuges are designed for user-friendly operation and require minimal downtime, ensuring continuous and uninterrupted production.
Flottweg decanter centrifuges are engineered and manufactured in Germany, ensuring exceptional quality, reliability, and adherence to international standards.
The high forces at work in the centrifuge result in wear on the machine. The wear protection in Flottweg decanter centrifuges reduces wear, and the parts affected can be replaced and renewed. Flottweg centrifuges are engineered to withstand the rigors of any environment.
Flottweg – A Reliable Partner at Your Side
In addition to high-quality products, fast and competent support also helps to achieve the best possible result. Flottweg's support begins with detailed consulting followed by laboratory and pilot tests to determine the exact machine configuration. On-site commissioning, process optimization, and integration into the customer's existing plant complete the picture. Years after the purchase, we continue to support our customers through maintenance contracts and a worldwide service team.
Get the Most out of Your Process with Flottweg Trials
The individual steps and processes in lithium production require different approaches. Test machines from Flottweg ensure that you get the best out of your individual process. We test and analyze your products to find the optimal solution together.
As a partner, we advise our customers from the beginning to maintenance, training, and optimization long after commissioning.
Get in touch with our Lithium experts!