New developments related to utilization of lithium chemical current sources and production of lithium salts suitable for aluminothermic reduction

摘要

The ranges of application and production of lithium are steadily expanding. In the recent years the production of lithium chemical current sources (LCCS) was developing most dynamically, and with connection of the above, a part of lithium metal consumption is steadily increases in the total balance, lithium wastes are also raising putting questions on necessity of their utilization and development of a process to produce lithium from utilized lithium-bearing products. The works carried out in Moscow State Steel and Alloys Institute on utilization of lithium-bearing wastes allow the following LCCS processing scheme to be proposed: decomposition of element body, leaching of cathode mass and anode blocks obtaining lithium-bearing solutions and manganese dioxide, precipitation of lithium out of the solutions as lithium carbonate and lithium droxodialuminate (LHODA), synthesis of lithium aluminates by sintering of lithium carbonate with LHODA, aluminothermic reduction of lithium aluminates in vacuum producing lithium metal.