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SC6 fines, page-63

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rainbowdaisy

1,641 Posts.

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15/02/21

23:22

Post #: 51014025
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Originally posted by jgbit62: ↑

IMO finer grain size is not as big a problem as it once was to manufacturers of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Some of the technology to deal with it is mature & proven, reference my earlier post.

https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/sc6-fines.5903940/page-32?post_id=51000726

Even more recent equipment innovations such as the tunnel kiln (see p3 https://www.altamet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ALTA-2019-LP-Proceedings-Contents-Abstracts.pdf) appear to have significant advantages over the more common rotary kilns.

"Use of a rotary kiln for gypsum roasting is problematic. Use of a single counter-current rotary kiln can cause the reactions to proceed too far and in the case of clay-like materials and many lithium ores, can result in vitrification and un-extractable products. A co-current rotary kiln can be used to hold the material at the reaction temperature successfully, however the capital cost becomes prohibitive because two kilns are now required. Typically, a rotary cooler is used to cool the roasted product before leaching. The result of three large rotary devices is that the feed of the first device can be many tens of meters above ground with a commensurate installed capital cost."

"Tunnel kilns are an alternative to rotary kilns. Heat can be introduced into a tunnel kiln anywhere along its length and gas temperature controlled to within 5°C anywhere in kiln – product damage is easily avoided. Thermal efficiency is high with all exhausts just above dew point and equipment surface temperatures safe to touch. The solids are stationary on the cars and the gas velocities are insufficient to generate dust. Dust removal from the off-gas is not necessary even when processing ore containing 15% clay."

To that extent the following producer has recently (Jun 2020) installed and commisioned a tunnel kiln for lithium processing.

https://news.metal.com/newscontent/101160086/the-technical-renovation-of-nanshi-lithium-power-no4-roasting-kiln-tunnel-kiln-has-been-completed-and-successfully-ignited-and-put-into-production/

"The No. 4 roasting kiln is a tunnel kiln, which innovates and upgrades the dynamic roasting mode of lithium mica commonly used in the rotary kiln to a new static roasting mode. The new static roasting mode of lithium mica is more energy-saving and environmentally friendly, and the roasting quality is more stable."

Expand

looks like a translation from source.

the “static roasting” mode, may be flash calcination or microwave?

Here is a recent article where microwave heating is discussed to an extent. Some of the researchers are focussing on GB Spodumene.

ReviewLiterature Review and Thermodynamic Modelling of Roasting Processes for Lithium Extractionfrom Spodumene

FFX Price at posting: 25.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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