Recovering mixed-metal ions from aqueous solutions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022205064-A1
Application number	US-202117566378-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 30, 2021
Priority date	Dec 31, 2020
Publication date	Jun 30, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

Hydrometallurgical solvent extraction processes for recovering value metal ion species such as any of manganese, cobalt, nickel, and/or lithium from solutions derived from recycled electronics and/or batteries and containing mixed-metal ions by separating the value metal ions using selective stripping techniques as herein described, are provided.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A hydrometallurgical solvent extraction process, comprising:
intermixing an aqueous acidic feed stream comprising mixed metal ions with an organic solvent comprising a first metal extraction reagent that is selective to binding a first target metal ion species, to extract the first target metal ion species into the organic solvent and obtain a loaded organic solvent comprising the first target metal ion species and one or more non-target metal ion species; selectively stripping the loaded organic solvent, wherein selectively stripping the loaded organic solvent comprises
intermixing the loaded organic solvent with a second aqueous acidic strip solution at a second pH, to transfer the first target metal ion species from the loaded organic solvent to the second aqueous acidic strip solution, and
(i) prior to intermixing the loaded organic solvent with the second aqueous acidic strip solution, intermixing the loaded organic solvent with a first aqueous acidic strip solution at a first pH that is greater than the second pH, to transfer a first non-target metal ion species of the one or more non-target metal ion species to the first aqueous acidic strip solution, or
(ii) subsequent to intermixing the loaded organic solvent with the second aqueous acidic strip solution, intermixing the loaded organic solvent with a third aqueous acidic strip solution at a third pH that is less than the second pH, to transfer a second non-target metal ion species of the one or more non-target metal ion species to the third aqueous acidic strip solution, or
both (i) and (ii); and
recovering the first target metal ion species from the second aqueous acidic strip solution.

2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein
(a) intermixing the loaded organic solvent with the first aqueous strip acidic solution at the first pH selectively removes the first non-target metal ion species compared to at least one of the first target metal ion species or the second non-target metal ion species, or (b) intermixing the loaded organic solvent with the third aqueous acidic solution at the third pH selectively removes the second non-target metal ion species compared to at least one of the first target metal ion species or the first non-target metal ion species, or both (a) and (b).

3 . The process of claim 1 , wherein
(a) the second pH is at least 0.5 less than the first pH, or (b) the second pH is at least 0.5 more than the third pH, or both (a) and (b).

4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the second pH is between 0 and 2, and
(a) the first pH is between 2 and 5, or (b) the third pH is between −0.8 and 1, or both (a) and (b).

5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the second pH is between 2 and 5, and
(a) the first pH is between 5 and 6, or (b) the third pH is between −0.5 and 3, or both (a) and (b).

6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the second pH is between 1.5 and 5, and
(a) the first pH is between 5.5 and 7, or (b) the third pH is between 1 and 4, or both (a) and (b).

7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the second pH is between 1.5 and 7, and
(a) the first pH is between 10 and 12, or (b) the third pH is between 1 and 6, or both (a) and (b).

8 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous acidic feed stream is derived from at least one of recycled electronics or recycled battery materials, and
wherein the aqueous acidic feed stream comprises one or more of manganese, cobalt, nickel, or lithium metal ions.

9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first target metal ion species comprises manganese, and
(a) the first non-target metal ion species comprises copper, or (b) the second non-target metal ion species comprises at least one of iron or aluminium, or both (a) and (b).

10 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first target metal ion species comprises cobalt, and
(a) the first non-target metal ion species comprises at least one of nickel, lithium, calcium, sodium, or ammonium, or (b) the second non-target metal ion species comprises at least one of manganese or copper, or both (a) and (b).

11 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first target metal ion species comprises nickel, and
(a) the first non-target metal ion species comprises cobalt, or (b) the second non-target metal ion species comprises at least one of copper, aluminum, or iron, or both (a) and (b).

12 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first target metal ion species comprises lithium, and
(a) the first non-target metal ion species comprises at least one of sodium or ammonium, or (b) the second non-target metal ion species comprises at least one of nickel or calcium, or both (a) and (b).

13 . The process of claim 1 , wherein a loading capacity of the first metal extraction reagent is less than 70%.

14 . The process of claim 1 , wherein recovering the first target metal ion species comprises crystallizing a sulfate hydrate product out of the second aqueous acidic strip solution.

15 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first metal extraction reagent comprises an organophosphorus compound.

16 . The process of claim 15 , wherein the organophosphorus compound comprises di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid.

17 . The process of claim 1 , comprising:
subsequent to intermixing the aqueous acidic feed stream with the organic solvent comprising the first metal extraction reagent, intermixing the aqueous acidic feed stream with a second organic solvent comprising a second metal extraction reagent that is selective to binding a second target metal ion species, to extract the second target metal ion species into the second organic solvent, wherein intermixing with the second organic solvent is conducted at a higher pH than intermixing with the organic solvent.

18 . The process of claim 1 , comprising obtaining the aqueous acidic feed stream comprising mixed-metal ions by:
performing a primary leach of black mass solids, wherein metal ion impurities are selectively leached from the black mass solids into a first leaching solution; performing first solid/liquid separation of the black mass solids and the first leaching solution; performing a secondary leach of the black mass solids, wherein value metal ions are selectively leached from the black mass solids into a secondary leaching solution; and performing second solid/liquid separation of the black mass solids and the secondary leaching solution, to isolate the secondary leaching solution enriched in the value metal ions.

19 . The process of claim 1 , comprising:
removing metal ion impurities comprising at least one of iron, copper, or aluminium from the aqueous acidic feed stream by at least one of
precipitating the metal ion impurities from the aqueous acidic feed stream as metal hydroxides and separating the precipitated metal hydroxides from the aqueous acidic feed stream by filtering, or
intermixing the aqueous acidic feed stream with a second organic solvent comprising a metal extraction reagent that is selective to binding the metal ion impurities, so transfer the metal ion impurities into the second organic solvent.

20 . The process of claim 1 , comprising:
prior to selectively stripping the loaded organic solvent, intermixing the loaded organic solvent with a scrubbing solution comprising at least one of sulfuric acid or a sulfate of the first target metal ion species; and removing one or more metal ion impurities from the loaded organic solvent intermixed with the scrubbing solution.

21 .

Assignees

• Cytec Ind Inc

Inventors

• Szolga Jr William
• Bednarski Troy
• Jakovljevic Boban
• Moya Luis

Classifications

• C22B7/007

  by acid leaching · CPC title

• H01M10/54

  Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste accumulators · CPC title

• C22B3/26 Primary

  by liquid-liquid extraction using organic compounds · CPC title

• C22B23/0415

  with acids or salt solutions except ammonium salts solutions · CPC title

• C22B26/12

  Obtaining lithium · CPC title