Apparatus and methods for lithium, calcium, and magnesium extraction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025154624-A1
Application number	US-202318838902-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 15, 2023
Priority date	Feb 16, 2022
Publication date	May 15, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

Provided herein are assemblies and methods for lithium, magnesium, and/or calcium extraction. In various embodiments, an assembly includes a leaching tank defining an interior chamber having one or more inlets and one or more outlets. The leaching tank is configured to receive through the one or more inlets a mixture comprising a substrate having one or more target metals and a solvent. The assembly further includes a sonic probe positioned within the interior chamber, suspended in the solution, and/or a sonic plate configured to provide sonic energy to the mixture.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of selectively extracting one or more target elements from a mixture, the method comprising:
combining, in a leaching tank, a solid substrate comprising the one or more target elements and a solvent to thereby form the mixture; applying acoustic energy to the mixture to thereby separate the one or more target species from non-target materials; outputting the one or more target metals in a target species-rich stream.

2 . A method of selectively extracting one or more target metals from a mixture, the method comprising:
combining, in a leaching tank, a solid substrate comprising the one or more target metals a solvent and to thereby form the mixture; applying sonic energy to the mixture to thereby separate the one or more target metals from non-target materials; outputting the one or more target metals in a target metal-rich stream.

3 . The method of claim 1 or 2 , further comprising outputting the non-target materials.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the target metal-rich stream is output in a first outlet and the non-target materials are output in a second outlet.

5 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein leaching tank further comprises a stirring device.

6 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the leaching tank is configured to operate as a batch reactor.

7 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the leaching tank is configured to operate as continuous stirred tank reactor.

8 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the leaching tank is configured to operate as a plug-flow reactor.

9 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the leaching tank is configured to operate as a continuous flow reactor.

10 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the leaching tank is configured to operate as a fixed-bed reactor.

11 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the leaching tank is configured to operate as a fluidized-bed reactor.

12 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein the leaching tank is configured to operate in series (e.g., with one or more other leaching reactors).

13 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein the leaching tank is configured to operate in parallel (e.g., with one or more other leaching reactors).

14 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 13 , wherein the one or more target metals comprise one or more alkali metals or one or more alkaline earth metals.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the one or more alkali metals comprise lithium.

16 . The method of claim 14 or claim 15 , wherein the one or more alkaline earth metals comprise magnesium.

17 . The method of any one of claims 14 to 16 , wherein the one or more alkaline earth metals comprise calcium.

18 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 17 , wherein the acoustic energy is applied via a sonic probe extending into the mixture.

19 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 17 , wherein the sonic energy is applied via a sonic probe extending into the mixture.

20 . The method of claim 18 or 19 , wherein the mixture is flowing.

21 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 20 , wherein the acoustic energy is applied via a sonic plate in contact with the leaching tank.

22 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 20 , wherein the sonic energy is applied via a sonic plate in contact with the leaching tank.

23 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 22 , wherein the acoustic probe is configured to provide acoustic energy at different frequencies (and amplitudes) that may represent one or more resonant frequencies of the solid substrate comprising the target metal.

24 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 22 , wherein the sonic probe is configured to provide sonic energy at one or more resonant frequencies of the solid substrate comprising the target metal.

25 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the sonic energy has a frequency of about 18 kHz to about 2 MHz.

26 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 2 Hz to about 200 MHz.

27 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1 Mhz.

28 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.1 Mhz.

29 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.2 Mhz.

30 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.3 Mhz.

31 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.4 Mhz.

32 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.5 Mhz.

33 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.6 Mhz.

34 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.7 Mhz.

35 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.8 Mhz.

36 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 1.9 Mhz.

37 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 2 Mhz.

38 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 3 Mhz.

39 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 4 Mhz.

40 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 5 Mhz.

41 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 6 Mhz.

42 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 7 Mhz.

43 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 8 Mhz.

44 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 9 Mhz.

45 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 10 Mhz.

46 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 11 Mhz.

47 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 12 Mhz.

48 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 13 Mhz.

49 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 14 Mhz.

50 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 24 , wherein the acoustic energy has a frequency of about 15 Mhz.

51 . The method of any one of claims 1 to 50 , wherein the substrate comprises particles having a median diameter of 5 micrometers to about 50 mm.

52 . The me

Assignees

• Univ California
• Ut Battelle Llc

Inventors

• Sant Gaurav
• Arnold Ross
• Bauchy Mathieu
• Simonetti Dante
• Chen Xin
• Jassby David
• Anovitz Lawrence
• Rodriguez Elena Tajuelo

Classifications

• C22B26/22

  Obtaining magnesium · CPC title

• C22B26/12

  Obtaining lithium · CPC title

• C22B3/02

  Apparatus therefor · CPC title

• B01D11/028

  Flow sheets · CPC title

• B01D11/0257

  using mixing mechanisms, e.g. stirrers, jets (B01D11/0242 takes precedence) · CPC title