Scribd
Upload
11 views

Josue Catari 1

The document studies the natural evaporation of brine after the lithium sulfate stage in the Uyuni Salt Flat. Testing was done by evaporating brine in plastic trays. Two precipitation stages were detected: bischofite and boracite. Analysis found lithium concentration increased from 0.461% to 1.082% while sulfate decreased from 1.67% to 0.32%.

Uploaded by

Edgar Erwin Roman Choque
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
11 views

Josue Catari 1

The document studies the natural evaporation of brine after the lithium sulfate stage in the Uyuni Salt Flat. Testing was done by evaporating brine in plastic trays. Two precipitation stages were detected: bischofite and boracite. Analysis found lithium concentration increased from 0.461% to 1.082% while sulfate decreased from 1.67% to 0.32%.

Uploaded by

Edgar Erwin Roman Choque
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

BRINE EVAPORATION STUDY AFTER LITHIUM

SULFATE STAGE IN UYUNI SALT FLATS.


J. Catari1, G. Altamirano2
Department Research and Development -YLB, Llipi Plant, Potosí, Bolivia

In this work we study the behavior of the natural evaporation of the brine after the lithium sulfate stage
in the Uyuni Salt Flat, this brine has an Mg/Li ratio of approximately 18/1, potassium and sodium
concentrations are less than 0.15%, sulfate 1.5%-2 % and boron 0.25%-0.45%. The tests were
performed at room temperature using evaporation plastic trays, the final brine reaches 25% water
evaporation, then solid-liquid phases are separated, for their chemical analysis.

Li2SO4 Mg MgSO4
30
25

MgSO4.7H2O
20

Cl2
SO4

15

MgSO4.6H2O
10

MgSO4.5H2O

MgSO4.4H2O
Li2SO4.H2O Salmuera Inicial
Initial Brine
5

Salmuera Final
Final Brine MgCl2.6H2O
0

70 75 80 85 90 95 100

MgCl2 Li2Cl2 Li2 MgCl2


25 C isotherm of the system Li2SO4 -MgCl2 (Dong Dong)

Figure 1. Representing lithium brine evaporation in the Li2SO4-MgCl2 diagram

With the help of the phase diagram in Figure 1, it is determined that the initial brine concentration
under study is at the point between Li2SO4-MgCl2-MgSO4 phases. By interpreting the diagram, it is
noted that the brine under evaporation follows the trajectory between the interface of MgCl2 and
Li2SO4, causing a reduction in sulphate concentration and an increasing lithium concentration.
During the study, two precipitation stages were detected: bischofite stage and boracite stage. The first
stage precipitates bischofite salts (MgCl2 6H2O) and small quantities of lithium sulfate monohydrate
(Li2SO4 H2O), in this stage the crystal size are 1.8 mm as a P80. Particles below 100 um have a high
lithium sulfate concentration, which could be recovered from this salt by granulometric classification
processes.
The second stage, the brine boron concentration reaches from 0.9% to 1.1% and precipitates boron
salts as boracites, these particles remain in suspension and do not allow bischofite crystals to grow.
During the boracite precipitation stage, solid-liquid separation is problematic due to the high viscosity
of the brine and the ultra-small particles saturating the filter media.
Table 1. Initial and final evaporated brine concentration
SALMUERA % Concentration Brine w/w
EVAPORADA Li Mg K Na Ca SO4 Cl B % Rec Li
Final brine 1.082 7.56 0.05 0.11 0.004 0.32 26.15 1.11 25.79
Initial brine 0.461 8.04 0.05 0.11 0.003 1.67 25.21 0.45 100

According to the results achieved (see Table 1), the total evaporation shows a sulfate concentration
decrease in the brine from 1.67% to 0.32% and lithium increases from 0.461% to 1.082%. It has been
estimated that lithium lost 75% with respect to the initial brine under study. It is also noticed that in
spite of lithium lost in bischofite and boracite salts, the brine reaches a concentration greater than 1%.
Keywords: lithium sulfate, evaporation, bischofite, boron, boracite
References:
[1]. Zeng, Hingxia Li-Dongdong Li-Dewen. Solubility Phase Diagram of the Quaternary System Li,Mg
//Cl, SO4 at 298ºK. Experimental Redetermination and model Simulation. Xining-China : s.n., 2014.

[2]. Donald Garret, Martin Laborde. Salting out Process for Lithium Recovery. 1983.

[3]. Tianlong Deng, Hongjun Ying, Yafei Guo. Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data. s.l. : ACS
Publications, 2011. 56.

You might also like