Lithium treated like LPG ?28 Nov 2022 13:31
I was interested to note TVL suggesting Lithium Sulphate ( Sulfate ) specifically?
A chemical process of reducing rock to a soluable level ?
Would this help with shipping , the removal of impurities or general **** from the rock and shipping concentrate solution to then be processed ie reducing shipping costs ?
I note that Alba, IGO, Ganfeng and Pilbara are all looking at some form of official initial processing phase or direct rock to Carbonate / Hydroxide.
One side point is if the solution / transportation productivity is key then does that bring in Cornish Lithium brines to the equation ?
"Lithium sulfate is soluble in water, though it does not follow the usual trend of increasing solubility of most salts with temperature. To the contrary, its solubility in water decreases with increasing temperature, as its dissolution is an exothermic process. This relatively unusual property, also called retrograde solubility, is shared with few inorganic compounds, such as calcium hydroxide (portlandite, an important mineral phase of hydrated cement paste), the calcium sulfates (gypsum, bassanite, and anhydrite) and lanthanoid sulfates whose dissolution reactions are also exothermic. The retrograde solubility is common for gases dissolution in water, but less frequently encountered for the dissolution of solids. Calcium carbonate also exhibits a retrograde solubility, but it also depends on the behavior of CO2 dissolution in the calco-carbonate equilibria.
Lithium sulfate crystals, being piezoelectric, are also used in ultrasound-type non-destructive testing because they are very efficient sound receivers. However, they do suffer in this application because of their water solubility.
Since it has hygroscopic properties, the most common form of lithium sulfate is lithium sulfate monohydrate. Anhydrous lithium sulfate has a density of 2.22 g/cm3 but, weighing lithium sulfate anhydrous can become cumbersome as it must be done in a water lacking atmosphere.
Lithium sulfate has pyroelectric properties. When aqueous lithium sulfate is heated, the electrical conductivity also increases. The molarity of lithium sulfate also plays a role in the electrical conductivity; optimal conductivity is achieved at 2 M and then decreases.[4]
When solid lithium sulfate is dissolved in water it has an endothermic disassociation. This is different from sodium sulfate which has an exothermic disassociation. However, the exact energy of disassociation is difficult to quantify as it seems also to depend on the quantity (number of mols) of the salt added to water. Small amounts of dissolved lithium sulfate induce a much greater temperature change per mol than large amounts.[5]"
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