Zero carbon lithium producer Vulcan Energy Resources has produced its first battery quality lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) from its piloting operations.
The Australian firm’s chemical engineering team produced the material from Vulcan’s sorption pilot plant, located at a geothermal renewable energy plant in the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany.
The battery grade LHM sample is at >56.5% LiOH.H2O and very low impurities, claim the firm.
The lithium chloride extracted by the sorbent in the pilot plant was recovered with water and sent offsite, where it was purified and concentrated by a third-party provider to prepare the lithium chloride for electrolysis to produce lithium hydroxide solution.
The solution was then crystalised to produce battery grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM).
Further production of battery quality material will continue to ramp up to supply Vulcan’s offtake partners with samples.
Vulcan is targeting Phase 1 commercial production for 2024.
Vulcan’s pilot has been operating successfully since April using brine from a geothermal plant, and will be progressively scaled up in size during the coming year.
Image: Horst Kreuter (left), managing director Germany, and Francis Wedin CEO of Vulcan Energie. (Source: Artis/ Uli Deck)
