Lithium Refining

Lithium processing plants are water plants, refining a high-grade lithium output and clean water that can be returned and re-used. Generally, the steps include concentrating a brine, chemical conversion steps to change the lithium form, washing, and final crystallization.

Critical raw materials used in manufacturing Li-ion batteries (LIBs) include lithium, graphite, cobalt, and manganese. As electric vehicle deployments increase, Lithium EV battery production for vehicles is becoming an increasingly important source of demand.

Lithium battery component (or battery cell) manufacturing is done in sets of electrodes and then assembled into battery cells. To produce electricity, lithium EV batteries shuttle lithium ions internally from one layer, called the anode, to another, the cathode. The two are separated by yet another layer, the electrolyte. 

Every generation of battery design – cylindrical, prismatic, polymer pouch, and now, solid state - challenges technical limits and demands more from battery assembly technology. Ultrasonic welding solutions reliably bond the thinner, more delicate metals and advanced hybrid films needed to build more energy-dense batteries.

The extraction of lithium is currently restricted to Australia, Chile and Argentina and to a few companies, with only four businesses controlling almost 60% of global production. However, the boom in lithium over recent years has demonstrated that the lithium market is facing major changes. Alongside the expansion of existing facilities, large-scale projects are being planned and implemented in other countries, such as Canada, Mexico and Bolivia. Europe also has significant potential.