The technology for extracting lithium and gallium from coal by-products has passed the acceptance test

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Technology for extracting lithium and gallium from coal by-products approved by experts Author/Source: Sinochem News Network Date: February 23, 2021 Clicks: 145 A technical route for producing high-value products from high-alumina coal ash has been developed. Recently, the Shanxi Province’s major scientific and technological project focused on the extraction of rare metals such as lithium and gallium from coal by-products was approved by experts. This project is being carried out through collaborative efforts by Shanxi University, in conjunction with the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan University of Technology, Shanxi Yuci Tianyi Nanomaterials Technology Co., Ltd., and other institutions. Focusing on the characteristic high-alumina coal resources in northern Shanxi, this project carried out research on key technologies such as clean extraction of lithium and gallium from coal, their enrichment and separation, as well as the production of high-value products. A verification platform for the simultaneous extraction of aluminum, lithium, and gallium from fly ash at a capacity of hundreds of tons per year was established and put into operation. An extraction process kit for rare metals lithium and gallium associated with coal, with a capacity of 50,000 tons per year, was developed. This enabled the creation of high-value products such as alumina, aluminum chloride, silica, lithium carbonate, and metallic gallium from high-alumina fly ash, with resource extraction rates and purities meeting the specified technical standards. This project focused on overcoming key common technologies such as process control for the directed migration and transformation of lithium and gallium associated with coal, selective enrichment and separation of low-concentration lithium and gallium in unconventional media, quantitative scale-up of core equipment, and overall system optimization for hierarchical extraction of components. It established a university-industry collaboration platform for the efficient utilization of resources associated with fly ash, laying a solid foundation for further research efforts. The new model for the synergistic extraction and high-value utilization of aluminum, lithium, gallium, and silicon associated with coal, developed by this project, can significantly improve the level of synergistic utilization of various resources in fly ash, offering good economic and ecological benefits.