Albemarle develops new technology to produce lithium carbonate

Dr. David W. Clary, Chief Sustainability Officer, Albemarle.

BATON ROUGE, US: Albemarle Corporation has developed a proprietary technology for lithium extraction from brine. This newly developed technology will allow the company to recover lithium that is present in the brines at its Magnolia, Arkansas bromine facility and utilize it to produce lithium carbonate. The market for lithium chemicals is expected to grow rapidly, reaching $ 1.2 billion globally by 2015, primarily from increased demand for batteries in electrical vehicles. Using this new technology and brine from its bromine production facility, Albemarle has successfully produced lithium carbonate in a lab setting and is currently operating a pilot plant to optimize the process. Commercial production could begin as early as 2013.

“Albemarle has extensive experience in brine management and recovery of products from brine. Our lithium recovery technology is an extension of our technological know-how into a very attractive end market,” said  Dr. David W. Clary, Chief Sustainability Officer, Albemarle. Currently, over 70 per cent of US demand for lithium is met by imports. This presents a need for more domestic production with the growing market demand, informed the company.

(C) WOC News