Expertise to create effective designs and enhance operations performance
Experienced with extraction and purification of critical materials including lithium and rare earth elements and recycling of batteries and e-waste. Experience spans design of equipment and processes to maximize yields, enhance useful asset life and effectively treat wastewater.
OVERVIEW
Complex chemical behavior in highly concentrated environments reduces operations efficiency and sustainability
Rudimentary understanding of chemical behavior and related phenomena makes it impossible to accurately predict multi-component behavior in highly concentrated brines resulting in low yields and high costs. In addition, poor asset integrity created by scaling, fouling and corrosion while the inability to eliminate toxins waste water negatively impacts the environment.
APPLICATIONS
Increase yields and product quality, lower costs and toxic contamination
The ability to characterize complex chemistry behavior under a wide range of operating conditions in highly concentrated solutions coupled with deep domain knowledge of applications and industry experience unlocks significant business value.
Developed a more effective, end-to-end plant design for lithium extraction from brines in the USA; increased lithium yield by 15%, product purity by 20% and lowered heating costs by 15%.
Successfully mitigated corrosion risk for a rare-earth-element extraction plant by analyzing the design from the kiln digester to the carbonate precipitator and providing safe operating envelopes.
Analyzed evaporation behaviour of multiple salar brines and provided insights to optimize the process to produce different salable salts. This work led to a widely cited industry publication.
Maximized water reuse and minimized chemical treatment for a hard rock lithium project by analyzing beta-spodumene leaching through the softening steps to produce lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate crystals.
Developed a more effective, end-to-end plant design for lithium extraction from brines in the USA; increased lithium yield by 15%, product purity by 20% and lowered heating costs by 15%.
Successfully mitigated corrosion risk for a rare-earth-element extraction plant by analyzing the design from the kiln digester to the carbonate precipitator and providing safe operating envelopes.
Analyzed evaporation behaviour of multiple salar brines and provided insights to optimize the process to produce different salable salts. This work led to a widely cited industry publication.
Maximized water reuse and minimized chemical treatment for a hard rock lithium project by analyzing beta-spodumene leaching through the softening steps to produce lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate crystals.
