Insider Brief
- CleanTech Lithium has partnered with DuPont Water Solutions to test a new nanofiltration membrane in its lithium extraction process, aiming to boost recovery and reduce reliance on thermal evaporation.
- The DuPont-developed FilmTec™ LiNE-XD membrane is designed for high selectivity in removing impurities while maximizing lithium yield, and will be tested during CTL’s next phase of pilot plant operations in Chile.
- If successful, the membrane technology could help eliminate the need for costly evaporation and crystallization steps, offering capital savings and greater efficiency in producing battery-grade lithium carbonate for clean energy applications.
PRESS RELEASE – CleanTech Lithium (AIM: CTL), an innovative sustainable lithium developer in Chile, is collaborating with DuPont Water Solutions, a business unit of DuPont, to test lithium processing technology. DuPont has developed a new nanofiltration (NF) membrane technology for high lithium recovery. This will be tested in CleanTech Lithium’s direct lithium extraction (DLE) downstream process.
The role of the NF is to remove impurities and maximise lithium recovery. DuPont’s new NF membrane element (named FilmTec™ LiNE-XD nanofiltration elements) is specifically designed for the lithium sector and will be tested in CTL´s next scheduled phase of post-DLE pilot plant testing. CTL is implementing NF following the eluate concentration stage which utilises industrial forward osmosis (iFO™) in the concentrating of lithium and reduction of boron. CleanTech Lithium is investigating the potential of these technologies to eliminate the need for thermal evaporation (TE) and crystallisation in production of battery grade lithium carbonate, which would result in potentially significant CAPEX savings.
Ignacio Mehech, CEO, CleanTech Lithium, said:
“Our collaboration on testing a new NF membrane developed by DuPont for high selectivity in removing impurities while maximising lithium recovery, is in line with CleanTech Lithium’s mission to deliver efficient and sustainable lithium extraction. By leveraging advanced membrane technology, we aim to test if battery-grade lithium carbonate can be produced without the need for thermal evaporation and crystallisation, resulting in potential cost savings and increased efficiency. We look forward to validating this through our upcoming pilot plant downstream operations with our partner Conductive Energy.”
