Ion exchange resins for the mining and metallurgy industry
The sustainable extraction of high-purity lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt, and platinum group metals that are suitable for use in batteries is essential for advancing the transition to electric vehicles. The use of Lewatit® ion exchange resins leads to highly efficient refining processes that can be used for the production of high-performance batteries with a good carbon footprint and water balance.
Large quantities of water are used in ore processing – from cleaning the raw ores to isolating the pure metals. Obtaining and, if applicable, separating the metal ions from this water is indispensable for both economical and ecological reasons.
Lewatit® ion exchangers offer the fascinating possibility of binding certain metal ions selectively, such as precious, platinum, or rare earth metals. Secondary constituents can also be separated, such as zinc from copper electrolytes or cobalt from nickel or copper salt solutions. In this process, the metal ions are removed from the aqueous solution and accumulated on the ion exchange resin, which greatly facilitates their further processing – or disposal, in the case of waste water flows.
For these and other applications, LANXESS offers a comprehensive range of special ion exchange resins that are tailored to specific requirements. Find the best product for your needs now.
With the aid of special ion exchange resins, metals can be obtained from ore leachates by means of direct extraction. The Lewatit® grades specially adapted for applications in hydrometallurgy possess chelating functional groups that very efficiently and highly selectively bind specific metal ions. Thus, using resin-in-pulp (RIP) technology, for example, metals like copper, nickel, and also cobalt can be extracted more efficiently and ecologically than with conventional methods. Similarly, ion exchangers for the final polishing of nickel and cobalt concentrates are used to produce high-purity cobalt and nickel. The metals are constituent parts of active materials for cell cathodes of the lithium-ion batteries.
Our selective resins are increasingly employed in various flowsheets which are being developed for the production of battery grade materials (lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper). For example, large bead size product Lewatit® MonoPlus TP 209 XL, which is specifically designed for use resin-in-pulp (RIP) technology to recover metals like nickel, cobalt and copper.
This resin exhibits exceptionally high loading capacity with superior mechanical and osmotic stability. This represents significant value to the overall recovery processes of various metals from primary and secondary sources.
Purification of intermediate and final product streams is another area where advanced solvent impregnated resins Lewatit® TP 272 and Lewatit® VP OC 1026 play a pivotal role to meet the stringent battery grade material specifications of nickel and cobalt salt. Our special production process allows the extracting agent to be homogeneously distributed within the resin, leading to fast exchange kinetics and high operating capacities. Additionally Lewatit® MDS TP 220 is well suited for the separation of nickel and cobalt.
Chelating ion exchange resins Lewatit® MonoPlus TP 208 and Lewatit® MDS TP 208 are used for the purification of lithium brines from residual quantities of contaminants such as calcium and magnesium. Our unique ion exchange resin functionalization chemistry enables the selective binding of specific metal ions from feed streams e.g. hardness/impurity removal in lithium processing which considerably facilitates their further processing.
Resins with superior mechanic-, osmotic stability and exchange kinetics due to the homogenous polymerization within monodisperse drops are offered. Fine and monodisperse bead size facilitates a significant increase in operating capacity and very low hardness leakage close to the detection limit. As a result, less frequent regeneration steps are required, which allows savings on regeneration chemicals. Pure brines are obtained that are needed for high quality batteries. Additionally Lewatit® MDS TP 260 is well suited for the removal of antimony and bismuth from copper electrolytes.
Wastewater streams like Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and tailings can be efficiently treated e.g. by Lewatit® MonoPlus TP 207. This resin selectively removes toxic heavy metals. Additionally, harmful anions like selenate and sulfate can be removed by the use of Lewatit® anion exchange resins.
Selenate, which is present in mine wastewaters can be removed by the use of Lewatit® 6362, even in presence of high concentrations of competing anions like sulfate. Lewatit® A 365 and Lewatit® TP 107 are well suited for the removal of sulfate. Other non-harmful constituents are not exchanged which makes this process highly efficient.
DOWNLOADS
- Lewatit® Product Guide(PDF, 2.2 MB)
- Waste Water Treatment with Lewatit®(PDF, 4.8 MB)
- Flyer Lewatit® for the Recovery and Refining of Battery Metals(PDF, 484.9 KB)
- Flyer Lewatit® MonoPlus TP 209 XL(PDF, 599.9 KB)
- Flyer Lewatit® MonoPlus TP 214(PDF, 465.1 KB)
- Flyer Lewatit® TP 107(PDF, 362.6 KB)
- Flyer Lewatit® MDS TP 208(PDF, 385.7 KB)
- Flyer Lewatit® MDS TP 260(PDF, 383.7 KB)
