Lithium Extraction from Natural Resources to Meet the High Demand in EV and Energy Storage

Electrification of vehicles will increase lithium demand drastically in the next decades, as the demand increases the supply remains constant. Lithium is mainly produced from hard rock spodumene mining and high concentration brines in South America but most of the lithium reserves are in the low lithium concentration continental brine. The exploitation of this reserve would make the industry easily meet the demand. But current technology has limitations to extract lithium from low-concentration brine. This paper describes most of the applicable methods alongside with mass balance sheet for concentrating lithium from the brine into lithium chloride solution, then purifying and crystallization of lithium solution to lithium carbonate salt.