Process information
| Key Data Set Information | |
| Location | QH-CN |
| Reference year | 2022 |
| Name |
|
| Use advice for data set | When using this data set for life cycle assessment, please take into account that the production processes for raw materials and any associated energy flows less than 1% are not included in the system boundary. This omission should be kept in mind for the completeness of the assessment and when comparing with data sets with different system boundaries. Users should also consider the geographical specificity of the data as it pertains to lithium spodumene sourced from Finland. |
| Technical purpose of product or process | Battery-grade lithium carbonate produced through brine adsorption at China's Chaerhan salt lake is primarily used in lithium-ion batteries, which are widely used in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and grid energy storage solutions. |
| Classification |
Class name
:
Hierarchy level
|
| General comment on data set | The goal is to quantify environmental impacts of Li2CO3 (battery grade) production from brine operations. Such a quantification allows a comparison among sites in terms of related environmental impacts. Additionally, the implications for LCA of Li-ion battery production can be assessed in high resolution. An attributional LCA with the cut-off allocation approach was performed. The functional unit was 1 kg Li2CO3 (battery grade). We used a cradle-to-gate approach. The system boundaries from pumping the brine to the surface until the final product (Li2CO3, battery grade) leaves the processing plants of the South American salt lakes. At Chaerhan salt lake, the brine is first sent to a K-fertilizer plant, and Li2CO3 production uses the effluent, which is considered a waste stream and therefore without burden in the cut-off allocation approach. Since only Li2CO3 (technical grade) is produced (Gansu United testing services Co Ltd(2018), Lanke Lithium (2018)), we added the processes (dilution and re-heating the Li-bearing solution) required to manufacture Li2CO3 (battery grade). |
| Copyright | No |
| Owner of data set | |
| Quantitative reference | |
| Reference flow(s) | |
| Technological representativeness | |
| Technology description including background system | This Li2CO3 production plant uses the residual K-depleted pulp of a K fertilizer production plant. This pulp contains 0.022 wt.% Li . The first step is a Li-adsorption technique, where alumina hydroxide is used as a resin to adsorb Li selectively. Deionized water is used to remove Li from the adsorbent again. The Li-containing solution is sent through ion exchangers to remove still-present impurities. Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis are then required to reduce the volume of the Li-containing solution. Solar evaporation continuously reduces the brine volume from which subsequently Li2CO3 (technical grade) is produced. To allow comparability among sites, we added the process sequence for Li2CO3 (battery grade). |
| Flow diagram(s) or picture(s) | |
Modelling and validation
Administrative information
Inputs and Outputs