Mineral refining

Alfa Laval’s separation and heat transfer solutions provide process improvements within different mineral refining processes.  Within lithium refining, evaporation systems fit perfectly where the lithium product and by-products need to be crystalized, while centrifugal separation solutions can be used for separating the impurities or crystals of products from the liquid solution.   

Furthermore, as refining processes produce large amounts of wastewater, an energy efficient wastewater treatment is needed to reduce costs and the impact on the environment. With Alfa Laval ZLD technology, the waste decreases in both weight and volume, while the water can often be reused. Often, valuable materials can even be recovered for reuse, which would have been lost otherwise. 

Alfa Laval’s evaporators are highly efficient thermal systems that have been optimized to concentrate process liquids economically, while also preserving the quality of the final product. This is usually the case for recycling streams where the concentration of the desired compounds are very low. 

As lithium mining produces a large amount of wastewater, evaporation is a key part of the treatment process. This process makes it possible to separate the waste materials and recover water and other materials for reuse. 

Decanter centrifuges provide efficient in solid-liquid separation, important for the removal of impurities in mineral refining processes and separating the recovering the final product.   

Decanter centrifuges also play a key role in the treatment of the wastewater, supporting the recovery and reuse of water and other key materials. 

Disc-stack separators are reliable and highly efficient separators that can be used both for solid-liquid separation, as a polishing step after the main separation step, or liquid-liquid separation which is needed for successful implementation of solvent extraction.    

Compared to other separation technologies, Alfa Laval disc-stack often operates at a lower cost, lasting longer, and reducing downtime. 

Alfa Laval Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems are robust, compact solutions that are used both in the main process as crystallizers and in the wastewater stream to minimize the liquid discharge. 

Alfa Laval offers a wide range of gasketed and welded plate type heat exchangers that are highly efficient, compact, and flexible in their design. These exchangers are utilized throughout both hard rock and brine lithium extraction methods.