Aluminum Company of America

Eric L Clark

Roy A Christini

Kenneth A Bowman

Robert D Girt

The present invention provides an apparatus for producing lithium from an aluminum-lithium alloy scrap comprising (a) a dryer for removing moisture from solid aluminum-lithium alloy; (b) a reservoir for heating and holding molten aluminum-lithium alloy; (c) a three-layered electrolysis cell comprising a most dense lowest layer of molten aluminum-lithium alloy, a middle layer of molten salt electrolyte, and an uppermost layer of molten lithium; and (d) a reactive gas fluxing unit to remove water present in the molten salt.

Process and apparatus for producing lithium from aluminum-lithium alloy

The present invention provides a process for recovering lithium from an aluminum-lithium alloy scrap including heating a lithium chloride-potassium chloride-lithium fluoride salt mixture in a separate bath melter vessel to form a molten salt bath reservoir; fluxing the molten salt with chlorine or hydrogen chloride gas to remove moisture; drying the aluminum-lithium scrap; heating the dried aluminum-lithium alloy scrap to form a molten reservoir of aluminum-lithium alloy; feeding low moisture molten salt and aluminum-lithium alloy to a three-layered electrolysis cell comprising a most dense lowest layer of molten aluminum-lithium alloy, a middle layer of molten salt electrolyte, and an uppermost layer of molten lithium; passing direct current through the cell with the aluminum-lithium alloy anodic; reducing lithium ions to lithium metal at a cathode suspended in the molten salt electrolyte; and removing lithium from said uppermost layer in said three-layered electrolysis cell.

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Washingtown Township, Armstrong County, PA, United States of America

Eric L Clark