SBIR Phase I: Novel Apparatus for Producing High-Purity Lithium Metal

SBIR 第一阶段：生产高纯度金属锂的新型装置

• 批准号: 1046620
• 负责人: Peter Symons
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: The Electrosynthesis Company, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2011-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1046620&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Novel; Apparatus; Producing

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will determine feasibility of using new technology to produce high purity lithium metal. The existing energy-intensive production method operates at 460C, has changed little in over 100 years and requires over 35 kWh/kg of lithium metal. The purity of the product is very dependent on the feed material with high purity lithium produced via a further high-temperature distillation step. A current trend returning to using lithium metal to produce high energy batteries will increase demand for high-purity lithium. If successful, the proposed novel electrolyzer will produce higher quality lithium metal at lower processing temperatures and power consumption. This project will test and select suitable components for the electolyzer and demonstrate their use for high purity lithium production.The broader/commercial impacts of this research are a production method capable of producing large quantities of high-purity battery-grade lithium metal. The requirement for energy storage for transportation and utility applications has generated a large amount of research into high energy density batteries of which protected or sealed lithium metal batteries are being developed. The move to lithium metal batteries will greatly improve the viability and cost effectiveness of a range of energy based technologies, and will have a direct impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Current lithium metal production methods would not be able to meet these demands which would impede installation of these batteries. Furthermore the current process would not be able to produce the required purity of product without energy intensive distillations.

小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将确定使用新技术生产高纯度锂金属的可行性。现有的能源密集型生产方法在460 ℃下运行，100多年来几乎没有变化，需要超过35 kWh/kg的锂金属。产物的纯度非常依赖于通过进一步高温蒸馏步骤生产的具有高纯度锂的进料。目前回归使用锂金属生产高能电池的趋势将增加对高纯度锂的需求。如果成功，所提出的新型电解槽将在较低的加工温度和功耗下生产更高质量的锂金属。该项目将测试和选择电解槽的合适组件，并展示它们在高纯锂生产中的用途。该研究的更广泛/商业影响是能够生产大量高纯电池级锂金属的生产方法。运输和公用事业应用对能量存储的需求已经产生了对高能量密度电池的大量研究，其中正在开发保护或密封的锂金属电池。向锂金属电池的转变将大大提高一系列基于能源的技术的可行性和成本效益，并将对减少温室气体排放产生直接影响。目前的锂金属生产方法将无法满足这些需求，这将阻碍这些电池的安装。此外，如果不进行能源密集型蒸馏，当前工艺将无法生产所需纯度的产品。