“For every ton of lithium we produce, we need roughly two tons of soda ash,” explains Ivo Colombo, SQM's Corporate Procurement Director.
What is soda ash used for?
Soda ash is used to convert lithium rich brine or spodumene rock into battery grade Lithium Carbonate. As a raw material, Lithium Carbonate is used to produce cathodes for a wide variety of batteries such as Lithium Iron Phosphate, Lithium Cobalt Oxide and Lithium Manganese Oxide.
Why is lithium the fastest growing segment of soda ash?
Lithium is the fastest growing segment for soda ash fueled by the electric vehicle revolution. Governments around the world are introducing incentives to replace internal combustion engines with electric vehicles to reduce emissions. This is in line with ANSAC's goal of helping our customers, and their consumers, reduce their carbon footprint.
What is the difference between lithium phosphate and lithium carbonate?
Finally, the concentrated lithium solution is converted with soda ash (sodium carbonate) to technical-grade lithium carbonate, which, upon further purification, can be used for battery production. In certain cases, lithium is precipitated as lithium phosphate, which has a markedly lower solubility than lithium carbonate.
Does lithium-ion battery production shift to the Upstream phase?
Life cycle inventories of the commonly used materials for lithium-ion batteries in China J. Clean. Prod., 227 ( 2019), pp. 960 - 971 Life cycle assessment studies of large-scale lithium-ion battery (LIB) production reveal a shift-of-burden to the upstream phase of cell production.
“Vast amounts” is no exaggeration: SQM consumes around 400,000 tons of soda ash per year. “For every ton of lithium we produce, we need roughly two tons of soda ash,” explains Ivo Colombo, SQM's Corporate Procurement Director. About half of that is provided by Solvay, a volume that has consistently increased through the years.
Can We decarbonize the supply chain of battery-grade lithium hydroxide?
This paper identifies available strategies to decarbonize the supply chain of battery-grade lithium hydroxide, cobalt sulfate, nickel sulfate, natural graphite, and synthetic graphite, assessing their mitigation potential and highlighting techno-economic challenges.