Spodumene grinding for lithium extraction choose lithium ore vertical mill or ball mill

Spodumene has three phase structures of α, β, and γ. Spodumene in nature mainly exists in the form of α-spodumene, which is a monoclinic crystal structure with stable chemical properties. It is difficult to mix with acid and alkali under normal temperature and pressure. Reactions occurred (except HF). α-spodumene will undergo crystal transformation into β-spodumene under high temperature conditions. Compared with α-spodumene, β-spodumene has a looser structure and poor chemical stability. Therefore, most lithium extraction processes It is necessary to transform α-spodumene into β phase first, and then extract lithium through grinding, acidification and other processes.

Ball mill grinding system and vertical mill grinding system have their own characteristics.

Ball mill process flow: The roasted spodumene (β-spodumene) is cooled by the grate cooler and crushed, then sent to the raw material warehouse by the conveying equipment, and the roasted material passes through the warehouse lower rod valve, weighing scale, sealing belt, elevator After the equipment is sent to the ball mill, it is directly stored in the warehouse after being ground by the ball mill (the ball mill is an open circuit system). The ball mill system uses a separate fan to provide ventilation for the ball mill to assist the flow of materials in the ball mill.

Lithium ore vertical mill process flow: The roasted spodumene (β-spodumene) is cooled by grate cooler, crushed, and then sent to the raw material warehouse by the conveying equipment, and the roasted material passes through the lower rod valve of the warehouse, the weighing scale, and the sealing Belts, elevators and other equipment are sent to the lithium ore vertical mill.

Through comparison, it is found that compared with the vertical mill system of lithium ore, the installed power of the ball mill system is higher, the output is lower, the product fineness is coarser and difficult to control, and the particle size requirement of the input material is smaller than that of the vertical mill. At the same time, the use of the ball mill system requires frequent water spraying to cool down, and the production environment is poor. Therefore, it is necessary for the industry to replace traditional ball mills with more energy-saving and environmentally friendly lithium ore vertical mills. In recent years, as a high-efficiency and energy-saving grinding equipment, lithium ore vertical mills have gradually been widely used in the grinding of spodumene roasting materials in the lithium battery industry.

Spodumene roasting material is a kind of difficult-to-grind material, and its characteristics are as follows: ①Poor grindability, and the grindability changes greatly; ②The raw material is highly abrasive; ③The particle size of the raw material is small, and there are many powdery materials; There is very little moisture; ⑤The product is coarse in fineness but highly abrasive. According to these characteristics of the material, the mill needs to be designed with a reasonable rotation speed of the grinding disc, and a large amount of wear-resistant materials need to be used in terms of wear resistance; the design of the process system should also have material characteristics.