Performance of a synthetic resin for lithium adsorption in waste liquid of extracting aluminum from fly-ash

In this study, we investigated the performance of a synthetic resin for the adsorption of Li from pre-desilicated solution which is the waste liquid produced by extracting aluminum from fly ash. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms of the resin were obtained and analyzed. The saturated adsorption sites of the resin were in agreement with the quasi-second-order kinetic model. Then, the pore diffusion model (PDM) was applied to represent the lithium adsorption kinetics which confirming that the external mass is the limiting step. Moreover, we evaluated the adsorption properties of this resin in fixed-bed mode. We established a feasible extraction process for Li from strong alkaline solutions with low Li concentrations. The process parameters, such as the flow rate, initial adsorption solution concentration, water washing process, desorption agent concentration, and flow rate were studied. The desorption rate of the Li+ ions was directly proportional with the concentration of the desorption agent. The time required to accumulate Li decreased as the hydrochloric acid concentration and flow rate increased. Time of the peak appeared increased from 0.5 bed volume (BV) to 2.5 BV as the concentration was increased from 1 to 3 mol·L−1, and the peak increased from 231 to 394 mg·L−1. The resin presented good selectivity for Li+ ions and could effectively separate impurity ions from the pre-desilication solution.