Drying more material with less energy
To improve drying efficiency and product quality, a chemical producer installs a continuous rotating tray dryer in its lithium carbonate process.
Limtech, Shawinigan, Quebec, produces high-purity lithium carbonate that's used for manufacturing lithium ion battery cathodes, electrolyte salts, and semiconductors. One important process step -- drying the lithium carbonate after purification -- proved to be a challenge when the producer decided to move from pilot- to full-scale production. The producer found that its spin flash dryer was inefficient, introduced contaminants, and couldn't dry the material to spec at higher production rates.