US-12618162-B2 - Alkali hydroxide production from alkali sulfate with halogen or carboxylic acid intermediates

Abstract

The application pertains to processes for producing components such as an alkali hydroxide and a carboxylic acid. The processes generally comprise reacting a component comprising calcium carbonate, or calcium sulfide, or calcium hydroxide, or calcium oxide, or calcium weak acid, or any combination thereof with a component comprising a carboxylic acid to form a component comprising a calcium carboxylate and a component comprising carbon dioxide, or hydrogen sulfide, or water, or any combination thereof. At least a portion of the formed calcium carboxylate is reacted with a component comprising an alkali sulfate to form a component comprising an alkali carboxylate and a component comprising calcium sulfate. At least a portion of the formed alkali carboxylate is electrochemically reacted to form a component comprising an alkali hydroxide and a component comprising a carboxylic acid.

Inventors

• Ethan Novek

Assignees

• INNOVATOR ENERGY LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20250729

Claims (5)

1. 1 . A process comprising: reacting a component comprising calcium carbonate, or calcium sulfide, or calcium hydroxide, or calcium oxide, or calcium weak acid, or any combination thereof with a component comprising a halogen to form a component comprising a calcium halide and a component comprising carbon dioxide, or hydrogen sulfide, or water, or any combination thereof; reacting at least a portion of the component comprising the calcium halide with a component comprising an alkali sulfate to form a component comprising an alkali halide and a component comprising calcium sulfate; and electrochemically reacting at least a portion of the component comprising an alkali halide to form a component comprising an alkali hydroxide and a component comprising a halogen.
2. 2 . The process of claim 1 wherein the alkali comprises lithium (Li), or sodium (Na), or potassium (K), or rubidium (Rb), or cesium (Cs), or ammonia (NH 3 ), or an amine.
3. 3 . The process of claim 1 wherein the halogen comprises Fluorine (F), or Chlorine (Cl), or Bromine (Br), or Iodine (I), or Astatine (At).
4. 4 . The process of claim 1 wherein the halide in the calcium halide comprises Fluoride (F − ), Chloride (Cl − ), Bromide (Br − ), Iodide (I − ), Astatide (At − ).
5. 5 . The process of claim 1 wherein the electrochemically reacting comprises employing a membrane cell, or a diaphragm cell, or a mercury cell, or electrodialysis, or bipolar electrodialysis.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The application is a Divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 19/035,434 filed Jan. 23, 2025, claims priority to U.S. provisional application 63/623,954 filed Jan. 23, 2024, which claims priority to U.S. provisional application 63/654,185 filed May 31, 2024, which claims priority to U.S. provisional application 63/658,580 filed Jun. 11, 2024, which claims priority to U.S. provisional application 63/661,367 filed Jun. 18, 2024, which applications are incorporated herein by reference. This application is also related to the following patents and applications that are incorporated herein by reference: US2025/0019336; Ser. Nos. 12,017,985; 11,542,219; 11,512,036; 11,897,840; 11,236,033; 11,034,619; 11,897,840; WO2023/225089; 12,017,985; US2025/0019253; WO2023/220380; 12,030,846; 12,030,847; and 11,174,169. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY Sodium sulfate waste streams are a significant and growing problem. For example, significant sodium sulfate waste is and will be produced from lithium processing and lithium ion battery recycling. For example, it is estimated that for every 1 ton of lithium recycled from a lithium ion battery, at least 10 tons of sodium sulfate waste is produced. Sodium sulfate waste is also produced in a wide range of other industries which may include, but are not limited to, one or more or any combination of the following: lead acid battery production, or lead acid battery recycling, or rayon production, or textile production, or copper refining, or metal refining, or dye and pigment manufacturing, or carboxylic acid production, or ascorbic acid production, or desulfurization, or flue gas desulfurization, or refineries, or waste water treatment, or chemical plants, or lithium production, or lithium processing, or metal cathode production, or cathode material production, or hydrometallurgical processing, or explosives manufacturing, or neutralization, or acid neutralization, or oil & gas production, or produced water treatment, or fertilizer production, or food additive production, or mining, or metallurgy, or enhanced oil recovery, or leather tanning, or chrome, or drug synthesis, or pulp & paper manufacturing, or lithium ion battery production. One of the challenges with recovering or converting some sodium sulfate waste streams into something of value, or disposing the sodium sulfate waste, or any combination thereof is the presence of significant impurities, which may comprise heavy metals such as cobalt, or nickel, or iron, or manganese, or any combination thereof. It may be difficult to separate or remove these impurities using, for example, nanofiltration or electrodialysis, because sodium sulfate is divalent and/or sodium sulfate being divalent may also be rejected by a nanofiltration membrane which may reduce the quality or capability of separation. Additionally, the presence of some impurities may foul or damage any electrochemical process employed to produce sodium hydroxide, which may make it challenging to perform any effective electrochemical production of sodium hydroxide. One of the challenges with converting some sodium sulfate waste streams into sodium hydroxide is that current electrochemical methods for converting sodium sulfate into sodium hydroxide very expensive and energy intensive compared to producing sodium hydroxide from, for example, sodium chloride. It may be highly desirable to develop a process which converts the sodium sulfate into a sodium salt, such as sodium hydroxide, using less energy and/or can handle impurity laden sodium sulfate. Additionally, the sodium sulfate waste may originate from sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate inputs to, for example, a lithium processing or lithium ion battery recycling process or facility. It is of significant desire to develop a process which efficiently and effective transforms at least a portion of the sodium sulfate waste into sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate, which may enable circularity or a circular economy, and/or may significantly reduce costs and/or significantly reduce waste produced by a lithium processing or lithium ion battery recycling process. In some embodiments, the present invention may pertain to systems and methods for producing an alkali salt, such as alkali hydroxide, or alkali carbonate, or alkali bicarbonate, or any combination thereof, from an alkali sulfate. Some embodiments may comprise systems and methods for removing or separating a portion of impurities. Some embodiments may comprise lower energy consumption and/or more impurity tolerant systems and methods for producing alkali products from alkali sulfates. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1A: A process for producing a chemical comprising an alkali hydroxide and/or a chemical comprising an alkaline earth sulfate from a chemical comprising an alkali sulfate and/or a chemical comprising an alkaline earth. FIG. 1B: A process for producing a chemical comprising an alkali hydroxide and/or a