Lithium Processing Pumping Solutions

Built for the Harshest Slurries

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Lithium slurry is one of the most demanding fluids in industrial processing. Its properties demand purpose-engineered pumping solutions, not off-the-shelf alternatives.

As e-mobility drives demand for batteries, production efficiency must increase. Selecting the right pump is a decisive factor in preventing bottlenecks and reducing operational downtime.

Roto Pumps engineered Lithium Pumps solutions specifically for the corrosive, abrasive, and viscous demands of lithium carbonate extraction, transfer and battery production.

Highly viscous lithium slurries

Nickel

Manganese

Electrode Slurry

NMP Solvent (N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone), and Binder (Black Carbon)

Mixed electrode paste to the buffer tank.

Electrode slurry

Mixing of electrolytes and lithium salts.

Electrolyte sludge

Role of PC Pumps in Lithium Application

In the lithium industry, Progressive Cavity (PC) pumps are the "Gold Standard" for handling fluids that are either too thick, too abrasive, or too sensitive for traditional centrifugal pumps. They serve a critical role in both the Upstream Extraction and Downstream Battery Manufacturing stages.

Handling High-Viscosity Battery Slurries.

PC pumps use low-shear, positive displacement to move thick, non-newtonian battery slurries. This prevents particle damage from high-speed transfer, preserving the battery's energy density.

Pulse-Free Precision for Electrode Coating.

Critical electrode coating requires absolute accuracy. PC pump cavities progress at a constant rate to deliver a pulsation-free flow, ensuring uniform coating thickness with high accuracy.

Resilience Against Abrasive Lithium Ore & Brine.

Designed for harsh Spodumene and brine extraction, our pumps feature deformable elastomer stators and Hard Chrome Plated & Tungsten Carbide coated rotors. This allows abrasive particles to pass through without damaging pump internals, maximizing pump life.

Contamination-Free Chemical Dosing.

To maintain battery-grade purity, these pumps utilize non-metallic wetted parts and "maintenance-free" joints. This design eliminates oil or grease lubrication near the fluid zone, preventing chemical contamination.

Features Of Lithium Pumps

Distinctive Features & Benefits

Titanium Flexible Shaft

It eliminates the requirement for universal joints, providing a maintenance-free and reliable drive train. It also prevents settling of pumped media. The absence of moving parts associated with universal joints means no lubrication is required, ensuring zero contamination and minimal maintenance.

Rotor

Equipped with hard chrome-plated rotors to minimize wear and lower operational costs. For more demanding applications, various rotor coatings are available to extend the pump's lifecycle.

Stator

Abrasion-Resistant Stators reduce wear & tear and enhance pump longevity. Available in various grades of elastomers.

Cleaning in Place (CIP) process

All wetted surfaces are polished to minimize medium build-up, ensure easy cleaning and support Cleaning in Place (CIP) process.

Pump Housing & End Cover

Manufactured with smooth surface Stainless Steel 316.

Shaft Sealing

Mechanical Seal & Gland Packing

Connections

Flange, SMS, DIN, etc.

Usage & Processes Lithium Production

Lithium slurry transfer

Transfer of highly viscous lithium slurries, including nickel, and manganese for battery production. It prevents sedimentation, clogging, and component wear in critical manufacturing stages.

Electrode slurry transfer

Transfer of Electrode Slurry, NMP Solvent (N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone), and Binder (Black Carbon) to the Mixing Tank. NMP is used in the coating process, while the binder is added to enhance battery efficiency.

Transfer of mixed electrode paste to the buffer tank.

Transfer of electrode slurry from the buffer tank to the coating unit, ensuring uniform deposition onto copper or aluminium film

Precise dosing and mixing of electrolytes and lithium salts.

Conveying and recycling of electrolyte sludge, facilitating metal recovery while reducing environmental impact.

Brine Extraction

Pumping lithium-rich brine from underground salar deposits to surface evaporation ponds. Requires robust, long-running pumps that resist scaling and corrosion.

Evaporation & Concentration

Moving concentrated brine between ponds of varying ages. Handling potassium, sodium and lithium-rich liquids at various concentration levels.

Chemical Treatment

Precise dosing of solvents, reagents and sodium carbonate to precipitate lithium carbonate. Accuracy and containment are critical at this stage.

Lithium Carbonate Slurry

The grey lithium carbonate slurry shear-sensitive, viscous, and abrasive must be transferred without degrading particle structure or causing sedimentation.

Electrode Slurry Coating

Battery production demands metered, pulsation-free supply of electrode slurry to slot-die coaters. Coating uniformity directly determines battery quality and charge efficiency.

Waste & Tailings

Hard rock mining generates wash-plant waste slurries comparable to aggregate extraction. Plus wastewater treatment from chemical processes requires reliable solids handling.

Why Roto Pumps Engineering You Can Trust for lithium pumps

Since 1968, Roto Pumps has delivered positive displacement pumping solutions into the most demanding industrial processes worldwide. Our lithium-specific pump configurations reflect deep application engineering not generic catalogue products.

Corrosion-Resistant Materials

Stators are available in wetted parts in SS316L, Duplex Stainless, and Titanium options. Fully specified to resist the chemical environment of lithium brine and carbonate slurries.

Minimal Dead Zones

Our progressing cavity designs adopt flexible-shaft configurations that minimise areas where slurry can stagnate and solidify a critical factor in lithium applications.

Global Supply Chain Support

With operations serving Australia, North America, Africa, Europe, MENA, and Asia, Roto can supply spare parts and technical support to the world's major lithium production regions.

OEM Partnership Ready

Roto works directly with OEMs supplying packaged lithium slurry mixing and foil coating systems integration support available from specification through commissioning.