Closed type metal lithium molten salt electrolytic bath capable of automatically discharging lithium

Abstract

The invention discloses a closed type metal lithium molten salt electrolytic bath capable of automatically discharging lithium. The closed type metal lithium molten salt electrolytic bath comprises a bath body, a bath cover and an automatic lithium discharging device, the tank cover is arranged at the top end of the tank body; the automatic lithium discharging device comprises an air supply pipe, a lithium discharging pipe, a lithium storage tank and an exhaust pipe; the lithium storage tank is arranged on the outer side of the tank body; the exhaust pipe is connected to the top end of the lithium storage tank; one end of the lithium outlet pipe is connected to the lithium storage tank, and the other end of the lithium storage tank penetrates through the tank body and extends into the tank body; the air supply pipe is arranged on the tank cover; and the bottom end of the air supply pipe extends downwards into the tank body. The lithium is automatically discharged by adopting a negative pressure suction method, so that the metal lithium is prevented from being contacted with the outside, the product quality can be improved, the personnel operation intensity and steps are reduced, the danger occurrence rate is reduced, and the production cost is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of metal lithium electrolysis production, and more specifically to a closed metal lithium molten salt electrolytic cell with automatic lithium output. Background Art

[0002] Lithium metal is the lightest metal in nature, with excellent properties. It is widely used in many fields such as atomic energy, nuclear energy, aerospace, metallurgy, chemical industry, machinery, glass and ceramics, air conditioning and refrigeration, medicine and health, organic synthesis, new energy, agriculture, etc. It is known as "industrial MSG" and is also a key metal material in the development of high technology in the 21st century. With the rapid development of high-tech industries such as information industry, green energy, nuclear fusion power generation in the 21st century, lithium, as "industrial MSG", "new energy metal" and "important element to promote the world's progress", is constantly developing and expanding its application fields.

[0003] At present, lithium chloride-potassium chloride molten salt electrolysis process is mostly used in industry to prepare metallic lithium, and molten salt electrolytic cell is a key equipment. Many enterprises have carried out research in this regard, but there are still some problems with the existing metallic lithium electrolytic cells: First, the method of taking out the metallic lithium electrolytic cell is currently mostly manual scooping or simple mechanical operation. These methods have the disadvantages of low efficiency, poor operating environment, high labor intensity for workers, high risk factor, many impurities in molten salt and easy oxidation of metal. Second, a large amount of heat will be generated in the electrolytic production process and dissipated into the environment, which not only wastes a lot of resources, but also makes the operating environment worse and affects the health of employees. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides a closed metal lithium molten salt electrolytic cell with automatic lithium output, the purpose of which is to solve the problems existing in the prior art.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] A closed type automatic lithium-discharging metal lithium molten salt electrolytic cell comprises: a cell body, a cell cover and an automatic lithium discharging device; the cell cover is arranged at the top of the cell body; the automatic lithium discharging device comprises an air supply pipe, a lithium discharging pipe, a lithium storage tank and an exhaust pipe; the lithium storage tank is arranged outside the cell body; the exhaust pipe is connected to the top of the lithium storage tank; one end of the lithium discharging pipe is connected to the lithium storage tank, and the other end of the lithium storage tank passes through the cell body and extends to the inside of the cell body; the air supply pipe is arranged on the cell cover; and the bottom end of the air supply pipe extends downward to the inside of the cell body.

[0007] Preferably, the lithium outlet tube is arranged obliquely; the feed port of the lithium outlet tube is lower than the discharge port of the lithium outlet tube; the feed port of the lithium outlet tube is at least partially located below the liquid level inside the tank body.

[0008] Preferably, one end of the air supply pipe located outside the tank body is connected to a blower.

[0009] Preferably, an exhaust fan is connected to one end of the exhaust pipe away from the lithium storage tank.

[0010] Preferably, a lithium discharge port is provided at the bottom of the lithium storage tank; a valve is provided on the lithium discharge port.

[0011] Preferably, the tank body comprises an outer shell, an insulation layer and an inner lining which are arranged in sequence from the outside to the inside; heat exchange tubes are arranged in the insulation layers on the front side, the rear side, the left side, the right side and the bottom of the tank body.

[0012] Preferably, the heat exchange tube is a serpentine structure.

[0013] Preferably, outer surfaces of the shell and the tank cover are both provided with a heat insulation layer.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has achieved the following technical effects:

[0015] 1) The present invention adopts a negative pressure suction method to automatically extract lithium, thereby preventing metallic lithium from contacting the outside, improving product quality, reducing the intensity and steps of human operation, reducing the incidence of danger, and reducing production costs;

[0016] 2) The present invention can largely isolate the temperature conduction inside and outside the electrolytic cell, avoiding the mutual influence between the inside and outside. At the same time, part of the heat in the electrolytic cell can be extracted and collected for utilization through the heat exchange tube, which can stabilize the internal temperature of the cell body and save energy and reduce emissions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a front view of a closed type metal lithium molten salt electrolytic cell with automatic lithium output according to the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 A side view of a closed lithium metal molten salt electrolytic cell with automatic lithium output according to the present invention;

[0019] In the figure: 1. tank body; 11. outer shell; 12. insulation layer; 13. lining; 2. tank cover; 3. automatic lithium outlet device; 31. air supply pipe; 32. lithium outlet pipe; 33. lithium storage tank; 34. exhaust pipe; 35. air supply fan; 36. exhaust fan; 4. heat exchange tube; 5. anode; 6. cathode ring; 7. cathode wall. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] Example

[0022] Reference Figure 1-2 As shown, the present invention discloses a closed type automatic lithium metal molten salt electrolytic cell, comprising: a cell body 1, a cell cover 2 and an automatic lithium discharging device 3; the cell cover 2 is arranged at the top of the cell body 1; the automatic lithium discharging device 3 comprises an air supply pipe 31, a lithium discharging pipe 32, a lithium storage tank 33 and an exhaust pipe 34; the lithium storage tank 33 is arranged outside the cell body 1; the exhaust pipe 34 is connected to the top of the lithium storage tank 33; one end of the lithium discharging pipe 32 is connected to the middle and upper part of the outer wall of the lithium storage tank 33, and the other end of the lithium storage tank 33 passes through the cell body 1 and extends to the inside of the cell body 1; the air supply pipe 31 is arranged on the cell cover 2; the bottom end of the air supply pipe 31 extends downward to the inside of the cell body 1 The bottom end of the air supply pipe 31 is located just above the feed port of the lithium outlet pipe 32; when in use, after the electrolytic cell has been stably operating the molten salt electrolysis process for one and a half hours, air is supplied to the interior of the cell body 1 through the air supply pipe 31, and at the same time, air is exhausted through the exhaust pipe 34, so that a negative pressure environment is formed inside the cell body 1, and the liquid metal lithium suspended above the liquid molten salt electrolyte is extracted by utilizing the difference in specific gravity between the liquid metal lithium and the liquid molten salt electrolyte and is fed into the lithium storage tank 33 through the lithium outlet pipe 32, thereby realizing automatic lithium outlet operation. The entire device has a simple structure and is easy to operate, and can effectively reduce work intensity and improve work efficiency.

[0023] In this embodiment, the lithium outlet tube 32 is arranged at an angle; the feed port of the lithium outlet tube 32 is lower than the discharge port of the lithium outlet tube 32; the feed port of the lithium outlet tube 32 is at least partially located below the lithium liquid level inside the tank body 1; specifically, one third of the feed port of the lithium outlet tube 32 is below the lithium liquid level, and two thirds is above the lithium liquid level.

[0024] In this embodiment, one end of the air supply pipe 31 located outside the tank body 1 is connected to a blower 35 ; the gas is delivered into the tank body 1 through the blower 35 .

[0025] In this embodiment, an exhaust fan 36 is connected to one end of the exhaust pipe 34 away from the lithium storage tank 33 , and the liquid metal lithium is extracted from the electrolytic cell by the exhaust fan 36 and enters the lithium storage tank 33 through the lithium outlet pipe 32 .

[0026] In this embodiment, by controlling the power of the exhaust fan 36 and utilizing the difference in specific gravity between the liquid metal lithium and the liquid molten salt electrolyte, it is ensured that only the liquid metal lithium is extracted.

[0027] In this embodiment, the power of the air supply fan 35 is smaller than that of the exhaust fan 36, which not only ensures the stability of the air pressure inside the tank body, but also forms a negative pressure environment inside the tank body.

[0028] In this embodiment, a lithium discharge port is provided at the bottom of the lithium storage tank 33; a valve is provided on the lithium discharge port. By providing the lithium discharge port and the valve, the liquid metal lithium in the lithium storage tank 33 can be discharged and cast into ingots.

[0029] In this embodiment, the volume of the lithium storage tank 33 is five times the volume of the lithium outlet tube 32, and the volume of the exhaust pipe 34 is twice the volume of the lithium outlet tube 32, so that the metallic lithium can only fall into the lithium storage tank 33 after being extracted, thereby ensuring product quality and yield.

[0030] In this embodiment, the cell body 1 includes an outer shell 11, an insulation layer 12 and an inner lining 13 arranged in sequence from the outside to the inside; at least one heat exchange tube 4 is provided in the insulation layer 12 on the front side, rear side, left side, right side and bottom of the cell body 1, and each heat exchange tube 4 is independent of each other and does not interfere with each other; heat is exchanged through the heat exchange tubes, and part of the heat in the electrolytic cell is extracted and collected for utilization, which can not only stabilize the internal temperature of the electrolytic cell, but also save energy and reduce emissions.

[0031] In this embodiment, the heat exchange tube 4 is a serpentine structure.

[0032] In this embodiment, the heat exchange agent in the heat exchange tube 4 is 26# cosmetic grade white oil.

[0033] In this embodiment, the heat exchange tube 4 is made of copper tube.

[0034] In this embodiment, the outer surfaces of the shell 11 and the tank cover 2 are both provided with a heat insulation layer, so that the temperatures inside and outside the electrolytic tank are not mutually connected to avoid mutual influence, thereby keeping the temperatures inside and outside the tank stable.

[0035] In this embodiment, the heat insulation layer is formed by coating the outer surfaces of the housing 11 and the tank cover 2 with heat insulation paint.

[0036] In this embodiment, an anode 5 and a cathode ring 6 are provided inside the cell body 1 ; the cathode ring 6 is sleeved on the outside of the anode 5 ; and the outside of the cathode ring 6 is connected to a cathode wall 7 .

[0037] In this embodiment, the heat-insulating layer 12 is made of heat-insulating material.

[0038] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. Therefore, any slight modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention are still within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A closed type automatic lithium metal molten salt electrolytic cell, characterized in that: include: A tank body (1), a tank cover (2) and an automatic lithium discharging device (3); the tank cover (2) is arranged at the top of the tank body (1); the automatic lithium discharging device (3) comprises an air supply pipe (31), a lithium discharging pipe (32), a lithium storage tank (33) and an air exhaust pipe (34); the lithium storage tank (33) is arranged outside the tank body (1); the air exhaust pipe (34) is connected to the top of the lithium storage tank (33); one end of the lithium discharging pipe (32) is connected to the lithium storage tank (33), and the other end of the lithium storage tank (33) passes through the tank body (1) and extends to the inside of the tank body (1); the air supply pipe (31) is arranged on the tank cover (2); the bottom end of the air supply pipe (31) extends downward to the inside of the tank body (1).

2. A closed type automatic lithium-discharging metal lithium molten salt electrolytic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lithium outlet tube (32) is arranged obliquely; the feed opening of the lithium outlet tube (32) is lower than the discharge opening of the lithium outlet tube (32); and the feed opening of the lithium outlet tube (32) is at least partially located below the liquid level inside the tank body (1).

3. A closed type automatic lithium-discharging metal lithium molten salt electrolytic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: One end of the air supply pipe (31) located outside the tank body (1) is connected to an air supply fan (35).

4. A closed type automatic lithium-discharging metal lithium molten salt electrolytic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: An exhaust fan (36) is connected to one end of the exhaust pipe (34) away from the lithium storage tank (33).

5. A closed type automatic lithium-discharging metal lithium molten salt electrolytic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom end of the lithium storage tank (33) is provided with a lithium discharge port; a valve is provided on the lithium discharge port.

6. A closed type automatic lithium-discharging metal molten salt electrolytic cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tank body (1) comprises an outer shell (11), a heat-insulating layer (12) and an inner lining (13) which are arranged in sequence from the outside to the inside; heat exchange tubes (4) are arranged in the heat-insulating layer (12) at the front side, the rear side, the left side, the right side and the bottom of the tank body (1).

7. A closed type automatic lithium-discharging metal molten salt electrolytic cell according to claim 6, characterized in that: The heat exchange tube (4) is a serpentine structure.

8. A closed type automatic lithium-discharging metal molten salt electrolytic cell according to claim 6, characterized in that: The outer surfaces of the shell (11) and the tank cover (2) are both provided with a heat insulation layer.

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