Production of lithium compounds directly from lithium containing brines

1. An apparatus for continuously purifying lithium carbonate comprising:

a dissolver to dissolve lithium carbonate that includes a mixer/disperser,

a carbon dioxide gas dispersion tube,

a wash water filtrate/mother liquor filtrate recycle line,

a cooler,

a stilling well to separate gas and undissolved lithium carbonate solids from the resultant lithium bicarbonate solution,

a continuous chemical grade lithium carbonate crystal feeder;

an inline filter to remove insoluble impurities from the lithium bicarbonate solution coming from the stilling well;

a heat exchanger to recover heat from the hot mother liquor that is recycled to the dissolver;

a heated gas sealed crystallizer with mixer to decompose the lithium bicarbonate solution to form low sodium lithium carbonate crystals, carbon dioxide gas, and mother liquor;

a slurry valve to remove the low sodium lithium carbonate crystals and mother liquor from the gas sealed crystallizer;

a gas line to continuously return the carbon dioxide produced in the crystallizer to the dissolver;

a separator to separate the low sodium lithium carbonate from the mother liquor and a wash water section to wash the lithium carbonate crystals;

a pump and line to return the mother liquor and wash filtrate to the dissolver;

a mother liquor bleed to control the sodium level and to maintain a constant liquid volume; and

a carbon dioxide source.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising a reactor using absorption columns to facilitate absorption of carbon dioxide.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the absorption column is a sieve tray.

4. the apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the absorption column is a Schiebel column.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the absorption column is a sieve tray or a Schiebel column.