Hydrogen, lithium, and lithium hydride production
View Patent ↗A method of producing high purity lithium metal is provided, where gaseous-phase lithium metal is extracted from lithium hydride and condensed to form solid high purity lithium metal. The high purity lithium metal may be hydrided to provide high purity lithium hydride.
1. A method of producing hydrogen and lithium comprising:
heating lithium hydride to form liquid-phase lithium hydride;
reducing an ambient pressure over the liquid-phase lithium hydride;
extracting hydrogen and gaseous-phase lithium metal from the liquid-phase lithium hydride;
condensing the gaseous-phase lithium metal as purified solid-phase lithium metal; and
melting the solid-phase lithium metal to form refined liquid-phase lithium metal.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising hydriding the refined liquid-phase lithium metal.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
hydriding the refined liquid-phase lithium metal to form re-charged lithium hydride; and
again performing the steps of claim 1 at least one time using the re-charged lithium hydride as the lithium material.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising retarding a formation of a barrier crust adjacent the liquid-phase lithium hydride.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of retarding the formation of the barrier crust comprises sparging the liquid-phase lithium hydride with an inert gas.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of retarding the formation of the barrier crust comprises agitating the liquid lithium hydride with an energy having a periodic waveform.