LG Chem supplies RO filters for Chinese lithium extraction project

South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. has supplied reverse osmosis (RO) filters for a project to extract lithium from China's largest salt lake.

The company on Wednesday said it has sent about 10,000 filters for the Guoan lithium extraction project of China's Citic Group Corp.

Citic is a large government-owned company and the project, which began full-scale operations in Qinghai province, is the country's largest for extracting lithium from a salt lake.

Project operator TUS-Qingyuan will produce 20,000 tons of lithium carbonate a year by using the RO filters from LG Chem.

This is enough to produce 500,000 electric vehicles, so the project boasts the world's largest lithium extraction capacity using a filtration device.

Application of RO filters can drastically lower the energy required for lithium production.

To secure lithium dissolved in saline lakes, water must be evaporated to increase the lithium's concentration. The method used has mainly been water removal through heat application, but though the filter's RO process, water molecules only can be quickly filtered out without the need for heat.

The company's filter has high rates of impurity removal and production flow and features excellent durability that beats that of its competitors.

LG Chem will expand sales of its filter to other lithium extraction projects at salt lakes in China and South America.

The company is also developing with Korea University an RO filter for the next-generation process of direct lithium extraction for more efficient removal. The technology will slash the time needed for the lithium enrichment process from months to hours.

"We will lead the market by combining our leadership in battery materials and RO filters in line with surging global demand for lithium," said Hyung Hoon, president of the company's affiliate LG Water Solutions.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com