The challenge:
Increasing Lithium (Li) concentration in pegmatite ores requires a combination of advanced image processing and innovative sorting techniques based on interactions of magnetic fields and solid particles.
The Horizon Europe LICORNE project involves 16 partners with researchers from universities, research centres, and industries, working closely together to reach a common goal: to establish the first-ever Li supply chain in Europe, increasing the European Li processing and refining capacity for producing battery-grade chemicals from ores, geothermal and continental brines, tailings and off-specification cathode materials (waste). The Delft University of Technology has designed innovative sorting technologies like opto-magnetically induced sorting to concentrate crushed pegmatites and improve the beneficiation process from 75% of pegmatite concentration to around 90% at optimized conditions. In LICORNE, we aim to develop beneficiation technologies able to increase the Li concentration in pegmatite ores so that about 15% of gangue could be prevented from entering the downstream process reducing energy and reagents.
Research in the Resources and Recycling group has a reputation for moving innovative physics into industrial reality, resulting in six spin-out companies to date. The project offers the opportunity for a new postdoc to join our team and work together with innovative industries involved in the LICORNE project.
The position:
The project offers the opportunity for a postdoc to join our team and work together with other researchers involved in the LICORNE project. The postdoc will focus on image processing for particles’ recognition and the phenomena involved in printhead design/optimization (e.g., CFD, drops formation and dynamics) to optimize the design of innovative sorting equipment and test it. The research involves both experiments and some modelling. The experimental part includes physical processes such as fluid dynamics, mechanics of particle-particle interactions, and process control.
Apply:
Related articles:
