ISL hosted the mid-term meeting for the project titled "Medium Chloride Conversion for High-Quality Anhydrous Magnesium Chloride and Low-Energy Electrolytic Magnesium Technology Engineering Demonstration." Key attendees included ISL’s Deputy Director Zheng Shili, Deputy Director Feng Haitao, Vice President of Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd. Ma Lichun.
In his opening remarks, Zheng Shili welcomed the leaders, experts, and technical staff from Salt Lake Industry Co. He expressed appreciation for the company's support in platform development and key project initiatives. Zheng highlighted the strong collaboration between both parties and emphasized the importance of enhancing partnerships in areas such as platform development, talent exchange, and tackling critical technological challenges. He urged both sides to work together on significant national tasks to drive high-quality development in the salt lake industry.
Ma Lichun provided insights into the industrial layout and research and development framework of Salt Lake Industry Co., as well as the implementation of major scientific projects. He expressed hope for a synergistic approach to overcome key technological hurdles in the salt lake sector.
The project aims to utilize the old brine from potassium extraction at the Qarhan Salt Lake in Qinghai. Through natural evaporation in salt fields, high-purity magnesium chloride hexahydrate is produced, which is then converted into ammonium magnesium chloride using refined magnesium chloride and ammonium chloride. This process also involves dehydrating the mixture to produce anhydrous magnesium chloride for electrolytic magnesium production.
During the meeting, research team leaders reported on progress, highlighted challenges encountered, and outlined plans for the next phase of the project. As one of the primary entities responsible for the project, ISL is actively researching the evaporation and spray granulation processes of ammonium magnesium chloride. They have achieved initial success in preparing low-water ammonium magnesium chloride and have established a pilot platform for producing anhydrous magnesium chloride. These advancements position the project well for the upcoming low-energy electrolytic magnesium technology demonstration.
The meeting also included participation from the head of the Science and Technology Department at ISL, research team members, and representatives from East China University of Science and Technology, Wuhan University of Engineering, Tianhua Chemical Machinery and Automation Research Design Institute Co., Ltd., and BlueStar (Beijing) Chemical Machinery Co., Ltd.
Meeting venue