A method for separating a particulate stream of an evaporite mineral feedstock, the method comprising passing the stream to an air classifier configured to separate the particulate stream into a fine component and a coarse component.

A device for desulfurizing crude oil comprises a desulfurization system for sulfur-containing crude oil which forms a hydrogen sulfide-containing acid gas; a system for extracting elemental sulfur and a hydrogen sulfide-containing tail gas as exhaust gas from the acid gas; a device for generating electricity and gypsum from the tail gas; and a gas line system for supplying acid gas from the desulfurization system to the system and to the device, and for supplying tail gas from the system to the device. The gas line system has a gas distributing apparatus which supplies acid gas solely to the system in a first position, supplies acid gas solely to the device in a second position, and supplies a first part of the acid gas to the system and a second part of the acid gas to the device in a distributing position.

A process for treating an ammonium fluorosulfate byproduct includes providing an ammonium fluorosulfate byproduct including primarily ammonium fluorosulfate and lesser amounts of fluorosulfonic acid and bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide, mixing the ammonium fluorosulfate byproduct with water, reacting the mixture of the ammonium fluorosulfate byproduct and the water at a hydrolysis reaction temperature to hydrolyze the ammonium fluorosulfate, the fluorosulfonic acid and the bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide to form ammonium bisulfate and aqueous hydrogen fluoride; and separating the ammonium bisulfate from the aqueous hydrogen fluoride.

A process for treating an ammonium fluorosulfate byproduct includes providing an ammonium fluorosulfate byproduct including primarily ammonium fluorosulfate and lesser amounts of fluorosulfonic acid and bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide, mixing the ammonium fluorosulfate byproduct with water, reacting the mixture of the ammonium fluorosulfate byproduct and the water at a hydrolysis reaction temperature to hydrolyze the ammonium fluorosulfate, the fluorosulfonic acid and the bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide to form ammonium bisulfate and aqueous hydrogen fluoride; and separating the ammonium bisulfate from the aqueous hydrogen fluoride.

Processes for the recovery or purification of lithium species from various sources are described. Such sources include natural sources or deposits, such as in mining applications, and synthetic or non-natural sources, such as in the recycling of lithium species from batteries. In embodiments, the process comprises treating a Li.sub.2SO.sub.4-comprising aqueous solution with one or more barium salts to form a precipitate comprising barium sulfate (BaSO.sub.4). In embodiments, the processes may further comprise the preparation of a lithium sulfate-containing solution via treatment of the starting material or mixture with sulfuric acid. In embodiments, further treatments may be performed, for example prior to and/or subsequent to treatment with one or more barium salts, for example for initial or further sulfate removal, and/or removal of other metal species that may be present. The recovered lithium species be used directly, or converted into other forms, for use in a variety of applications.

A novel process for treatment of low quality or brackish water that allows increased recovery of high quality water, recovers commodity minerals and reduces the volume of water and mass of solids that are disposed from the process.

A process for the treatment of thick fine tailings that include constituents of concern (CoCs) and suspended solids is provided. The process includes subjecting the thick fine tailings to treatments including chemical immobilization of the CoCs, polymer flocculation of the suspended solids, and dewatering. The chemical immobilization can include the addition of compounds enabling the insolubilization of the CoCs. Subjecting the thick fine tailings to chemical immobilization and polymer flocculation can facilitate production of a reclamation-ready material, which can enable disposing of the material as part of a permanent aquatic storage structure (PASS).

A device for desulfurizing crude oil comprises a desulfurization system for sulfur-containing crude oil which forms a hydrogen sulfide-containing acid gas; a system for extracting elemental sulfur and a hydrogen sulfide-containing tail gas as exhaust gas from the acid gas; a device for generating electricity and gypsum from the tail gas; and a gas line system for supplying acid gas from the desulfurization system to the system and to the device, and for supplying tail gas from the system to the device. The gas line system has a gas distributing apparatus which supplies acid gas solely to the system in a first position, supplies acid gas solely to the device in a second position, and supplies a first part of the acid gas to the system and a second part of the acid gas to the device in a distributing position.

A device includes a desulfurization system which forms a hydrogen sulfide-containing acid gas; a system for extracting elemental sulfur and a hydrogen sulfide-containing tail gas as exhaust gas; a device for generating electricity and gypsum from the tail gas; and a gas line system for supplying acid gas from the desulfurization system to the system for extracting elemental sulfur and to the device for generating electricity and gypsum, and for supplying tail gas from the system for extracting elemental sulfur to the device for generating electricity and gypsum. The gas line system has a gas distributing apparatus which supplies acid gas solely to the system in a first position, supplies acid gas solely to the device in a second position, and supplies a first part of the acid gas to the system and a second part of the acid gas to the device in a distributing position.

The invention provides for the orchestrated treatment of disparate fractions of a shale deposit to recover vanadium values, with distinct steps of beneficiation that together provide a combined vanadium-enriched concentrate amenable to subsequent combined steps of hydrometallurgical vanadium extraction.