GEA evaporation and crystallization technology for POSCO Argentina

GEA evaporation and crystallization technology is at the heart of POSCO Group's new lithium hydroxide (LHM) plant in Güemes, Argentina. The lithium hydroxide production plant was officially inaugurated at the end of October 2024. It is the fifth lithium salt production plant that GEA has supplied to the POSCO Group. For POSCO, which claims to be the fourth largest steel producer in the world, the GEA plants are an important milestone towards its strategic goal of becoming one of the three largest lithium producers in the world by 2030. The plant in Güemes, Argentina, in which a total of more than one billion dollars has been invested, has a production capacity of 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per year - enough for 800,000 EV (Electric Vehicles) battery packs - and has positioned itself as a benchmark project for the entire Latin American region. GEA's customized LS/LH crystallization technology, high quality and excellent service contributed significantly to the successful completion of the plant. This was emphasized at the inauguration ceremony in the presence of POSCO Argentina’s President Kwangbok Kim, POSCO’s Executive Vice President of the Rechargeable Batteries Division Jun Hyung Kim, Korea’s Ambassador to Argentina Lee Yong Soo, Argentina’s Mining Minister Luis E. Lucero and Salta’s Governor, Gustavo Sáenz, where GEA’s crystallization team was awarded with a recognition.

Customized and newly developed GEA process for POSCO

The process developed from scratch by GEA for POSCO in Argentina is unique. It was developed to POSCO's exact specifications to ensure maximum uptime and performance and minimum waste and energy consumption, while delivering consistently high quality lithium hydroxide crystals. It began with laboratory testing to determine the key physical properties of the components involved, corrosion testing to determine the best material of construction and the development of a process solution that was validated in GEA's semi-industrial pilot plant. As a result, POSCO was provided by GEA with a complete development and scale-up of the appropriate evaporation, stripping and crystallization process to withstand the specific corrosive process conditions, combined with various GEA benchmark technologies, such as the falling film evaporator, forced circulation crystallizers and absorption columns operating with mechanical vapor recompression to minimize energy consumption.

The cooperation between GEA and POSCO continues with projects in Korea and Argentina

The cooperation between GEA and POSCO goes beyond lithium salts: Development work on the crystallization of NaHCO3 in connection with carbon capture processes in Korea and the establishment of a digital twin in Argentina, which helps with troubleshooting in PLC programs, shortens commissioning times and is a promising live tool for operator training, are in full swing.