Aerial view of Albemarle's La Negra processing plant in Chile

R&D Lab La Negra

Our R&D lab at our La Negra Chemical Plant provides many different technical specifications that ensure we can deliver extremely advanced lithium material with very high added value to more than 650 customers in multiple end markets in 60 countries. 

The PI&T (Process Investigation and Testing) Laboratory is part of the Process and Technology area, a sub-area of the Project Management of our company.

In Chile, PI&T develops studies, trials, analyses and projects focused on the continuous improvement of production processes that are in operation, as well as the development of new technologies that optimize production and resources to the maximum. 

The work methodology for the development of processes used by our researchers begins with the definition of a baseline; the analysis of previous antecedents and bibliographic studies; the development of a theoretical proposal; laboratory tests and evaluation of the technical and economic feasibility of the process. Then, together with Process Engineering, a design is presented to the Projects and/or Operations area for its execution. 

Currently, the P&IT Laboratory is mainly focused on supporting the Get Right project (One Step and Plant 2) and the expansion project (Plant III), responding to the key analytical requirements, which will optimize both the current operation and the design of future facilities. 

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