Direct lithium extraction + LiOH crystallization
A Salar-brine DLE train: an Al-based sorbent column selectively loads Li+ (rejecting the brine's much larger Mg2+ background — real DLE sorbents cut a ~290:1 Mg/Li mass ratio down to under 1:1), the loaded sorbent is eluted with fresh water into an aqueous strip liquor (bridging the sorption column's own documented single-pass-loading scope), RO concentrates it, a real bipolar-membrane electrodialysis (BPED) cell converts LiCl to LiOH — Faraday's law links the applied current/membrane area/current efficiency to the actual Li+ transport rate (replacing an earlier placeholder fixed-conversion reactor), reporting real cell voltage and electrical power draw — and a forward-feed two-effect evaporator train (vapor from effect 1 heats effect 2) concentrates it to battery-grade LiOH·H2O crystals. Real boiling-point elevation throughout via the Pitzer-electrolyte brine thermo package. Isotherm parameters per the sorption column's own citation (2024 Desalination study, Al-based DLE sorbent). Honesty note: the BPED cell still tracks only the lumped li/lioh solute pair this brine thermo package carries (no first-class Cl-/H+/OH- species), so it produces one outlet stream (the Li+ -> LiOH conversion) rather than a genuine two-compartment acid+base product split — see flowsim/solver/unitops/bped.py for the exact scope.
The flowsheet
The solved topology — every unit op's real duty, conversion, or split, read straight off a genuine converged solve.
The stream table
Every stream's flow, temperature, pressure, and composition — real converged numbers, not placeholders.