MaximaLabs
All examples
Simulation gallery

Direct lithium extraction + LiOH crystallization

Direct lithium extractionBattery metalsElectrolyte thermoEvaporatorCrystallizer
See it live
Open this exact flowsheet in the workspace, already solved — tweak a spec and re-run.
Launch interactive model

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.

Brine
DLE
Spent Brine
Eluent
Elute MIX
RO PUMP
RO
RO Permeate
BPED
Steam1
feed
steam
conc
vapor
cond
Evap1
feed
steam
conc
vapor
cond
Evap2
Evap1 Condensate
Evap2 Condensate
feed
solid
liq
Cryst
LIOH Product
Mother Liquor

The stream table

Every stream's flow, temperature, pressure, and composition — real converged numbers, not placeholders.

See it live
Open this exact flowsheet in the workspace, already solved — tweak a spec and re-run.
Launch interactive model

Stop fighting legacy software. Build your first flowsheet in 60 seconds.