Abstract

A drowning-out crystallization process was designed to produce purified lithium oxide monohydrate. The study started with the development of the ternary phase diagram for the LiOH - water-ethanol system. This was followed by process conceptualization integrating crystallization, downstream processing and solvent recovery. LiOH · H2O crystals with a mean size between 0.3 mm and 0.4 mm depending on the operating conditions and compositions were obtained. © 2007 Institution of Chemical Engineers.