Toward CO2 utilization: Gas–liquid reactive crystallization of lithium carbonate in concentrated KOH solution

Utilization of carbon dioxide, such as carbonation and mineralization, can reduce the emission of the greenhouse gases and help produce other high added-value products. In this work, CO2 is utilized for carbonation of lithium hydroxide in concentrated KOH solution to produce lithium carbonate. The effect of temperature on carbonation rate and particle size distribution is investigated. Both the CO2 apparent absorption rate and the Li2CO3 crystallization rate are calculated to determine the effect of crystallization on the CO2 absorption. Products obtained during carbonation process are characterized as lithium carbonate with no impurity and high crystallinity. The maximum carbonate rate reaches approximately 83% at 90°C. It is concluded that carbonation process is a promising technique for both utilization of CO2 and recovery of lithium present in strong alkaline solutions.