A close-up view of brine conditioning and DLE steps at the field-based pilot plant. (Source: Standard Lithium)
Standard Lithium and Equinor’s joint venture company SWA Lithium has started operations at its direct lithium extraction (DLE) pilot plant, advancing efforts toward its first commercial lithium facility in southwestern Arkansas.
The pilot DLE plant at the South West Arkansas Project is processing brine to confirm engineering design parameters and to provide samples of battery-quality lithium carbonate for use in the qualification process for potential offtakers, Standard Lithium said in a Dec. 19 news release. As part of the process, the JV is using Koch Technology Solutions’ Li-Pro Lithium Selective Sorption technology.
“This field-based pilot DLE plant is the final step in ensuring that we have exactly the right data to confirm our design and be sure that we know how our commercial plant will operate once constructed,” said Andy Robinson, director and president for Standard Lithium.
The work is underway as the U.S. takes steps to increase domestic supplies of lithium, a key ingredient in batteries used for electric vehicles and energy storage projects. There is currently only one lithium mine in the U.S.; however, several companies are pursuing projects that involve directly extracting lithium from brine.
Compared to traditional extraction techniques such as using solar evaporation of brine in large evaporation ponds or mining lithium-bearing rocks, DLE is considered more efficient and environmentally friendly.
“This pilot DLE plant is using real brine, collected in real-time from one of our project wells (the IPC well), and we are using the same flowsheet as our commercial lithium facility to produce an intermediate lithium chloride solution, the same as what we do every day in our demonstration plant,” Robinson said. “We’ll then ship this solution to several selected vendor partners so that they can convert the lithium chloride solution to a battery-quality lithium carbonate product.”
Standard said the brine supply and operation of the pilot plant is expected to continue until late January 2025. By that time, the company expects to have produced about 1,000 gallons of concentrated and purified lithium chloride solution to be sent to three potential carbonate equipment vendors. Those vendors, the company said, will together produce about 30 kg of battery-quality lithium carbonate to be used for the first phase of qualification with potential offtake partners.
Recommended Reading
Bottlenecks Holding US Back from NatGas, LNG Dominance
2025-03-13 - North America’s natural gas abundance positions the region to be a reliable power supplier. But regulatory factors are holding the industry back from fully tackling the global energy crisis, experts at CERAWeek said.
LNG, Data Centers, Winter Freeze Offer Promise for NatGas in ‘25
2025-02-06 - New LNG export capacity and new gas-fired power demand have prices for 2025 gas and beyond much higher than the early 2024 outlook expected. And kicking the year off: a 21-day freeze across the U.S.
Expand CFO: ‘Durable’ LNG, Not AI, to Drive US NatGas Demand
2025-02-14 - About three-quarters of future U.S. gas demand growth will be fueled by LNG exports, while data centers’ needs will be more muted, according to Expand Energy CFO Mohit Singh.
Dallas Fed: Trump Can Cut Red Tape, but Raising Prices Trickier
2025-01-02 - U.S. oil and gas executives expect fewer regulatory headaches under Trump but some see oil prices sliding, according to the fourth-quarter Dallas Fed Energy Survey.
Segrist: American LNG Unaffected by Cut-Off of Russian Gas Supply
2025-02-24 - The last gas pipeline connecting Russia to Western Europe has shut down, but don’t expect a follow-on effect for U.S. LNG demand.
Comments
Add new comment
This conversation is moderated according to Hart Energy community rules. Please read the rules before joining the discussion. If you’re experiencing any technical problems, please contact our customer care team.