SWA Lithium, the joint venture (JV) between Standard Lithium and Equinor which is developing the South West Arkansas Project, has entered into a license agreement with Koch Technology Solutions LLC (KTS) to deploy and use KTS’ Li-Pro Lithium Selective Sorption (“Li-Pro LSS) technology at the JV’s commercial plant for the SWA Phase 1 Project.
For more information on lithium projects in the U.S., please read the October 2024 cover story here.
The license agreement allows the JV to utilize KTS’ technology for the lifetime of the first phase of the Project, with an option for utilization in subsequent phases of the Project. Considerations and benefits of the license agreement include:
- Rights to use the Li-Pro LSS technology for subsequent phases of the JV’s SWA Project;
- Certain technology performance guarantees for lithium recovery, contaminant rejection and water use;
- Lithium recovery ≥ 95.00%
- Impurity rejection Calcium, Sodium, Potassium & Magnesium ≥ 99%
- Technical support from KTS to fully integrate the Li-Pro LSS technology into overall process plant design;
- Continued exclusive joint development of the technology in the Smackover Formation;
- Technical support from KTS during commissioning and startup;
- License payment phased over several milestones; and
- Continued collaboration and technology refinement between SWA Lithium and KTS.
Standard Lithium’s Director, President & COO, Dr. Andy Robinson commented: “Signing this license agreement is the culmination of over two years of close work with the KTS team to refine the direct lithium extraction (‘DLE’) technology and integrate it into the JV’s flowsheet. The Li-Pro LSS technology is now sufficiently scaled-up, tested and derisked, so not only is the JV comfortable committing to its use at commercial scale, but KTS is also able to offer performance guarantees for its commercial deployment. We view this as a significant derisking event for the Project, and it points to the successful ongoing partnership with the KTS team.”
Garrett Krall, Business Leader for Koch Technology Solutions, said: “This license agreement for use of our Li-Pro LSS technology is another key milestone in the development of DLE as a commercially viable, economic and environmentally responsible solution to deliver against future lithium demand.”
Standard Lithium is also pleased to announce the continued successful operation of the commercial-scale DLE column at its wholly-owned Demonstration Plant near El Dorado, Arkansas. The Company installed a commercial-scale DLE column in late March 2024 and has been operating the column continuously. The column is a Li-Pro LSS unit, supplied by KTS and identical to those currently being integrated into the front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for the SWA Project.
Since commissioning, the column has exceeded the targeted design parameters for lithium recovery and rejection of impurities. Key technical highlights of the commercial-scale DLE column are provided below:
- Lithium recovery efficiency of 95.4%: During a four-month continuous operating period (1st April to 31st July 2024), the Li-Pro LSS process achieved an average lithium recovery (i.e. after loading and elution) of 95.4% from the 90 gallons per minute (gpm) incoming brine flow (the average incoming brine contained 183 mg/L lithium during the same period).
- Excellent contamination rejection rate: During the same period, the DLE process rejected, on average;
- Sodium – 99.9%
- Calcium – 99.6%
- Magnesium – 99.2%
- Potassium – 99.7%
- Boron – 95.4%
High and consistent contaminant rejection at the DLE stage means that the eluate (the initial lithium chloride solution) is easier and cheaper to further refine and concentrate using tested and proven steps to make a concentrated and purified lithium chloride solution. This solution can then be converted to a battery quality carbonate, as has been demonstrated multiple times and at several different scales, both at the Demo Plant and off-site with various third-party vendors.
- Nearly 10,000 operational cycles for the Li-Pro LSS technology: The commercial-scale Li-Pro LSS column has completed over 725 operational cycles, and the Li-Pro LSS technology has completed over 9,740 operational cycles at the Demo Plant (as of early October 2024).
- Over 24 million gallons of brine processed: As of the end of September 2024, the Demo Plant had processed 24,446,306 gallons (92,539,335 litres) of Smackover brine, produced directly from the formation and reinjected continuously back into the same formation.