Direct lithium extraction is entering a new phase.
For several years, much of the discussion around DLE technology focused on laboratory recovery rates, adsorption capacity and the ability to selectively extract lithium from brine. At DLE USA 2026 in Houston, however, the emphasis was noticeably different.
The central question was no longer simply:
Can direct lithium extraction recover lithium?
Instead, developers, technology providers, engineering companies and material suppliers increasingly focused on a more difficult question:
Can a DLE process operate reliably, economically and continuously under actual field conditions?
Across two days of technical presentations and panel discussions, several recurring themes emerged. These included the challenge of low-lithium-concentration brines, the importance of brine pretreatment, the relationship between adsorbent properties and process configuration, the limitations of short laboratory tests and the growing role of process modelling in commercial-scale DLE projects.
These discussions provide a useful framework for understanding what is now required to move a lithium extraction technology from the laboratory into industrial operation.
Executive Summary
The most important conclusions from DLE USA 2026 were:
- Low lithium concentration remains one of the main challenges for North American brine projects.
- Brine pretreatment is a core part of the DLE process, rather than a separate upstream step.
- Lithium adsorbents must be selected according to brine chemistry and equipment configuration.
- Maximum adsorption capacity alone is not sufficient to evaluate commercial performance.
- Pilot testing must examine cycle stability, chemical consumption, impurity accumulation and mass balance.
- Digital twins and process simulation are becoming increasingly important during scale-up.
- Commercial DLE success depends on the integration of materials, process design, pretreatment and downstream purification.
1. Low-Concentration Lithium Brines Change the Economics of DLE
Many lithium brines in North America contain significantly lower lithium concentrations than some traditional South American salt-lake resources.
This affects nearly every part of a direct lithium extraction process.
When lithium concentration is low, a plant must process a larger volume of brine to produce the same amount of lithium product. As a result, several operational factors become more important:
- Brine pumping volume
- Adsorption kinetics
- Lithium recovery per unit volume
- Water consumption
- Chemical consumption
- Adsorbent inventory
- Equipment size
- Energy demand
- Cycle time
For example, an adsorbent may show a relatively high equilibrium adsorption capacity during a long-duration laboratory test. However, if the adsorption rate is slow, the process may require longer contact times, larger adsorption columns or a greater total adsorbent inventory.
In a commercial plant, these requirements directly affect capital expenditure and operating costs.
This is why low-concentration lithium brines cannot be evaluated only by measuring the maximum lithium loading of an adsorbent. The entire process must be assessed on a volumetric and time-dependent basis.
Important parameters include:
- Lithium recovered per cubic metre of brine
- Lithium recovered per cubic metre of adsorbent
- Adsorption time per cycle
- Desorption time per cycle
- Total number of cycles per day
- Chemical consumption per tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent
- Water consumption per tonne of product
For low-grade brines, improving adsorption kinetics and process efficiency may be more commercially valuable than achieving a slightly higher maximum adsorption capacity.
2. Brine Pretreatment Is Part of the DLE Process
One of the clearest themes at the conference was that brine pretreatment cannot be treated as a secondary engineering consideration.
Natural and produced brines may contain:
- Suspended solids
- Oil and organic matter
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Iron
- Manganese
- Silica
- Sulphate
- Barium
- Strontium
- Dissolved gases
- Other trace contaminants
These components can affect both lithium recovery and long-term equipment operation.
Potential problems include:
- Adsorbent surface fouling
- Pore blockage
- Precipitation inside adsorption columns
- Increased pressure drop
- Reduced lithium adsorption kinetics
- Contamination of the lithium-rich eluate
- Higher downstream purification costs
- Loss of adsorbent mechanical integrity
A brine may perform well during a short batch adsorption test but behave very differently during continuous column operation.
For example, calcium and magnesium may not strongly compete with lithium on certain titanium-based lithium adsorbents. However, they can still form precipitates when pH is adjusted during adsorption. Those precipitates may accumulate in the equipment or on the surface of the adsorbent.
Similarly, oil and organic components may not immediately appear to affect lithium recovery, but repeated exposure can gradually alter surface wettability, mass transfer and hydraulic performance.
Therefore, a commercially viable DLE flow sheet must integrate:
- Brine characterisation
- Pretreatment
- Lithium adsorption
- Washing
- Desorption
- Eluate purification
- Water and reagent recycling
Pretreatment decisions should be based on the complete process rather than on lithium adsorption alone.
3. There Is No Universal Lithium Adsorbent
Another major conclusion was that no single lithium adsorbent is suitable for every brine resource or every process configuration.
Lithium adsorbents may include:
- Aluminium-based adsorbents
- Titanium-based lithium ion sieves
- Manganese-based lithium ion sieves
- Ion-exchange materials
- Functional polymers
- Composite adsorbents
- Solvent-assisted extraction materials
Each material has its own advantages and limitations.
However, material chemistry is only one part of adsorbent selection. The physical form of the adsorbent is equally important.
For powder-based evaluation, membrane development or custom shaping, see GFLTS Li₂TiO₃ lithium ion sieve powder.
Commercial DLE systems may use:
- Fixed-bed columns
- Moving-bed ion exchange systems
- Fluidised-bed systems
- Stirred tanks
- Continuous counter-current contactors
- Slurry-based processes
Each configuration creates different requirements for particle properties.
Fixed-Bed Systems
Fixed-bed adsorption columns generally require:
- Suitable particle size distribution
- Low pressure drop
- High mechanical strength
- Stable bed packing
- Limited swelling or shrinkage
- Fast mass transfer
Particles that are too small may improve kinetics but create excessive pressure drop. Particles that are too large may provide better hydraulic performance but reduce the effective adsorption rate.
Moving-Bed Systems
Moving-bed systems place additional mechanical stress on the adsorbent.
Important properties include:
- Attrition resistance
- Crushing strength
- Particle density
- Surface stability
- Resistance to repeated transfer and circulation
A material with excellent batch adsorption performance may not be suitable for a moving-bed system if it produces fines during continuous circulation.
Fluidised-Bed and Stirred Systems
Fluidised and stirred systems may require:
- Controlled particle density
- Narrow particle size distribution
- Good suspension behaviour
- High resistance to collision and shear
- Rapid adsorption kinetics
The selection of a lithium adsorbent must therefore consider three factors simultaneously:
Brine chemistry + material chemistry + process configuration
Ignoring any one of these factors can create significant scale-up problems.
4. Adsorption Capacity Is Only One Performance Indicator
Adsorption capacity remains an important parameter, but it is frequently overemphasised during early-stage DLE evaluation.
A laboratory result expressed in milligrams of lithium per gram of adsorbent does not provide a complete picture of commercial performance.
The reported capacity may depend on:
- Initial lithium concentration
- Adsorbent dosage
- Contact time
- Temperature
- pH
- Liquid-to-solid ratio
- Agitation method
- Brine composition
- Whether the test represents equilibrium or dynamic operation
Two adsorbents cannot be compared fairly unless they are tested under comparable conditions.
For commercial evaluation, additional performance indicators are necessary.
Adsorption Kinetics
How quickly does the adsorbent remove lithium?
Faster kinetics can reduce contact time, column size and adsorbent inventory.
Working Capacity
What lithium capacity is achieved during the actual operating cycle?
The working capacity in a one-hour or four-hour cycle may be significantly lower than the equilibrium capacity measured after 24 hours.
Lithium Recovery
How much lithium is removed from the brine during each pass?
A high adsorbent loading does not automatically mean a high overall recovery rate.
Desorption Efficiency
Can the lithium be released efficiently using a practical quantity of acid and water?
Incomplete desorption reduces the available adsorption capacity in the next cycle.
Eluate Concentration
What lithium concentration is achieved in the desorption solution?
A dilute eluate may require additional evaporation or concentration, increasing downstream costs.
Cycle Stability
How does the adsorbent perform after hundreds or thousands of adsorption and desorption cycles?
Even a small loss per cycle can become significant during continuous industrial operation.
Mechanical Stability
Does the adsorbent maintain its particle shape, strength and hydraulic behaviour?
Mechanical degradation can produce fines, increase pressure drop and cause material losses.
The best commercial adsorbent is not necessarily the material with the highest single-cycle adsorption result. It is the material that delivers a stable balance of kinetics, capacity, selectivity, desorption efficiency and mechanical durability.
5. Pilot Testing Must Replicate Real Operating Conditions
Short-duration laboratory testing is useful for initial material screening, but it is not sufficient for commercial process design.
A meaningful DLE pilot programme should use actual or accurately simulated brine and reproduce the intended operating conditions as closely as possible.
This includes:
- Realistic lithium concentration
- Actual calcium and magnesium concentrations
- Relevant organic and suspended-solid content
- Commercially representative temperature
- Realistic pH control
- Representative flow rates
- Actual adsorption and desorption cycle times
- Intended washing procedure
- Recycled process water where applicable
Pilot testing should also evaluate the complete cycle rather than adsorption in isolation.
A representative test sequence may include:
- Adsorbent activation
- Brine feeding
- pH adjustment or buffer addition
- Lithium adsorption
- Displacement or washing
- Acid desorption
- Post-desorption washing
- Preparation for the next cycle
Important pilot-scale data include:
- Lithium breakthrough curves
- Raffinate lithium concentration
- Adsorption working capacity
- Lithium recovery rate
- Acid consumption
- Alkali consumption
- Water consumption
- Eluate lithium concentration
- Impurity concentration in the eluate
- Adsorbent attrition
- Pressure-drop development
- Performance degradation over repeated cycles
Long-term testing is particularly important because some problems only become visible after repeated operation.
Examples include:
- Gradual impurity accumulation
- Slow surface fouling
- Irreversible capacity loss
- Particle breakage
- Changes in bed permeability
- Increased reagent consumption
- Reduced desorption efficiency
A pilot programme should therefore be designed to identify failure mechanisms, not merely to demonstrate a successful lithium recovery result.
6. Continuous pH Management Is Often More Important Than Initial pH
In many adsorption-based DLE processes, pH strongly affects lithium uptake.
However, adjusting the feed brine to a target pH before adsorption may not be sufficient.
Lithium adsorption can consume alkalinity and cause the pH to decrease during contact with the adsorbent. In low-buffer-capacity brines, this decline may reduce lithium uptake before the brine reaches the end of the adsorption system.
For this reason, process developers may need to evaluate:
- Feed pH
- Brine buffer capacity
- pH change across the adsorption bed
- Intermediate alkali addition
- Continuous pH control
- Carbonate or bicarbonate buffering
- Precipitation risks associated with pH adjustment
In multi-column systems, staged pH adjustment between columns may help maintain the adsorption driving force.
However, adding excessive alkali can also increase precipitation of calcium, magnesium or other components.
Effective pH management therefore requires balancing:
- Lithium adsorption performance
- Brine buffering
- Reagent consumption
- Scaling risk
- Downstream water chemistry
This is another example of why the adsorbent cannot be evaluated independently from the overall process.
7. Digital Twins and Process Modelling Are Becoming More Important
Digital process models and DLE digital twins were another area of increasing interest.
A digital twin can combine laboratory data, pilot data and process assumptions to simulate system behaviour under different operating conditions.
Potential applications include:
- Predicting lithium breakthrough
- Estimating column size
- Optimising cycle time
- Comparing flow configurations
- Modelling pH changes
- Calculating chemical consumption
- Estimating adsorbent inventory
- Evaluating water recycle
- Identifying process bottlenecks
- Testing changes before physical implementation
Digital models cannot replace experimental work. Their accuracy depends on the quality of the underlying adsorption, kinetic, hydraulic and chemical data.
However, when properly calibrated, modelling can reduce the number of physical experiments required and improve scale-up decisions.
For adsorbent suppliers, this also means that customers increasingly need more than a basic technical data sheet.
Useful engineering data may include:
- Adsorption isotherms
- Kinetic curves
- Breakthrough data
- Particle size distribution
- Bulk density
- Mechanical strength
- Attrition performance
- Pressure-drop characteristics
- Cycle-life data
- Desorption behaviour
As DLE projects mature, collaboration between adsorbent manufacturers, engineering companies and digital modelling providers is likely to become more important.
8. Commercial DLE Requires Value-Chain Integration
The conference discussions also showed that the DLE industry is becoming increasingly interconnected.
A commercial project may involve:
- Brine-resource owners
- DLE technology developers
- Adsorbent manufacturers
- Pretreatment technology providers
- Filtration and membrane companies
- Column and contactor suppliers
- Engineering, procurement and construction contractors
- Process modelling companies
- Lithium purification specialists
- Offtake partners
- Project financiers
A failure in any one part of this chain can limit the performance of the entire project.
For example:
- An effective adsorbent cannot compensate for inadequate oil removal.
- A well-designed column cannot overcome poor particle strength.
- High lithium recovery may have limited value if the eluate contains excessive impurities.
- Good laboratory data may not translate into commercial performance without appropriate hydraulic design.
- A technically viable process may still fail if water or chemical consumption is too high.
The next generation of DLE projects will therefore require more integrated technical packages rather than isolated equipment or material solutions.
Our Perspective on Titanium-Based Lithium Adsorbents
For Gangfeng New Materials, the key messages from DLE USA 2026 closely align with our current product-development priorities.
Our titanium-based lithium adsorbent development focuses not only on lithium adsorption capacity, but also on industrial operating requirements such as:
- Particle strength
- Attrition resistance
- Bulk density
- Adsorption kinetics
- Desorption efficiency
- Cycle stability
- Compatibility with different process configurations
- Adaptability to different brine chemistries
Titanium-based lithium ion sieves can offer strong lithium selectivity and low adsorption of magnesium under suitable conditions.
However, successful application still requires careful evaluation of:
- Lithium concentration
- Brine pH
- Buffer capacity
- Calcium and magnesium content
- Suspended solids
- Organic contaminants
- Operating temperature
- Contact time
- Adsorption-column design
- Desorption conditions
For this reason, we recommend that adsorbent selection be supported by brine analysis, bench-scale testing and continuous column testing using pretreated field brine.
The objective should not simply be to identify the material with the highest laboratory capacity. It should be to define an operating window that can remain stable during long-term industrial operation.
Conclusion
DLE USA 2026 demonstrated that the direct lithium extraction industry is moving beyond proof-of-concept testing.
The most important commercial questions now concern:
- Reliability
- Integration
- Scale-up
- Cycle stability
- Water consumption
- Chemical consumption
- Impurity management
- Process economics
Low-concentration brines, complex water chemistry and demanding field conditions mean that commercial DLE cannot depend on adsorbent performance alone.
Successful projects will require the coordinated optimisation of brine pretreatment, lithium adsorption, particle engineering, equipment design, process control, desorption and downstream purification.
The industry is no longer only asking whether direct lithium extraction works.
It is now asking whether it can work continuously, predictably and economically at commercial scale.
That is the standard by which the next generation of DLE technologies will be evaluated.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main challenge for commercial direct lithium extraction?
The main challenge is maintaining stable lithium recovery under real brine conditions while controlling water use, chemical consumption, impurity accumulation, equipment size and operating cost.
Why are low-concentration lithium brines difficult to process?
Low-concentration brines require larger volumes of water to be processed for each tonne of lithium product. This increases pumping demand, adsorbent inventory, equipment size and the importance of fast adsorption kinetics.
Why is brine pretreatment important for DLE?
Pretreatment removes or controls suspended solids, oil, calcium, magnesium, silica and other contaminants that may foul the adsorbent, increase pressure drop or contaminate the lithium-rich eluate.
How should a lithium adsorbent be selected?
A lithium adsorbent should be selected according to brine chemistry, lithium concentration, operating pH, temperature, process configuration, particle-strength requirements and expected cycle conditions.
Is high adsorption capacity enough to prove commercial performance?
No. Commercial evaluation must also consider adsorption kinetics, working capacity, desorption efficiency, eluate concentration, mechanical strength, chemical consumption and long-term cycle stability.
What is the role of titanium-based lithium adsorbents in DLE?
Titanium-based lithium adsorbents can provide high lithium selectivity and low magnesium adsorption. Their performance depends on appropriate pH control, brine pretreatment, particle design and process configuration.
Why is long-term cycle testing necessary?
Repeated-cycle testing can reveal gradual capacity loss, fouling, attrition, pressure-drop changes and increased chemical consumption that may not be visible during short laboratory experiments.