Summit Nanotech Brings Digital Twin Capability to Commercial DLE Design
CALGARY, AB, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Summit Nanotech Corporation ("Summit"), a global direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology company, has announced its proprietary Predictive Modeling Platform, designed to accelerate the commercial design, validation, and deployment of DLE systems for lithium producers.
The platform acts as a high-fidelity digital twin of Summit's DLE systems, incorporating the exact physical characteristics of extraction columns (dimensions, hydraulics, mass transport, and sorbent properties) alongside the fundamental mechanisms governing lithium adsorption and desorption. By integrating operating parameters like flow rates, temperatures, and sequence timings, it produces simulations that closely predict real-world performance as validated in subsequent physical operations.
Unlike conventional process models, which are static and project-specific, Summit's platform compounds in capability with each deployment. Data from each brine processed improves the model for subsequent projects, creating an expanding performance advantage across Summit's portfolio. The platform currently runs 10,000 multi-column simulations per day, enabling comprehensive scenario analysis across brine compositions, flow conditions, and operating strategies.
"Most DLE scale-up failures trace back to the same problem: the system was designed against assumptions that didn't hold in the field. Our platform compresses that gap, simulating the full range of process conditions before capital is committed, and recalibrating with every brine we process," said Dr. Jeremy Patt, Chief Technology Officer at Summit Nanotech.
Summit has already applied the platform in a commercial context, completing engineering consulting on column modeling for a major mining company.
The platform delivers value across three core functions:
- Parameter fitting. Virtual testing of cycle times, flow rates, column configurations, and sorbent performance against variable brine conditions before hardware is deployed.
- Process optimization. Systematic identification of optimal process parameters to maximize lithium recovery while minimizing water and energy consumption.
- Continuous model refinement. Operational data from Summit's physical systems feeds back into the platform, improving model fidelity with each run.
The platform reduces time-to-commercial-design by enabling virtual experimentation of process configurations before physical testing is required. Integrated with Summit's rapid-validation demonstration plant in Santiago, it allows design decisions made during brine validation to flow directly into commercial plant engineering.
Summit's denaLi™ DLE technology has achieved a projected ~$1,000/t LCE reduction in project lifecycle costs compared to leading competitor benchmarks. The Predictive Modeling Platform contributes directly to that cost leadership by optimizing sorbent utilization, minimizing freshwater consumption, and reducing process downtime through better-calibrated control strategies.
About Summit Nanotech
Summit Nanotech Corporation is a global DLE technology company headquartered in Calgary, Canada, with operations in Santiago, Chile and Denver, Colorado. The company's denaLi™ DLE technology, enabled by its eLivate™ sorbent, is designed to deliver high lithium recovery, strong impurity rejection, and ultra-low water use, resulting in the lowest levelized cost of lithium production over the full project lifecycle. Summit partners with lithium producers and project developers to support projects from resource evaluation to commercial deployment across Chile, Argentina, and the United States.
For more information, visit www.summitnanotech.com.
SOURCE Summit Nanotech
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