UTILITIES - VITAL ENERGY FOR PRODUCTION
Searles Valley Minerals Utilities produces the electricity that runs the production facilities. We sell additional power to Southern California Edison, which provides power to thousands of California homes.
Two coal-fired boilers drive two 27-megawatt turbine generators. Steam from the boilers provides process heat for production facilities at Argus, Trona and the lake.
Extensive environmental controls on the boilers remove nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, fly ash and carbon dioxide to keep our air clean. Utilities has 189 miles of overhead electrical power lines and 14 miles of buried electrical lines in its charge.
LABORATORIES - SCIENCE IS KEY TO INNOVATION
Our Lab performs 20,000 tests each month for the Engineering, Lake Operations, Process, Quality Assurance and Environmental departments. There are 12 to 15 tests in our usual battery of tests. In addition, there are more than 100 specialized tests that we perform. The Lab operates 24 hours per day.
Brine samples from Searles Lake vary in mineral content from 30% to 35% solids. Few labs in the world work with such concentrated brine solutions.
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“It’s great working with the people here. Specialists from different trades and professions get behind what needs to be done and help one another.”
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