What a Great Idea. Turn Petcoke into Hydrogen Gas, for Heating and Cooking, and extract valuable metals, Nickel, Vanadium, and Cobalt, from Petcoke for the Battery Industry.

ICanadian companies want to extract nickel, vanadium, cobalt from petcoke | MINING.com

MGX Minerals (CSE: XMG) and Highbury Energy have partnered to prepare a detailed process to extract metals such as nickel, vanadium, and cobalt from petroleum coke. According to a press release, Highbury's experts in thermochemical gasification are assisting MGX in designing a process to generate hydrogen gas and concentrate metals in the form of ash byproduct.

From article, ( MGX Minerals (CSE: XMG) and Highbury Energy have partnered to prepare a detailed process to extract metals such as nickel, vanadium, and cobalt from petroleum coke.

According to a press release, Highbury's experts in thermochemical gasification are assisting MGX in designing a process to generate hydrogen gas and concentrate metals in the form of ash byproduct. Since petcoke is itself a carbon byproduct of the oil refining process, it concentrates the denser impurities found in the base material, which is bitumen. Such impurities are usually metals and sulphur compounds and those are the components the companies are aiming to extract.

Highbury has already completed a Phase I report on potential processes and markets for primary and secondary byproducts, while a Phase II study has started and it includes analyses of locations, laboratory bench top feedstock results, advanced process design and initial plant design parameters.

The project is led by Highbury co-founder Paul Watkinson. He is also a professor emeritus in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia and has conducted in-depth studies around the conversion of carbonaceous solids, such as coal, shale and biomass, into gaseous and liquid fuels.)

For More Info

Me, "This is a great idea. You get Nickel, Vanadium and Cobalt, all important metals in battery technology; and you get Hydrogen gas that can be used for heating and cooking. The problem with Petcoke is that it pollutes way too much when burned directly, as India has seen. If you can convert it to a cleaner burning fuel, and Hydrogen is, and can get these metals out of it, it's a win win for everybody, the oil industry, and battery makers. I just hope that there are no environmental problems that come from this process."