1. Hydrothermal Technology for recovery of Molybdenum from spent Hydro-Treating catalysts Wilfred van Wijk Rob van der Meij
December 3, 2014

2. Rob van der Meij Wilfred van Wijk Serial Entrepreneur in Clean Tech
> 25 years in catalyst, water and chemical industry
Akzo Nobel, Cap Gemini, Shell Chemicals
7 years Start Ups Catalysts, Biofuels, Water, Separations
KiOR, fluXXion, BiAqua, Hermes Catalysts, HyVent
Chemical Engineer TU Delft, NL
Wilfred van Wijk
> 20 years in Organophosphorus, Specialty monomer, Organics, Chemical by-and waste streams and general chemical industry
CYTEC Industries Phosphine and derivatives
5 years providing chemistry, chemical and technology solutions; HyVent,
Gulf Interchem, ICSP.
Chemist, University of Leiden, NL
December 3, 2014

3. Processes in the sub- or super- critical regime of water
HyVent Technology
Core Technology
⇨ HydroThermal treatment
Testing facilities in The Netherlands
and Germany
Processes in the sub- or super- critical regime of water
December 3, 2014

4. HyVent Technology application areas
Synthesis
Oxides
Ferrites
Heavy Oil Upgrading
Bitumen
Vacuum Resid
Removal of metals
Spent refinery catalysts
Mixed oxides
Destruction
Toxic wastes
Organic/Inorganic mixtures
High COD water
December 3, 2014

5. Historical Molybdenum (Mo) pricing Hydroprocessing Catalyst contain 15-25% MoO3
MoO3 price
(USD/lb) ?
Historical pricing
2.5 $/lb
Year
December 3, 2014

6. Spent hydrotreating catalysts are both a hassle and a source of value for refiners
160,000 tpa
Remove S from oil
Legal waste disposal obligation
Hazardous waste
>20% metals
Largely Mo
20 % Carbon and Sulfur
Liability risk when done incorrectly
Needs to be removed prior to processing
Co-Mo Ni-Mo
Export Documentation and transport hassle
Needs to be removed prior to processing
Metals value
4000 $/ton
December 3, 2014

7. High costs in metal recovery value chain limits return to refiner
Unload spent catalyst
Special packaging
Roaster for C,S removal
Metal reclaim
> 65% generated in North America, Europe, Middle East
> 65% reclaim capacity in Asia
⇨ Large transport volumes, Export chemical waste
Large facilities
Roasting and metal reclaim often not at same site
⇨ Multi-step location, international processing, documentation hassle
Total costs > $ 2500 /ton
December 3, 2014

8. Current metal recovery technologies for Mo and V have serious limitations
Roasting for Carbon and Sulfur removal
Environmentally unfriendly
High capital investment, High maintenance
Pyro metal recovery
Smelting of material in electronic furnaces
yielding Ferro-alloys used in steel industry, no re-use for catalysts
Low recovery value (alloy)
High capital investment, High energy consumption
Hydrometallurgical metal recovery
Chemical leaching with acid or base materials
Complex processing with many contamination limitations
Environmentally unfriendly waste waters
December 3, 2014

9. HyVent’s Integrated Processing Scheme
Hydrothermal processing
Metal Recovery
Spent Catalysts
Water
energy
CO2, N2
Metal salts
solids
Integrated Metal Recovery Process
Hydrothermal dissolution of
C, S and metals
Destruction of organic compounds
Combination of proven processes from catalyst and battery recycle industry
Zero Liquid Discharge process
High recovery value for M and V
December 3, 2014

10. The HyVent process is environmentally friendly No waste water or NOX and SOX emissions
Pretreatment
Reactor
Separation
Recovery
Spent Catalyst
V- recovery
Vanadium salt
feed
depressurize
Mo recovery
Molybdenum salt
HT Reactor
treatment + leaching
Water
grind
Liquids
liquids
Clean water for re-use
Water treatment
centrifuge
mill
Salts for disposal
Solids
Additives
mix
Solids collection
Alumina/Ni/Co cake
HP Pump
December 3, 2014

11. HyVent uses all commercially proven equipment
Tubular Hydrothermal Reactor system
All stackable, modular container framed & sized equipment
Slurry of un-regenerated catalyst
prior to hydrothermal treatment
December 3, 2014

12. HyVent’s process has strong advantages
Current Processes Large, fixed units High CAPEX Multi-location process: - Roasting separate from metal recovery - multi transport, non-local - export Metal recovery pyrometallugy ⇨ ferro-alloy (low value) hydrometallurgy ⇨ large acqueous waste volumes Gas emissions Sulfuroxides, CO2, NOx and C-compounds
HyVent Hydrothermal Process Modular, small Low CAPEX Local, single location process ⇨ C & S removal in process ⇨ Local single transport Mo and V compound as salt solutions ⇨ high value Zero Liquid Discharge ⇨ recycle process water
December 3, 2014

13. HyVent will build local, customized, modular facilities to eliminate transport hassle and reduce costs
Modular, containerized local facility
NO transport, NO documentation hassle
High return value for Mo and V metal recovery
Modular facility with ‘plug and play’ construction set up
Low CAPEX ⇨ 5-6 million USD per plant
ZLD processing, full water recycle, no emissions
High flexibility to adapt to local market
Mo or Mo and V recovery
Chemical catalyst processing with other metals (Cu, Zn, RE etc.) add on possible
Noble metal recovery scheme under development
December 3, 2014

14. Global hydro-processing spent catalyst generation (tons/year)
Several tpa facilities can be build around refining centers in the world 2 2 2
Asia 3 2 3 2 1 1 2 1 1
Americas
Europe
Global hydro-processing spent catalyst generation (tons/year)
Potential number of facilities by region #
America’s, Europe, export >65 % of spent catalyst to Asia Pacific now
(VN, K, CN, TW)

15. Net return difference for refinery HyVent vs competition
Better return to refiner with HyVent: ⇨ avg >700 $/ton over past 15 years !!
Net return difference for refinery HyVent vs competition
(current pricing)
USD / ton
Year (+2000)
December 3, 2014

16. Higher value return to Refinery without hassle
Recovery of Mo reduces refinery exposure to metal price fluctuations
Swap recovered Mo with fresh catalyst Mo
Better value recovery for refinery
No documentation and transport hassle for refinery
No export waste liability risk
Long term guaranteed off-take agreement
December 3, 2014

17. Thank you for your attention
Closing remarks
The HyVent integrated HydroThermal process for treatment of spent refinery catalyst and recovery of Molybdenum offers an environmentally friendly, economic and flexible processing technology in answer to changing market demand and requirements
Thank you for your attention
December 3, 2014