Dutch Duo Targets Vanadium Recycling
Netherlands-based AMG Recycling and Shell, co-principals of Shell & AMG Recycling B.V. (SARBV), have agreed to work with two Saudi Arabia-based petrochemical firms to operate a Metals Reclamation Complex to recover and recycle vanadium and other metals from oil industry byproducts and residues.
The recycling facility is to be built in Al-Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia, and partner companies from that nation include the United Company for Industry (UCI) and the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco). The planning of the facility follows up on a memorandum of understanding signed by the firms last year.
The Metals Reclamation Complex “seeks to enable the development of a world-class and regional facility for processing refineries’ recyclable materials into valuable products,” state the companies. The initial phase will involve the processing of metal vanadium concentrate from the Jazan Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Plant, licensed by Shell, to produce “high-purity vanadium pentoxide.”
The Shell Catalysts & Technologies business unit will be involved as the partners build a regional research and development center for testing a residue-upgrading catalyst; install a lithium vanadium battery (LIVA); and install a vanadium electrolyte production plant, says the partnership. The companies call the effort “an important step in the development of a market for vanadium redox flow batteries in [Saudi Arabia].”
“Going beyond metals recycling, this project is the first step toward a supercenter that aims to support the region’s refining catalyst development, testing and production,” says Andy Gosse, president of Shell Catalysts & Technologies.
Comments Dr. Heinz Schimmelbusch, chair and CEO of AMG, “The SARBV-UCI Aramco commitment to build the metal reclamation complex supports Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to accelerate energy transition, achieve sustainability goals and drive a new wave of investment in the kingdom. SARBV-UCI’s closed loop circular recycling of refinery waste to produce materials that will enable increasing penetration of renewable energy into the energy supply mix in the kingdom, as well as improvements in energy efficiency for industrial users, are all key drivers of the energy transition.”
States Sheikh Ibrahim Aljomaih, chair of UCI, “In collaboration with Aramco and our international partners AMG and Shell, we are combining critical capabilities to extract valuable metal compounds from our natural resources. It is energizing to enable the development of clean energy storage innovations, as well as high tech metals value chains in the kingdom through this investment.”
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