Vanadium recovery from oil sands petcoke fly ash: A comprehensive techno-economic assessment

Bitumen-derived petcoke contains significant quantities of vanadium, recoverable from the fly ash formed during combustion. Despite efforts to process vanadium recovery from petcoke, detailed cost information, critical for stakeholders and decision-makers, remains absent in the public domain. To address this gap, we developed data-intensive techno-economic models specifically for vanadium recovery from petcoke fly ash. The considered route involves roasting with NaCl, followed by water-leaching and vanadium precipitation. Through process modeling, we performed material and energy balances, sized equipment, assessed capital and operating costs, and determined the vanadium cost. For instance, a plant processing 16,000 tonnes of fly ash annually recovers 404 tonnes of vanadium pentoxide at $18.77/kg V₂O₅. Operating expenses constitute 88% of the total recovery cost, dominated by labor, gas cleaning, solid waste disposal, feedstock, and consumables. The developed scale factors reveal that production costs vary with plant size; currently, the cost exceeds market prices, but profitability could be achieved with a threefold increase in capacity. Uncertainty analysis indicates a vanadium cost ranging from $16.88 to $25.80 per kg V₂O₅, with a mean of $21.15/kg V₂O₅. Key cost drivers include carbon removal from off-gases, the on-stream factor, and solid waste management. Strategies such as alternative means of fly ash decarbonization and the use of leaching solid cake in commercial applications could significantly reduce production costs.