Characterization, gasification, activation, and potential uses for the millions of tonnes of petroleum coke produced in Canada each year

Abstract

Petroleum coke is a by‐product of oil sands upgrading and consists of mainly carbon with hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and several trace elements. Canada has abundant petroleum coke resources—as much as 77 million tonnes of this material was stockpiled in Alberta by the end of 2012, and this amount continues to increase at the rate of approximately four million tonnes per year. Thus, this material represents a huge, inexpensive resource that can potentially be used for a variety of applications. This article describes the characteristics of petroleum coke, some of the work our group has done with gasification and activation to create both adsorbents and catalysts, and the challenges encountered with both characterization and testing of this material.