Waste Management
extracts elemental sulfur and sulfuric acid directly from petroleum waste — acid tars, oil sludge, and sulfur-bearing wastewater — using Arbok Vacuum Cracking at ambient temperature and deep vacuum, replacing high-temperature/high-pressure cracking with phase-transition separation.
Technology brief
extracts elemental sulfur and sulfuric acid directly from petroleum waste — acid tars, oil sludge, and sulfur-bearing wastewater — using Arbok Vacuum Cracking at ambient temperature and deep vacuum, replacing high-temperature/high-pressure cracking with phase-transition separation.
The challenge
Primary use cases: sulfur/sulfuric-acid recovery from acid-tar lagoons, refinery sludge, high-sulfur crude, and sulfur-bearing wastewater; refinery-gate desulfurization.
Industries and users: refineries, oilfield/port operators, acid-tar remediation authorities, fertilizer/chemical supply.
Limitations: feed variability; sulfur/acid-product and hydrocarbon offtake.
Scale: standard containerized module; linear scale-up by module.
ARBOK solution
ARBOK-SULPHUR extracts elemental sulfur and sulfuric acid directly from petroleum waste — acid tars, oil sludge, and sulfur-bearing wastewater — using Arbok Vacuum Cracking at ambient temperature and deep vacuum, replacing high-temperature/high-pressure cracking with phase-transition separation. Sulfur underpins sulfuric acid (no phosphate fertilizers, rubber, or half of chemistry without it): world production ~80 million tonnes/year at $120–200/tonne. ~65 % of market sulfur is recovered from refining, yet outdated refinery tech dumps most of it into waste; ARBOK converts that waste into the product.
The Arbok-VO unit takes high-sulfur feedstock; under vacuum at ambient temperature, phase transition separates by density and volatility into: elemental sulfur (dry marketable product), paraffin/wax, liquid hydrocarbons (~40 % of organic fraction, motor-grade), light gas (on-site energy), clean water, and concentrated sulfuric acid recovered from the acid-tar fraction. No catalysts, reagents, high temperature/pressure, or new waste streams.
Market and application
Conventional routes fail: Frasch mining needs special geology (US closed last operations as uneconomical at $80/tonne); lime neutralization makes 1.4 t gypsum + 0.45 t CO₂ per tonne of sulfuric acid neutralized; incineration costs €200–800/m³; state tenders persist without solving (Slovakia Predajná: €66 million for 225 000 m³). Recoverable sulfur from waste: US 1.5–3 Mt/year, EU 2–3 Mt/year, global 5–8 Mt/year (≈ China's export volume) — market value $3–5 billion/year by 2026.
BOOM: client eliminates $10–30 million/year in storage, monitoring, and disposal; revenue from sulfur, sulfuric acid, hydrocarbons, paraffin, and gas makes each site profitable, not break-even. Applicable at port, refinery gate, or remediation site. (Site CAPEX/payback by feed and product mix.)
Use cases
Primary use cases: sulfur/sulfuric-acid recovery from acid-tar lagoons, refinery sludge, high-sulfur crude, and sulfur-bearing wastewater; refinery-gate desulfurization.
Industries and users: refineries, oilfield/port operators, acid-tar remediation authorities, fertilizer/chemical supply.
Limitations: feed variability; sulfur/acid-product and hydrocarbon offtake.
Scale: standard containerized module; linear scale-up by module.
Deployment proceeds from feed assay through module sizing, installation at the refinery, port, or remediation site, and commissioning, typically completed within weeks. Continuous, automated; BOOM (Arbok self-finances, client pays via offtake/service).
Deploys at port, refinery gate, or remediation site; pairs with ARBOK oil/gas units (GUDRON, ORR, DeSulph) and crystallization; BOOM/offtake commercial model.
ARBOK-SULPHUR extracts elemental sulfur and sulfuric acid directly from petroleum waste — acid tars, oil sludge, and sulfur-bearing wastewater — using Arbok Vacuum Cracking at ambient temperature and deep vacuum, replacing high-temperature/high-pressure cracking with phase-transition separation. Sulfur underpins sulfuric acid (no phosphate fertilizers, rubber, or half of chemistry without it): world production ~80 million tonnes/year at $120–200/tonne. ~65 % of market sulfur is recovered from refining, yet outdated refinery tech dumps most of it into waste; ARBOK converts that waste into the product.
Primary use cases: sulfur/sulfuric-acid recovery from acid-tar lagoons, refinery sludge, high-sulfur crude, and sulfur-bearing wastewater; refinery-gate desulfurization.
Industries and users: refineries, oilfield/port operators, acid-tar remediation authorities, fertilizer/chemical supply.
Limitations: feed variability; sulfur/acid-product and hydrocarbon offtake.
Scale: standard containerized module; linear scale-up by module.
The Arbok-VO unit takes high-sulfur feedstock; under vacuum at ambient temperature, phase transition separates by density and volatility into: elemental sulfur (dry marketable product), paraffin/wax, liquid hydrocarbons (~40 % of organic fraction, motor-grade), light gas (on-site energy), clean water, and concentrated sulfuric acid recovered from the acid-tar fraction. No catalysts, reagents, high temperature/pressure, or new waste streams.
Process: deep vacuum, ambient temperature. Outputs: elemental sulfur, sulfuric acid, ~40 % motor-grade liquid hydrocarbons, paraffin/wax, gas, clean water. Discharge: ZWD.
Context: world sulfur ~80 million tonnes/year, $120–200/tonne; ~5 billion tonnes/year crude at 1–3 % sulfur carries 50–70 million tonnes sulfur — more than the entire market. High-sulfur crude trades at a $3–8/barrel discount; on-site removal closes that gap.
Arbok-VO vacuum separation module; sulfur and sulfuric-acid collection; hydrocarbon/paraffin/gas separation; water condensate; control system. Standard containerized, modular, linearly scalable.
Technical: ambient-temperature phase separation; no SO₂ emissions (vs incineration), no gypsum/brine (vs lime neutralization); multi-product output.
Economic: converts $10–30 million/year storage/monitoring/disposal liabilities into revenue; BOOM (no client CAPEX); refinery P&L gain from the high-sulfur crude discount.
Environmental: eliminates acid-tar lagoons at origin; protects groundwater; ZWD.
Strategic: domestic sulfur from waste (US 1.5–3 Mt/year ≈ ⅓ of consumption; EU 2–3 Mt/year ≈ 20–30 %), reducing dependence on Chinese sulfur.
Deploys at port, refinery gate, or remediation site; pairs with ARBOK oil/gas units (GUDRON, ORR, DeSulph) and crystallization; BOOM/offtake commercial model.
Deployment proceeds from feed assay through module sizing, installation at the refinery, port, or remediation site, and commissioning, typically completed within weeks. Continuous, automated; BOOM (Arbok self-finances, client pays via offtake/service).
TRL 9 (confirmed by Michael). Vacuum Cracking industrially proven on petroleum feeds including high-sulfur crude and acid-tar fractions; modular units operational; BOOM model ready.
Conventional routes fail: Frasch mining needs special geology (US closed last operations as uneconomical at $80/tonne); lime neutralization makes 1.4 t gypsum + 0.45 t CO₂ per tonne of sulfuric acid neutralized; incineration costs €200–800/m³; state tenders persist without solving (Slovakia Predajná: €66 million for 225 000 m³). Recoverable sulfur from waste: US 1.5–3 Mt/year, EU 2–3 Mt/year, global 5–8 Mt/year (≈ China's export volume) — market value $3–5 billion/year by 2026.
BOOM: client eliminates $10–30 million/year in storage, monitoring, and disposal; revenue from sulfur, sulfuric acid, hydrocarbons, paraffin, and gas makes each site profitable, not break-even. Applicable at port, refinery gate, or remediation site. (Site CAPEX/payback by feed and product mix.)
Sulfur/sulfuric-acid price (thin-ish margins); offtake for co-products; feed variability; conservative refinery/remediation adoption; field-unit validation to lift TRL.
ARBOK-GUDRON · ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking) · ARBOK-CHLORIDE · ARBOK-DeSulph
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Partnership pathway