Principles of the Production of Valuable Metal Compounds from Fossil Fuels

The main methods for the production of potentially valuable elements from fossil fuels (petroleum and coal) are considered. A large body of factual data on this problem is analyzed based on the experimental and theoretical studies and the works of foreign and Russian scientists. The methods of the extraction of potentially valuable elements, in particular, Ge from coals and V from oils and petroleum products, are described. It is shown that, in addition to fossil fuels with the technological concentrations of potentially valuable elements, some by-products of the processing of caustobioliths are of interest for the recovery of these elements. These are mainly fly ashes, slags, and their mixtures trapped after the combustion or gasification of coals and oil conversion products and also after the utilization of overburden rocks and high-ash cleaning rejects by thermal methods. The minimum concentrations of a number of potentially valuable elements in fossil fuels are roughly estimated, at which oils and coals should be considered as complex raw materials for the use of their organic matter and the manufacture of the commercial compounds of valuable trace elements.