Tailor-Made Solution for Coal Seam Gas Industry
The Australian cleantech company Parkway Corporate (ASX: PWN; FRA: 4IP), which specializes in industrial wastewater, is for the first time showing the billion-dollar coal seam gas industry in Queensland (CSG industry) a realistic way to transition from the current “disposal” of problematic residual brines to a true circular economy.
Technological Breakthrough
As Parkway has now announced, the company’s researchers have for the first time succeeded in electrochemically producing the industrially valuable product hydrochloric acid (HCl) from coal seam gas production residues. Parkway describes this as a technological breakthrough in its Queensland Brine Solutions (QBS) master plan and is confident that its innovative process scheme will gradually be adopted by the industry as the best available technology (BAT). The Queensland government has already committed the coal seam gas industry to sustainable management of its salt residues, with the top priority for salt waste disposal being that “brine or salt residues are treated to create usable products wherever possible”.
The brines produced during coal seam gas extraction are considered highly complex and must therefore first be transformed into clean brine and salt streams in an initial step. Parkway accomplishes this in its upstream process, which prepares the residual brine for further processing. This process was already the subject of a successful feasibility study commissioned by Shell subsidiary QGC Pty Limited. The newly presented process step transforms the clean brine pre-treated by Parkway into valuable industrial chemical products in a downstream step, with recent analyses from pilot trials confirming that the entire clean salt stream (NaCl) could be successfully converted into caustic soda (NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). This production of mineral acids and caustic soda opens up significant opportunities for mining, downstream mineral processing, and the refinery industry worldwide.
Figure 1: The Queensland Brine Solutions (QBS) master plan aims for the best possible economic utilization of residual brines from the coal seam gas industry
Shortage of Industrial Acids Predicted
A study on acid supply recently commissioned by the Queensland government predicts a foreseeable undersupply of industrial acids. According to the study, demand for sulfuric acid in Queensland is expected to more than double (possibly triple) over the next ten years, due to several existing and emerging industries, including a growing number of critical mineral projects. While Parkway’s salt splitting technology is also suitable for sulfuric acid production (provided sulfate ions are present in the raw brine), the Queensland government’s acid supply study identified hydrochloric acid as a potential substitute for sulfuric acid in certain critical mineral applications.
The CSG Industry in Queensland is Growing Rapidly
Meanwhile, the CSG industry in Queensland continues to grow. In the last few months alone, several significant additional investments in Queensland’s CSG industry have been decided. On June 26, 2024, Senex Energy (owned by POSCO International and Hancock Prospecting) announced that it would undertake an expansion of its Atlas and Roma North natural gas fields in Queensland’s Surat Basin worth more than $1 billion. On August 12, 2024, Arrow Energy (Shell and PetroChina JV) announced that it has committed to a billion-dollar Phase 2 expansion of the Surat Gas Project, also in Queensland.
Review of Potential Sites in Queensland Already Underway
Parkway is currently reviewing several strategically located project sites in Queensland in collaboration with existing and potential customers as well as strategic partners. Potential sites currently under review include locations near both upstream and downstream CSG operations, as well as sites close to key markets for products expected to be produced by facilities associated with the master plan. In the coming months, Parkway intends to initiate a formal partnering process for QBS.
Conclusion: With the recent integration of the established Tankweld Group, Parkway has firmly established itself as an economically sound, integrated problem solver for industrial wastewater. Now, thanks to its technological edge, the company is delivering a tailored solution on a silver platter to the billion-dollar coal seam gas industry. Looking at both the industry and regulators, Parkway has successfully pursued a push & pull strategy since publishing its master plan about a year ago. Parkway systematically demonstrates its growing solution competence, thus securing the increasing interest of its customers in “strong alignment with the industry”. The company is therefore confident that its approach will gradually be adopted by the industry as the best available technology (BAT). Apparently, the stock market still needs some time to realize the enormous long-term growth potential inherent in this announcement. At least the stock has responded to the publication of the latest technology update with better sales volumes, while the price remains unchanged at 0.09 AUD. We eagerly await the announced formal partnering process for QBS and other important milestones.
