Why we dropped ellycrack?In 2008, (IVAN) built a feedstock test facility in San Antonio, TX. This is a next-generation, state-of-the-art, HTL testing unit that incorporates all of the key processing capabilities that would be expected in a full-scale commercial operation.
Enter Dr. Silverman (see his exceptional bio below*), who led the “all-world” Ivanhoe team that tweaked and improved the HTL technology and, subsequently, the yields in the conversion process of heavy oil to light oil. Much like the technological advances that have increased yields of gasoline from crude oil to nearly 65% from around 40% over the last 50 years, what (IVAN) has invented, developed, and recently announced is a significant breakthrough to "wring out" more light oil from the heavy crude feedstock. Decisive is that the new HTL technology has dramatically increased and optimized process yields that now approach almost 95% light oil from the heavy crude feedstock in just one pass through the reactor, with the remaining 5% constituting a “resid” that fuels the process with some of this energy surplus. (IVAN) is now in the process of securing new patents related to these breakthroughs and will publish more technical details in the not too distant future.
To grasp the significance of this development it is crucial to understand that the San Antonio unit allows (IVAN) to properly duplicate and run tests in the precise configurations that would be employed in commercial facilities.