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Canadian researchers have developed a large-scale economical method to extract hydrogen from oilsands (natural bitumen) and oil fields. The process can extract hydrogen from existing oilsands reservoirs, with huge existing supplies found in Canada and Venezuela. Proton Technologies is commercializing the process.
Researchers at the University of Calgary are developing ultra-dispersed (UD) nanocatalysts for the in situ upgrading of heavy oil and bitumen from deep reservoirs. One of the challenges of such an approach is the placement of the catalyst deep into the heavy oil plume by transporting a catalyst suspension through the sand medium.
CNOOC Limited—China’s largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas and one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world—is acquiring all of the Common Shares of Canada-based energy company Nexen Inc. It is the second-largest oil producer in the UK North Sea.
Well-to-wheel (WTW) greenhouse gas emissions for in situ SAGD and surface mining pathways generated employing GHOST/TIAX/ GHGenius combination and comparison with SAGD, mining and conventional crude oil literature pathways (all results are on a HHV basis). 74% of WTW emissions in our oilsands pathways. Click to enlarge.
University of Saskatchewan geoscientist Lee Barbour has been awarded a $2.6-million Syncrude will provide half the funding for Barbour’s Chair in Hydrogeological Characterization of OilSands Mine Closure Landforms, investing more than $1.3-million million over the five-year research project, with another $1.3-million
Researchers at the University of Alberta (Canada) have quantified the transformation of the boreal landscape by open-pit oilsands mining in Alberta, Canada to evaluate its effect on carbon storage and sequestration. Oilsands mining and reclamation cause massive loss of peatland and stored carbon.
The majority (62%) of the plantations were located on the island of Sumatra, and more than two-thirds (69%) of all industrial plantations were developed for oil palm cultivation, with the remainder mostly being Acacia plantations for paper pulp production. Earlier post.).
A study by a team from the State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum found that fluid thermal processing of. il sands is a feasible process for the production of an upgraded bitumen-derived liquid from Inner Mongolian oilsand. Oilsands exploration in Xing’an region.
million) to examine environmental processes in Alberta’ oilsands which could help speed up the land reclamation process for Syncrude. Composite tailings are the byproduct of the surface mined oilsand extraction process. Researchers at McMaster have received nearly C$2.2 million (US 2.25
Rice University President David Leebron and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Edmonton, Alberta outlining a research collaboration between nanoAlberta , part of Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, and Rice’s Richard E. Adams noted America is the biggest market for Canadian oil. Wade Adams.
New research from a team at the University of Alberta, Canada, finds that Alberta’s oilsands industry is releasing more pollutants into the Athabasca River, its tributaries and its watershed than previously estimated. An open access article on their study was published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In a paper published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology , Stanford University assistant professor Adam Brandt reviews a number of recent life cycle assessment (LCA) studies calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from oilsands extraction, upgrading, and refining pathways—the results of which vary considerably.
Results from a new modeling assessment of contamination in the Athabasca OilSands Region (AOSR) suggest that officially reported emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in that region have been greatly underestimated. Average emissions densities from Shen et al. are represented by the dashed black line. Click to enlarge.
has secured what it calls a critical patent for its innovative technology which recovers hydrocarbon diluents (solvents) from oilsands tailings. Heavy minerals exist in Alberta’s oilsands in minor quantities. Peng of the University of Saskatchewan. Titanium Corporation Inc. Earlier post.).
A team at Penn State University has demonstrated that a previously developed method employing ionic liquids (ILs) together with a nonpolar solvent such as toluene can effect a separation of bitumen from oilsands in the Western US at ambient temperatures (~25 °C), although with greater difficulty than Canadian oilsands.
Examples of emerging oilsands related technologies and trade-offs. The paper is an examination of how various choices about the scale of the life cycle analysis applied to oilsands (i.e., The source material is neither oil nor tar but bitumen, but is most generally described as an example of ultraheavy oil.”.
The width of the pipeline network (green lines) is proportional to CO 2 flow; the largest CO 2 flow is approximately 36 MtCO 2 / yr for the $155/tCO 2 scenario (pipeline leaving the Athabasca oilsands area). The Alberta oilsands industry is expected to rapidly expand in coming decades; production could double or more in the next 10?15
A comprehensive environmental field study to gather information on air contaminants in the Wood Buffalo region in northeast Alberta, Canada (home to major oilsands projects) will occur from 12 August to mid-September 2013. Evaluate high-resolution air quality models for use in the oilsands region. Earlier post.).
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC)—the country’s national academy of the arts, humanities and sciences—has released an expert panel report on the environmental and health impacts of the Canadian oilsands industry. Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada’s OilSands Industry.
The carbon intensity (CI) of Alberta oilsands production has significantly decreased over the last 40 years, according to a new study by a team from Stanford University published as an open access paper in the journal Environmental Research Letters. In situ production began in 1974, so no value is computable for 1970.
Bitumen production from the Canadian oilsands provides a point of reference that could be used to observe and better manage the land and water impacts of a rapid transition to unconventional fuels, suggests Dr. Sarah Jordaan of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University.
Speaking at the at the University of Toronto’s Hart House Alumni Dinner Series, Canada Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver, emphasized the pivotal role that Canada’s oilsands will continue to play in the country’s energy future.
Microbiologists from the University of Essex, UK are exploring the use of microbes to break down and remove toxic compounds from heavy crude and oilsands. However, the process of oil extraction and subsequent refining produces high concentrations of toxic byproducts. Richard Johnson.
the developer of a process for harvesting algae and cleaning up oil & gas water, announced that its second original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) agreement will target oil service companies in the Canadian oilsands market. LH was an early private investor in Athabasca Oil Corporation. OriginOil, Inc.,
The University of Alberta and the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres signed a memorandum of understanding that will create a five-year agreement, the Helmholtz Alberta Initiative (HAI). The goal of the initiative is to transform oilsands production processes by developing technologies that address sustainability challenges.
A team from the University of Plymouth (UK) and Environment Canada has identified, for the first time, individual soluble naphthenic acids (NA) in the process water resulting from the oilsands industry in Canada. Frank (2011) Diamonds in the Rough: Identification of Individual Naphthenic Acids in OilSands Process Water.
GE and FilterBox x recently signed an agreement to develop integrated de-oiling and water treatment options for Alberta’s oilsands. Specifically, the two companies will work together on heavy oil produced water treatment projects using in-situ thermal methods such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD).
Proposed anaerobic hydrocarbon biodegradation pathways in oilsands tailings. The researchers now report that higher molecular weight n -alkanes (C 14 , C 16 , and C 18 ) are also degraded under methanogenic conditions in oilsands tailings, albeit after a lengthy lag (180 days) before the onset of methanogenesis.
Diluted bitumen has no greater likelihood of accidental pipeline release than other crude oils, according to a new report from the National Research Council (NRC). The NRC committee was not asked to address whether the consequences of a diluted bitumen release differ from those of other crude oils. Earlier post.).
This C$11,584,423 project , led by Dr. Gerrit Voordouw at the University of Calgary, will sample and explore the biological processes at work in oil wells, oilssands, tailings ponds, and coal beds. Genome Alberta announced C$25.2 million (US$22.2 Metagenomics for Greener Production and Extraction of Hydrocarbon Energy.
In a June speech at Georgetown University, President Barack Obama said that the controversial Keystone XL pipeline would only be built if the project “ does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.” ( Earlier post.). This indicates that oilsands can grow using rail; it is already happening. Earlier post.).
Researchers from Tianjin University and the National Engineering Research Centre for Distillation Technology, Tianjin, China, report on the use of an ionic liquid (IL) with low viscosity to enhance bitumen recovery from oilsands by solvent extraction while reducing adverse impacts in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels.
A team at the University of Calgary (Canada) has compared the energy intensities and lifecycle GHG emissions of unconventional oils (oilsands and oil shale) alongside shale gas, coal, lignite, wood and conventional oil and gas. Earlier post.).
GE is partnering with the University of Alberta (UA) and Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF) on a $4 million CO 2 capture project supported by the Climate Change and Emissions Management (CCEMC) Corporation. The technology is based on naturally occurring zeolites identified by UA.
In a new, comprehensive study, a team from Argonne National Laboratory, Stanford University and UC Davis ITS has estimated the well-to-wheels (WTW) GHG emissions of US production of gasoline and diesel sourced from Canadian oilsands. g CO 2 e/MJ for US conventional crude oil recovery. This range can be compared to ∼4.4
Results of a Rice University laboratory study suggests that using foam may maximize enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Oil resides in formations of rock and sand in small cracks and crevices that have proved devilishly difficult to tap. The Department of Energy, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., Conn, Kun Ma, George J.
Researchers at the Universities of Calgary and Alberta are collaborating on a project for the microbial remediation of oilsands tailings—the waste byproducts of oilsands surface mining that are collected in large manufactured settling basins called tailing ponds. Click to enlarge. —Golby et al.
A University of Utah engineer has developed an inexpensive new method to remove oil sheen by repeatedly pressurizing and depressurizing ozone gas, creating microscopic bubbles that attack the oil so it can be removed by sand filters. Water from mining of oilsands and oil shale.
A research team led by The University of Texas at Austin has been awarded approximately $58 million to analyze methane hydrate deposits under the Gulf of Mexico. Post-cruise analyses will determine the in situ concentrations, the physical properties, the lithology, and the thermodynamic state of methane hydrate bearing sand reservoirs.
Engineers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are using membrane distillation technology to enable drillers to filter and reuse the produced water in the oil and gas industry, in agriculture, and other beneficial uses.
Researchers at the University of Calgary have developed Ni?W?Mo Current heavy oil and bitumen production processes are high-energy and water-intensive and, consequently, have significant environmental footprints because of the production of gaseous emissions such as CO 2 and generating huge amounts of produced water.
GOS is exclusively focused on large-scale mining and processing of the world’s kerogen rich oil shale deposits to oil, with potential for add-on electricity production and associated minerals extraction. Lifecycle GHG for oil shale. Initial oil shale projects for the collaboration include GOS’ 2.18 Earlier post.).
Asphalt binder, the sticky “glue” that holds crushed stone and sand together to form pavement, only accounts for about 5% percent of the final hot mix asphalt (HMA) that is steamrolled into glossy new lanes and boulevards. HMA has to be tough and reliable, able to withstand wear from traffic and weather. —Haifang Wen.
Phillip Savage at the University of Michigan has found that with appropriate parameters, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) can convert 65% of wet algae (a Nannochloropsis species) into biocrude in one minute. milliliters of wet algae, capped it and plunged it into 1,100-degree Fahrenheit sand. Biocrude from Nannochloropsis.
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