Innovation

– improving environmental performance through emerging technologies

The oil sands industry may not immediately conjure up images of cutting-edge research and technology, but in fact billions of dollars are being invested in new and innovative ways to develop these resources efficiently, economically and responsibly.

Alberta companies spent a combined $512.6 million on research and development in 2007, with some of Alberta’s energy companies ranked among the highest in research and development spending in the country. In 2008, Research Infosource Inc. selected 11 Alberta-based companies from an array of industries for its Canadian Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders list. Imperial Oil was the highest-ranking Alberta energy company, in 22nd place, up from 30th with an increase in R&D expenditures of 22% on a 2.3% increase in revenues. Other companies with oil sands developments that were in the top 100 included EnCana Corp., Syncrude Canada, Petro-Canada, Suncor Energy and Nexen Inc.

Technology is having a positive effect on the environmental impact of resource development, even when improving environmental performance isn’t the primary goal. As Rick George, President and CEO of Suncor, explains,

“…going green simply makes good business sense. Every time our industry reduces water use or air emissions, or limits the amount of land we disturb, we save money. Moreover, many of the technologies we develop, such as mobile mining or ethanol production, create new business opportunities for us.”

A good illustration is toe-to-heel air injection (THAI™), a new technology currently under development by Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. This is an in situ process that relies on underground combustion instead of the more common steam process to warm the thick bitumen so it can be extracted. Petrobank estimates that 70 to 80% more oil could be recovered using THAI, and that a broader range of reservoirs could be accessed – all at a lower cost and with fewer environmental impacts. Hardly any fresh water would be used in the process; less surface land would be affected; and 50% less greenhouse gases would be emitted.

Research and development in the oil sands follows the same path as in many other industries. It starts with an idea – a way to solve a problem or improve a process. Moving from idea to commercial application is an evolution that involves building models and simulations, assembling pilot projects, and ongoing testing and modifying, until the idea can be demonstrated as a viable technology. Not all ideas make it through, but they all contribute to the body of knowledge that is being accumulated. They form the stepping stones for the next great idea.

Following are examples of just some of the other research and development activities – at various stages in their evolution – that are taking place in the oil sands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the land and water impacted by industry activities.

Greenhouse gas reductions

Carbon Capture and Storage

The oil sands industry is developing and deploying greenhouse gas (GHG)-reduction technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), where GHG gases are captured and stored underground. This technology has been recognized by government, industry and researchers as a key option to significantly reduce emissions in the future.

EnCana's carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage project in Weyburn is the world's largest, full-scale scientific field study of its kind. In 2000, EnCana began injecting CO₂ into its 50-year old Weyburn oilfield to enhance the recovery of oil that remained in the reservoir. The CO₂ injection was such a success that the life of the oilfield has been extended by 30 years.

As well, the geological formation is useful as a permanent storage site for gas. Almost all (99.8%) of the CO₂ that is injected will be staying securely underground for the next 5,000 years. EnCana’s Weyburn project has become a global collaborative research and development project, attracting 15 industry sponsors and 25 research organizations from around the world, each looking for sustainable technologies to mitigate climate change.

Shell is developing plans for Quest, a large-scale CCS project at its Scotford Upgrader that would involve capturing approximately one million tonnes of CO₂, processing it to create a high quality CO₂ stream and then compressing it for transportation and storage in nearby deep geological formations. Shell continues to work with governments to make the project economically viable. Potential CCS project enhancement opportunities include federal and/or provincial government incentives, sales of CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery projects or participation in a broader CO₂ infrastructure development with multiple users.

Another industry-led CCS initiative underway is the Integrated CO₂ Network (ICO₂N), a group of industry participants that is promoting a system for the capture, transport, distribution and storage of CO₂ in Canada. The proposed Canadian CCS system would move CO₂ from multiple sources to underground storage sites. According to the ICO₂N, studies indicate the carbon capture and storage proposal has the potential to reduce Canada's CO₂ emissions by 20 million tonnes - the equivalent of annually removing four million cars from the road.

For other examples of the many CCS projects underway, click here.

Low Pressure SAGD

Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is the most common form of in situ oil sands recovery used today. Steam is used to liquefy bitumen so that it can be extracted from deep underground. However, the natural gas that is burned to create steam also creates GHG emissions. Recognizing the need to reduce the amount of natural gas that is being burned, industry has a number of initiatives under investigation and being piloted to reduce steam and fuel requirements.

Low pressure SAGD, for example, uses electric submersible pumps to lessen the amount of pressure that steam needs to create. EnCana has found that using electric submersible pumps increases steam efficiency and results in far better GHG intensities than that of conventional SAGD.

VAPEX™ Vapour Extraction

Another example of a technology to reduce the amount of steam required by SAGD recovery is VAPEX, a process in which hydrocarbon solvent is injected into the reservoir instead of steam to mobilize bitumen. This is one of several technologies under investigation using solvents or other liquids to replace steam for in situ oil sands production. For example, EnCana is piloting a new project at Christina Lake that involves injecting a mixture of steam and solvent that helps to liquefy the bitumen. The mixture is separated at the surface and the majority of the solvent is reused.

Geothermal Energy

The concept behind this process is the use of the heated layer in the Earth’s crust to heat water. Water would be pumped several kilometres below ground, heated, then pumped back to the surface. Although still being tested and at least a decade away, it has the potential to become a low-emission alternative to the natural gas that is currently used to provide heat and steam in in situ oil sands production.

Integrated Gasification Technology

Long Lake, an in situ oil sands project built by Nexen and Opti Canada that started production in 2008, is the first project to depend on a patented integrated gasification technology. The system uses asphaltene residues from the upgrading process to produce virtually all the fuel gas required to supply the SAGD wells, to power the upgrader and to produce the hydrogen needed to upgrade the bitumen.

Land use

Many universities and forums have invested in land reclamation research, including the Universities of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Waterloo, Windsor, Guelph, British Columbia, Illinois, Prince Edward Island and Laval University, as well as CEMA and CONRAD EnRG. Their research focus has included modeling forest success, reconstruction of peatlands, wetland re-establishment, establishment of saline plants and contaminant transport in the food chain.

Water

New technology is being developed that should speed up the tailings pond reclamation process. For example, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. will use the CO2 that comes from the upgrader at their Horizon project to add to the tailings pond, creating thickened tailings that are easier to reclaim. This process could have the added advantage of reducing CO2 emissions. As well, there is good early progress on dry tailings technology that could ultimately eliminate the need for these large ponds at the mining operations.