Reference number : GC-2017-Q2-04318, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Roberts, Edward (University of Calgary), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Alberta, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Grants for Universities, program name french : Subventions d'engagement partenarial pour les universités, program purpose english : Heavy oil production of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is the largest in-situ production process in the_x000D_
Canadian oil-sands. This production process generates large quantities of produced water, typically 3 to 4 times_x000D_
the volume of oil, which must be treated and recycled to ensure that the process is viable and to meet regulatory_x000D_
requirements. The produced water must be treated before being fed to the steam generator (boiler) for injection_x000D_
into the reservoir as steam. To avoid fouling of the boilers, the water is usually treated by a process of warm or_x000D_
hot lime softening to remove hardness and silica which can scale the boilers. This process is high cost and_x000D_
generates significant volumes of sludge. An alternative process, so-called zero lime softening is being_x000D_
developed by the industry partner, Eco-Tech, which is lower cost and more environmentally freindly._x000D_
Eco-Tech have shown that if the produced water is treated to remove hardness, the silica can be at a relatively_x000D_
high concentration (>200 mg/L), without causing significant scaling of the boilers. However, the concentrate_x000D_
stream from the boilers contains greater than 1200 mg/L silica, and must be treated prior to recycle or disposal._x000D_
Conventional chemical processes (acidification) lead to a silica gel sludge which is difficult o separate from the_x000D_
water. Electrocoagulation (EC), has been identified as a potential treatment process for the blowdown_x000D_
concentrate. In previous work, we have been found that EC can effectively remove silica from SAGD produced_x000D_
water. This project will investigate EC for the treatment of blowdown concentrate generated by the zero-lime_x000D_
softening process. The treatment performance and filterability of the sludge will be investigated as a function of_x000D_
the operating conditions and design of the EC system., program purpose french : Heavy oil production of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is the largest in-situ production process in the_x000D_
Canadian oil-sands. This production process generates large quantities of produced water, typically 3 to 4 times_x000D_
the volume of oil, which must be treated and recycled to ensure that the process is viable and to meet regulatory_x000D_
requirements. The produced water must be treated before being fed to the steam generator (boiler) for injection_x000D_
into the reservoir as steam. To avoid fouling of the boilers, the water is usually treated by a process of warm or_x000D_
hot lime softening to remove hardness and silica which can scale the boilers. This process is high cost and_x000D_
generates significant volumes of sludge. An alternative process, so-called zero lime softening is being_x000D_
developed by the industry partner, Eco-Tech, which is lower cost and more environmentally freindly._x000D_
Eco-Tech have shown that if the produced water is treated to remove hardness, the silica can be at a relatively_x000D_
high concentration (>200 mg/L), without causing significant scaling of the boilers. However, the concentrate_x000D_
stream from the boilers contains greater than 1200 mg/L silica, and must be treated prior to recycle or disposal._x000D_
Conventional chemical processes (acidification) lead to a silica gel sludge which is difficult o separate from the_x000D_
water. Electrocoagulation (EC), has been identified as a potential treatment process for the blowdown_x000D_
concentrate. In previous work, we have been found that EC can effectively remove silica from SAGD produced_x000D_
water. This project will investigate EC for the treatment of blowdown concentrate generated by the zero-lime_x000D_
softening process. The treatment performance and filterability of the sludge will be investigated as a function of_x000D_
the operating conditions and design of the EC system., agreement title english : Silica removal from SAGD boiler blowdown by electrocoagulation, agreement title french : Silica removal from SAGD boiler blowdown by electrocoagulation, agreement number : EGP, agreement value : 25000.0, agreement start date : 2017-09-20, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)., additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019)., owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada