Integration of Nuclear Energy Into Oil Sands Projects

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley E. Finan ◽  
Andrew C. Kadak
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Mining Operations

Energy security and greenhouse gas reduction are thought to be two of the most urgent priorities for sustaining and improving the human condition in the near future. Few places pit the two goals so directly in opposition to one another as the Alberta oil sands. Here, Canadian natural gas is burned in massive quantities to extract oil from one of North America’s largest native sources of carbon-intensive heavy oil. However, this conflict need not continue. Nonemitting nuclear energy can replace natural gas as a fuel source in an economical and more environmentally sound way. This would allow for the continued extraction of transportation fuels without greenhouse gas emissions, while freeing up the natural gas supply for hydrogen feedstock and other valuable applications. Bitumen production in Alberta expanded dramatically in the past 5 years as the price of oil rose to record levels. This paper explores the feasibility and economics of using nuclear energy to power future oil sands production and upgrading activities, and puts forth several nuclear energy application scenarios for providing steam and electricity to in situ and surface mining operations. This review includes the Enhanced CANDU 6, the Advanced CANDU Reactor, and the pebble bed modular reactor. Based on reasonable projections of available cost information, steam produced using nuclear energy is expected to be less expensive than steam produced by natural gas at current natural gas prices and at prices above $6.50/MMBtu (CAD). For electricity production, nuclear energy becomes competitive with natural gas plants at gas prices of $10–13/MMBtu (CAD). Costs of constructing nuclear plants in Alberta are affected by higher local labor costs, which this paper took into account in making these estimates. Although a more definitive analysis of construction costs and project economics will be required to confirm these findings, there appears to be sufficient merit in the potential economics to support further study.

Integration of Nuclear Energy Into Oil Sands Projects

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Finan ◽  
Andrew C. Kadak
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Natural Gas Prices ◽  
Steam Production

Energy security and greenhouse gas reductions are thought to be two of the most urgent priorities for sustaining and improving the human condition in the future. Few places pit the two goals so directly in opposition to one another as the Alberta oil sands. Here, Canadian natural gas is burned in massive quantities to extract oil from one of North America’s largest native sources of carbon-intensive heavy oil. This conflict need not continue, however; non-emitting nuclear energy can replace natural gas as a fuel source in an economical and more environmentally sound way. This would allow for the continued extraction of transportation fuels without greenhouse gas emissions, while freeing up the natural gas supply for hydrogen feedstock and other valuable applications. Bitumen production in Alberta has expanded dramatically in the past five years as the price of oil has risen to record levels. This paper explores the feasibility and economics of using nuclear energy to power future oil sands production and upgrading activities, and puts forth several nuclear energy application scenarios for providing steam and electricity to in-situ and surface mining operations. This review includes the Enhanced CANDU 6, the Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR) and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). Based on reasonable projections of available cost information, nuclear energy used for steam production is expected to be less expensive than steam produced by natural gas at current natural gas prices and under $7/MMBtu (CAD). For electricity production, nuclear becomes competitive with natural gas plants at natural gas prices of $10–13/MMBtu (CAD). Costs of constructing nuclear plants in Alberta are affected by higher local labor costs, which this paper took into account in making these estimates. Although more definitive analysis of construction costs and project economics will be required to confirm these findings, there appears to be sufficient merit in the potential economics to support further study. A single 500MWth PBMR reactor is able to supply high-pressure steam for a 40,000 to 60,000 bpd Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) plant, whereas the CANDU and ACR reactors are unable to produce sufficient steam pressures to be practical in that application. The CANDU, ACR and PBMR reactors have potential for supplying heat and electricity for surface mining operations. The primary environmental benefit of nuclear energy in this application is to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 3.1 million metric tons per year for each 100,000 barrel per day (bpd) bitumen production SAGD facility, or 2.0 million metric tons per year for the replacement of 700MWe of grid electricity with a nuclear power plant. Should carbon emissions be priced, the economic advantages of nuclear energy would be dramatically improved such that with a $50/ton CO2e at the releases expected for typical projects using natural gas, breakeven gas prices for nuclear drop to less than $3.50/MMBtu, well below the current natural gas price of $10/MMBtu for SADG steam production.

scholarly journals Characterization of trace gases measured over Alberta oil sands mining operations: 76 speciated C<sub>2</sub>–C<sub>10</sub> volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub>, CO, NO, NO<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>y</sub>, O<sub>3</sub> and SO<sub>2</sub>

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 18507-18560 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. J. Simpson ◽  
N. J. Blake ◽  
B. Barletta ◽  
G. S. Diskin ◽  
H. E. Fuelberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sands ◽  
Trace Gases ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
Oil Reserves ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Local Background ◽  
Oil Sands Mining

Abstract. Oil sands comprise 30% of the world's oil reserves and the crude oil reserves in Canada's oil sands deposits are second only to Saudi Arabia. The extraction and processing of oil sands is much more challenging than for light sweet crude oils because of the high viscosity of the bitumen contained within the oil sands and because the bitumen is mixed with sand and contains chemical impurities such as sulphur. Despite these challenges, the importance of oil sands is increasing in the energy market. To our best knowledge this is the first peer-reviewed study to characterize volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from Alberta's oil sands mining sites. We present high-precision gas chromatography measurements of 76 speciated C2–C10 VOCs (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, cycloalkanes, aromatics, monoterpenes, oxygenates, halocarbons, and sulphur compounds) in 17 boundary layer air samples collected over surface mining operations in northeast Alberta on 10 July 2008, using the NASA DC-8 airborne laboratory as a research platform. In addition to the VOCs, we present simultaneous measurements of CO2, CH4, CO, NO, NO2, NOy, O3 and SO2, which were measured in situ aboard the DC-8. Methane, CO, CO2, NO, NO2, NOy, SO2 and 53 VOCs (e.g., halocarbons, sulphur species, NMHCs) showed clear statistical enhancements (up to 1.1–397×) over the oil sands compared to local background values and, with the exception of CO, were higher over the oil sands than at any other time during the flight. Twenty halocarbons (e.g., CFCs, HFCs, halons, brominated species) either were not enhanced or were minimally enhanced (< 10%) over the oil sands. Ozone levels remained low because of titration by NO, and three VOCs (propyne, furan, MTBE) remained below their 3 pptv detection limit throughout the flight. Based on their mutual correlations, the compounds emitted by the oil sands industry fell into two groups: (1) evaporative emissions from the oil sands and its products and/or from the diluent used to lower the viscosity of the extracted bitumen (i.e., C4–C9 alkanes, C5–C6 cycloalkanes, C6–C8 aromatics), together with CO; and (2) emissions associated with the mining effort (i.e., CO2, CO, CH4, NO, NO2, NOy, SO2, C2–C4 alkanes, C2–C4 alkenes, C9 aromatics, short-lived solvents such as C2Cl4 and C2HCl3, and longer-lived species such as HCFC-22 and HCFC-142b). Prominent in the second group, SO2 and NO were remarkably enhanced over the oil sands, with maximum enhancements of 38.7 and 5.0 ppbv, or 383 and 319× the local background, respectively. The SO2 enhancements are comparable to maximum values measured in heavily polluted megacities such as Mexico City and are attributed to coke combustion. By contrast, relatively poor correlations between CH4 ethane and propane suggest low natural gas leakage despite its heavy use at the surface mining sites. In addition to the emission of many trace gases, the natural drawdown of OCS by vegetation was absent above the surface mining operations, presumably because of the widespread land disturbance. Unexpectedly, the mixing ratios of α- and β-pinene were much higher over the oil sands (up to 217 and 610 pptv, respectively) than over vegetation in the background boundary layer (20±7 and 84±24 pptv, respectively), and the pinenes correlated well with several industrial tracers that were elevated in the oil sands plumes. Because so few independent measurements from the oil sands mining industry exist, this study provides an important initial characterization of trace gas emissions from oil sands surface mining operations.

scholarly journals Characterization of trace gases measured over Alberta oil sands mining operations: 76 speciated C<sub>2</sub>–C<sub>10</sub> volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub>, CO, NO, NO<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>y</sub>, O<sub>3</sub> and SO<sub>2</sub>

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 11931-11954 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. J. Simpson ◽  
N. J. Blake ◽  
B. Barletta ◽  
G. S. Diskin ◽  
H. E. Fuelberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sands ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
Oil Reserves ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Local Background ◽  
Oil Sands Mining

Abstract. Oil sands comprise 30% of the world's oil reserves and the crude oil reserves in Canada's oil sands deposits are second only to Saudi Arabia. The extraction and processing of oil sands is much more challenging than for light sweet crude oils because of the high viscosity of the bitumen contained within the oil sands and because the bitumen is mixed with sand and contains chemical impurities such as sulphur. Despite these challenges, the importance of oil sands is increasing in the energy market. To our best knowledge this is the first peer-reviewed study to characterize volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from Alberta's oil sands mining sites. We present high-precision gas chromatography measurements of 76 speciated C2–C10 VOCs (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, cycloalkanes, aromatics, monoterpenes, oxygenated hydrocarbons, halocarbons and sulphur compounds) in 17 boundary layer air samples collected over surface mining operations in northeast Alberta on 10 July 2008, using the NASA DC-8 airborne laboratory as a research platform. In addition to the VOCs, we present simultaneous measurements of CO2, CH4, CO, NO, NO2, NOy, O3 and SO2, which were measured in situ aboard the DC-8. Carbon dioxide, CH4, CO, NO, NO2, NOy, SO2 and 53 VOCs (e.g., non-methane hydrocarbons, halocarbons, sulphur species) showed clear statistical enhancements (1.1–397×) over the oil sands compared to local background values and, with the exception of CO, were greater over the oil sands than at any other time during the flight. Twenty halocarbons (e.g., CFCs, HFCs, halons, brominated species) either were not enhanced or were minimally enhanced (<10%) over the oil sands. Ozone levels remained low because of titration by NO, and three VOCs (propyne, furan, MTBE) remained below their 3 pptv detection limit throughout the flight. Based on their correlations with one another, the compounds emitted by the oil sands industry fell into two groups: (1) evaporative emissions from the oil sands and its products and/or from the diluent used to lower the viscosity of the extracted bitumen (i.e., C4–C9 alkanes, C5–C6 cycloalkanes, C6–C8 aromatics), together with CO; and (2) emissions associated with the mining effort, such as upgraders (i.e., CO2, CO, CH4, NO, NO2, NOy, SO2, C2–C4 alkanes, C2–C4 alkenes, C9 aromatics, short-lived solvents such as C2Cl4 and C2HCl3, and longer-lived species such as HCFC-22 and HCFC-142b). Prominent in the second group, SO2 and NO were remarkably enhanced over the oil sands, with maximum mixing ratios of 38.7 ppbv and 5.0 ppbv, or 383× and 319× the local background, respectively. These SO2 levels are comparable to maximum values measured in heavily polluted megacities such as Mexico City and are attributed to coke combustion. By contrast, relatively poor correlations between CH4, ethane and propane suggest low levels of natural gas leakage despite its heavy use at the surface mining sites. Instead the elevated CH4 levels are attributed to methanogenic tailings pond emissions. In addition to the emission of many trace gases, the natural drawdown of OCS by vegetation was absent above the surface mining operations, presumably because of the widespread land disturbance. Unexpectedly, the mixing ratios of α-pinene and β-pinene were much greater over the oil sands (up to 217 pptv and 610 pptv, respectively) than over vegetation in the background boundary layer (20±7 pptv and 84±24 pptv, respectively), and the pinenes correlated well with several industrial tracers that were elevated in the oil sands plumes. Because so few independent measurements from the oil sands mining industry exist, this study provides an important initial characterization of trace gas emissions from oil sands surface mining operations.

scholarly journals Microbially-mediated de-watering and consolidation (“Biodensification”) of oil sands mature fine tailings, amended with agri-business by-products

Nova Scientia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Cárdenas-Manríquez ◽  
Rozlyn F. Young ◽  
Kathleen M. Semple ◽  
Carmen Li ◽  
Debora Coy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pore Water ◽  
Methane Production ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Aqueous Suspension ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Water Recovery ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Fine Tailings ◽  
By Products

Oil sands surface mining operations in northeastern, Alberta, Canada produce enormous volumes of fluid fine tailings, an aqueous suspension of fine clays, sand, unrecovered bitumen, and diluent hydrocarbons. The tailings are deposited and retained on-site in large settling basins where the colloidal solids sediment and consolidate very slowly by gravity and pore water collects at the surface for re-use. Tailings ‘biodensification’, mediated by indigenous microbes that produce methane and/or carbon dioxide, is a phenomenon observed in situ and in vitro whereby tailings with active anaerobic microbial communities consolidate and de-water faster than predicted by gravitational (self-weighted) consolidation alone. To exploit this phenomenon, we used organic amendments to stimulate endogenous anaerobic tailings microorganisms. Tailings from three different operators were amended with agri-business by-products, placed in 100-mL microcosms and 1.5-L settling columns, and monitored for methanogenesis, pore water recovery, and solids densification. Several amendments increased methane production and accelerated biodensification compared to unamended and negative controls. Hydrolyzed canola, blood meal, bone meal and glycerol generally accelerated biodensification, stimulated methane production and supported growth of methanogens and fermentative microbes. Amendment altered the chemistry of the tailings, generally decreasing pH, increasing conductivity and magnesium, potassium, sodium, and bicarbonate concentrations. Biodensification is a potential engineered technology for accelerating water recovery and reducing the volume of stored oil sands tailings.

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Current Oil Sands Technologies: Surface Mining and In Situ Applications

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (14) ◽  
pp. 7865-7874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joule A. Bergerson ◽  
Oyeshola Kofoworola ◽  
Alex D. Charpentier ◽  
Sylvia Sleep ◽  
Heather L. MacLean
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Gas Emissions
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