Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 3

The Canadian Energy Research Institute estimated that in the next decade oil and gas activity in the country will contribute $1.4 trillion to Canada's GDP and pay more than $139 billion in federal tax revenues and $86.7 billion in provincial tax revenues. The industry employs more than 500,000 skilled jobs, supports another 400,000 indirect jobs and was identified as the largest employer of Indigenous people in the country. Simply put, the oil and gas industry is of paramount importance to Canadians. However, 'rag layers' are of major concern to the industry; these occur when small water droplets form in crude oil, thus tainting the purity of the extracted crude oil. Rag layers pose a problem during the custody transfer step of oil mining, where oil is delivered from one partner to another, as the test evaluating the percentages of sediment and water (S&W) in the oil does not produce the true amount of oil in the sample. Considering the volume of hydrocarbons transported during custody transfer, inaccurate S&W measurements can have ramifications of lost revenue and extra testing costs valuing in billions of dollars. The Centre for Oil Sands Sustainability (COSS) at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a state-of-the art research lab staffed by an expert team of applied scientists, engineers and technicians who works with business and industry to develop technologies that improve the economic and environmental performance of the oil sands industry. In this study, COSS will directly examine the process of rag layer formation and separation in different types of crude oils in close collaboration with Enbridge and Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI). This will be done by adding a variety of chemicals and applying varying forces to crude oil samples. Equipping PRCI and Enbridge with this knowledge will assist them, and the entire oilsands sector, enhance their environmental performance, contribute to climate mitigation and assist in finding safer more reliable methods for custody transfer.