Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 2

Oil sands bitumen and by-product streams contain levels of metals and sulphur that prevent its use in certain higher value applications. Removal of these contaminants by traditional means is difficult and uneconomic. The DSU® technology by Enlighten Innovations (Enlighten) is a proprietary removal process with demonstrated success in the treatment of marine fuels; a commercial unit for the treatment of said fuels is presently under construction. Enlighten's breakthrough technology is proven to reduce the level of sulphur to 0.5% in heavy oils and refinery bottoms, thus producing clean marine fuel. Enlighten has conducted tests on selected oil sands streams and their technology shows great promise. To explore and advance this product development, a collaboration between the company and the Environmental Technologies applied research group the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology reates the space for the commercial success of the technology. The proposed project will build on the outcomes of the ongoing NSERC Engage project, extending the investigation of the efficacy of the DSU® process and optimization of the treatment processes for various oil sand streams. The goal of the proposed project is to investigate and optimize the DSU® process for the treatment of bitumen streams focusing on petroleum coke and in the removal of metals and sulphur to ensure the end product can be used to produce carbon anodes. The proposed project is the next step toward the commercialization of this technology. This step is about reducing the negative environmental impact of the oil sands industry during bitumen production. An application of the resulting product has the potential to create new markets for carbon anodes, reduce price differential and reduce the cost of aluminum production. These new markets support the strategic priority of the Alberta provincial government to diversify the oil sands industry and the Alberta economy.