Grant: CCI Applied Research and Development Grants

Recent drives towards net-zero emission targets have motivated the Alberta oilsands industry towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions by improving operational efficiency, and the overall productivity. This project aligns with our partner, Imperial Oil, goal towards increased operational efficiency by maximizing equipment usage and reducing downtime. A field deployable microwave imaging system will be developed for monitoring of rocks and metal objects buried under sand layers (e.g., oilsand ore). The developed technology is intended for upstream oilsands mining applications where conveyor belts are used to carry mined ore to the large crushers. At present, there is no feasible technology that can be deployed in a mining site for detection of rocks and metals underneath these oilsand layers without interrupting conveyor belt operations. Building off previous work in an experimental setup, the present project, in partnership with Imperial Oil Limited, aims towards bringing the laboratory setup into a low-footprint field deployable system for real-world operations. A microcontroller-based low-footprint system with precision clock signal and fast data-sampling rate on a switchable antenna array will be designed. System architecture will be implemented through dual core processors for efficient distribution of microcontroller resources between data acquisition, processing, control, and communications. On-board computation and cloud/remote accessibility will be incorporated in the system for imaging of buried objects to facilitate real-time decision making on field operations. This project has direct implications to the energy sector in Alberta and across Canada by enhancing Canada's expertise in advanced tools for safe and economical industrial operations. The developed technology will improve operators’ safety, reduce downtime, and increase the overall operational efficiency in the oilsands industry. The outcome will be higher productivity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions per unit of synthetic crude oil production.