Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 3

The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Centre for Oil Sands Sustainability (COSS) will work with Suncor Energy inc. to improve the methodology of the screening, testing and validation of polymer-based solutions for oil sands fluid fine tailings (FFT) management. This research will expand and refine Suncor's existing screening processes developed for the Tailings Reduction Operations (TRO) and will create a clear screening for the newly commercialized Permanent Aquatic Storage Solution (PASS). In addition, this work will expand the current TRO screening process to evaluate additional performance indicators such as long-term geotechnical and geochemical performance. The additional information on*long-term performance will help ensure the sustainability of the treatment methods.*COSS will develop and/or improve methodologies of the polymer screening process through three themes. *(1) Developing screening methods to assess consolidation performance and strength gain. (2) Developing bench scale rapid screening methods to measure the stability and sequestration of contaminants of potential concern. (3) Developing screening methods to capture the influence of transportation distance and deposition energy on the in-pit performance of flocculated tailings. Suncor will provide technical advice and NAIT will provide the infrastructure, project management and testing. Through this study, NAIT staff will become technical experts in methodology development and refinement and methods will be developed and published that can be used to assess new chemistries for both processes.This project will benefit Canada's environment by enabling oil sands operators to easily adopt improved tailings chemistries that allow them to reclaim decommissioned mines faster, more efficiently and at a lower cost.*