Grant: College and Community Innovation Program

The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) of the Government of Alberta implemented Directive 074, ""Tailings Performance Criteria and Requirement for Oil Sands Mining Schemes"" in September 2009. The Directive specifies performance criteria for the reduction of fluid tailings and the formation of trafficable reclaimable deposits in the oil sands. Since its implementation, there has been a concentrated effort by the oil sands industry to develop technologies that comply with the Directive. The aim of the ""Oil Sands Environmental Sustainability: Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Centre for Green Chemistry and Engineering (CGCE)"" research program, is to 1) integrate NAIT's multidisciplinary applied research capacities in chemistry and engineering with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and oil sands operators to screen, validate, and assist in further developing fluid tailings treatment technologies to enable Directive 074 compliance, and 2) develop accurate measurement systems and methods, both in the field and in the laboratory. The CGCE team approaches the challenges from an end-to-end systems perspective to ensure that solutions in one area of the system do not negatively impact other areas. This includes the de-watering and stabilization of fluid tailings combined with understanding the system chemistries, and released process-affected water treatment. The research will be driven by the application of Green Chemistry and Engineering (GCE) principles, which focus on sustainable research and development. It is anticipated, that thisprogram will lead to substantial innovations through collaborations with SMEs and the potential implementation and adaptation of new technologies by oil sands mining operators. The environmental and economic benefits to SMEs, oil sands operators, Alberta and Canada are significant. The benefits for NAIT researchers and students by means of increased innovation, research and instructional capacity will be felt into the future for Alberta, and in the field of environmental engineering throughout Canada.