Grant: Alliance Grants

This is a continuation of the current PI's project with Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), the innovation and technology development division of Pathways Alliance Inc. COSIA members aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process by increasing the temperature limits of reverse osmosis (RO) technology. Typically produced water is >150 degrees Celsius when extracted from the reservoir but is cooled to <90 degrees Celsius for atmospheric de-oiling and water treatment processes. High-pressure and high-temperature water treatment processes can produce BFW and steam with lower GHG intensity. This project aims to extend the scope of the current collaborative project between COSIA, NSERC, Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN), and the University of Alberta, with the following main goals: (1) testing the membranes fabricated by roll-to-roll casting/coating equipment, which was developed in the first phase of the project, at temperatures above 100?C with a high-temperature filtration setup, (2) systematic study on the thermal stability of all parts of a spiral wound element (glue, feed spacer, permeate carrier, and sealings) to manufacture thermally stable 1812" modules, (3) conducting high-temperature ultrafiltration (UF) testing to investigate the feasibility of a potential pretreatment process, (4) fabricating large-scale patterned nano-enabled UF and RO membranes and testing at high temperatures, (5) evaluating organic matter fouling using various types of organic foulants in water, and (6) testing the membrane modules with real SAGD produced water at the NAIT Membrane Technology Assessment Program (MTAP). In the oil sands mining sector, COSIA members have been researching means to cost-effectively treat the dissolved organics in oil sands process water (OSPW - water that has come into direct contact with oil sands ore in the extraction process in oil sands mines) to make it safe for release to the Athabasca River. These organics, mainly naphthenic acids and other dissolved organics are responsible for acute toxicity to standard aquatic test species if not treated. Hence, the last goal is (7) to use UF to remove these relatively large compounds (C10 - C20). OSPW temperature ranges from ambient to 85 degrees Celsius.