The management of quality of drinking water systems, river and lakes is a significant environmental challenge. In this research project, we plan to develop low-cost real-time water quality monitoring and analytics software, which can be used to analyze and predict water quality in remote lakes, rivers, drinking water plants and other water bodies. The Aquahive remote water monitoring system developed by the Aquatic Life Ltd., a Canadian company, will be deployed to capture the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the water quality in real-time.

Customer satisfaction with an automatic car wash is highly dependent on the quality of the final drying phase, with residual water leading to spots and thus poor perception of performance. As such, Suncor Energy is committed to improving the drying phase of their next generation car wash facilities through principled design guidelines based upon scientific investigation of water droplet movement on a surface.

Underground mines generate significant volumes of crushed waste rock, called tailings, but almost half of these can be returned underground and used as value-added backfill. This research uses non-destructive sensors that monitor the backfill’s strength in real time and provides operators with information needed to safely place backfill as quickly as possible. The sensors will be developed and deployed at operating mines so that they are validated under real-world operating conditions.

The project focuses on screening and testing state-of-art Enhanced Oil Recovery techniques. It is carried out through both experiment study in core scale and simulation research in field scale. The new knowledge that will be accrued will be the culmination of a truly collaborative approach. First and foremost, Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador will gain a holistic perspective recovering ultimate oil from its offshore east coast reserves.

Most of the heavy oil and bitumen produced in Western Canada is transported through pipelines to refineries in North America. Prior to transportation, the high viscosity of those fluids must be reduced by either dilution with a light solvent or upgrading. The high costs associated with handling diluents has increased the interest in upgrading; that is, the thermal conversion of high viscosity heavy oil or bitumen into a less viscous product.

This project will develop data-driven models for production performance analysis and optimization for solvent-assisted bitumen recovery operations and related processes. Effective operations of solvent processes are crucial for improving oil production and maintaining a low solvent-to-oil ratio (SOR).

Lead scoring is essential for lead management. The result of lead scoring is a list consists of leads with scores assigned indicating how likely each lead can be converted into the next stage of sales process. The Lamb or Spam and the Rule-Based are the two lead scoring methods that have been discussed in the literature. As various machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence started to reemerge, predictive lead scoring models seem to be the next promising solution for lead scoring activity.

A decommissioned mine facility in Canada is looking for a new and innovative way to handle mine waste and reclaim the mine site. The potential solution to this problem is the use of microorganisms which are capable of producing calcite, or cement, as part of their natural biological process. These microorganisms will be combined with the mine tailings in test cells in the lab to produce a cement, which will then be tested for milestones like strength and moisture content. BGC Engineering Inc.

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are the dominant technology used to power today’s electric vehicles (EVs). However, current Li-ion batteries is reaching the bottleneck in the energy density, partially due to the limited capacity in the graphite anode (372 mAh g-1). In partnership with MGX Minerals Inc., Dr. Liu’s team at the University of British Columbia aims at developing a high-performance nanostructured Si anode for next-generation Li-ion batteries by using low-grade and large-abundant metallurgical Si as the starting material.

Mine closure is the final stage of a mine’s lifecycle and can have complex social, economic, and cultural impacts on nearby communities. These impacts include population decline, reduced services, household stress, ecological change, and reduced access to land-based activities. These impacts become more likely when communities are not engaged with during the closure planning process. Glencore Raglan is attempting to mitigate these issues through the Raglan Mine Closure Sub-committee, which is made up of both company employees and community representatives from Salluit and Kangiqsujuaq.