There has been a growing interest in the application of nanotechnology for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Nanoparticles possess unique physical and chemical properties due to their small size. In addition, their surface coating can be easily tailored for a particular EOR application. The proposed research will develop surfactant-coated nanoparticles as an additive. These nanoparticles will increase the recovery of residual oil in unconventional reservoirs found in Saskatchewan. Silica nanoparticles will be coated with zwitterionic surfactants.

Corrosion, mechanical damage and cracking are the primary causes of pipeline incidents in Canada. Major incidents can significant impact the public, wildlife, and environment. Over the past ten years, the length of pipelines has increased 11 per cent, but the number of pipeline incidents has decreased 48 per cent. This is largely due to continuous improvements in pipeline safety programs across the energy industry. To make pipelines safer, the intern is dedicated to contributing to the development of the existing pipeline integrity evaluation method.

Teck Coal produces metallurgical quality coal from the coalfields in southeastern British Columbia and it is the second largest exporter of metallurgical coal in the world. It operates four coal mines in SE BC. One of the Teck Coal operations has been experiencing difficulty in processing fine coal for several years. Overall, this situation has led to less than expected plant performance, resulting in some losses in production.

TechnipFMC is a global leader in subsea, onshore, offshore, and surface technologies. They use innovative technologies to help their clients develop their oil and gas resources. The purpose of this project is to research and evaluate two new technologies to determine the best fit for deploying the technology in TechnipFMC’s operational environment.

Oil and gas exploration and development in northeastern British Columbia contributes to the Province’s economy, but also results in disturbance of cropland due to construction of pipelines within the Agricultural Land Reserve. Currently, there is no long-term monitoring of cropland productivity on reclaimed pipeline footprints. The proposed research addresses priorities of the British Columbia Oil and Gas Research and Innovation Society (BC OGRIS) by assessing and quantifying the long-term impacts of pipeline construction on cultivated ALR lands.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contribute to a global warming trend associated with climate change. Methane is a potent GHG with a global warming potential 25 times that of Carbon Dioxide over a 100-year period. Gas migration /Surface casing vent flows from subsurface to surface is a well-known issue; however, characterizing the source zone(s) for stray gases from production, injection, and observation wells is an ongoing challenge in the oil/gas industry.

Thus far Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) has been the sole commercially viable in-situ recovery method to extract Canadian oil sands that are too deep for mining. It involves high pressure steam injection and bitumen production using horizontal well pairs located near the base of oil sands formations. While it has enabled conversion of significant resources to reserves (about 170 billion barrels), SAGD has many economic and environmental limitations. The public and government want to see the negative aspects of SAGD reduced significantly.

A two-year, multi-disciplinary research project requiring MSc, PhD and PDF researchers across Computer Science, Earth and Ocean Science, and Mining Engineering is proposed, working with an industrial sponsor MineSense, focused on the development of new sensors for advanced sensor sorting and so-called ‘non-grade’ applications in previously unaddressed high capacity, low grade mining situations.

Devonian reservoirs have contributed significantly to the development of the petroleum industry in Alberta. This is mainly due to their favourable characteristics of high permeability enhanced by dolomitization in these often reefal structures. Although many have had good recoveries, much oil remains to be recovered. Many of the same characteristics that led to good production performance during the past decades are expected to contribute to good production potential if CO2-based enhanced-oil recovery (CO2-EOR) methods are employed.

The project will adapt Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) to a cased well. CAES is a mature and proven energy storage technology, however it traditionally uses large salt caverns. By understanding the deformation of a wellbore due to pressure and hot air injection, one may be able to determine the operating range of the system. Cased wells are easy to deploy and decommission. They may be installed wherever is advantageous. They involve drilling a well and installing a high-grade steel casing into the wellbore. The depth of a single well can be anywhere from 500-1500 meters.