Heavy oil production by oil sands surface mining and/or steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) processes presents many challenges, but oil and water separation is among the most critical within the industry. The crude oil coming out of reservoir normally carries significant concentration of bitumen and other surface-active species (e.g., asphaltenes, naphthenic acid and even solid […]

Canada owns 13-16% of the world oil supply, but 90% of these reserves are in the form of bitumen, which is as thick as cold peanut butter. This makes bitumen extraction very difficult, if not impossible, without reducing its viscosity. The popular solution is to increase bitumen’s temperature using steam. Sadly, steam strategies can be […]

The purpose of this research is to create a model for evaluating the socio-economic contributions of human-powered outdoor activities to Alberta. This model will be used to help inform/educate policy makers at the municipal and provincial level to influence debate around the use, management and the allocation of government resources to public spaces. The Alberta […]

When seismic data is used to image the subsurface, assumptions and calculations are made about the complex near-surface geology to overcome the geologic uncertainties. A near-surface velocity model is generated to calculate shifts in time that is used to correct for velocity anomalies. This same time shift that was optimized the data in time is […]

Augmented Reality (AR) is the combination of virtual images with real objects in order to improve perception. It is a rapidly growing field and has many applications in medicine. For this research project we would like to apply AR to the surgical site during a simulated operation in order to provide additional information and improve […]

This project aims to provide real-world, verifiable estimates of impacts to watersheds from usage of back-country logging and resource roads. fRI in partnership with the University of Alberta, MiTACS and Canfor is testing computer-based tools developed in the United States to apply them to watersheds in Alberta. Given the different geography, soil types, and relief […]

Camps are the places where staff from oil and gas companies stay while they work in the oil fields. Camp management is important to the business of all oil and gas. Failure to manage camps appropriately can result in serious risk consequences and potential legal obligations. This research plans to fill in the research gap […]

Finite element modelling (FEM) can be used enhance the understanding of physical testing results and will be applied to two distinct structural problems. The first problem will involve compressive testing of concrete masonry units, and the second problem will involve the performance of adhered stone veneer under wind loading. Compressive testing has been conducted previously […]

Harvesting energy from renewable resources, such as wind and ocean waves, is an important issue facing our world today. With the increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, there is a need to move away from nonrenewable resources and to find new methods for capturing energy. Wind turbines operate most efficiently within a narrow […]

Water use, land use and climate change can alter hydrology and effect the downstream availably of water and timing of flows. The Athabasca River is vital for supply of oil sands energy development and in-stream aquatic habitats. Much of the water for the river originates in the Mountain and Foothills Regions, in the Upper Athabasca. […]

Many reservoir engineering studies are based on simplified equations to analyze the production data. However, in many situations such as shale gas reservoirs, these approaches cannot provide the accurate results in presence of non-homogeneous complexities. This project is aimed to use numerical simulation and novel workflows to tackle the limitations of the current analytical methods. […]

Four billion species are estimated to have evolved on Earth over the last 3.5 billion years, of which 99% are extinct. The end-Permian extinction is the largest extinction event that resulted in the elimination of 97% of oceanic species. The conditions that led to this devastating event are similar to the environmental changes we are […]