The ISU Technology to virtually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions

A new study concludes that Canadian oilsands producers have steadily improved their environmental performance from a greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction standpoint - but a technology developed at the University of Calgary (U of C) could virtually eliminate those emissions.

The study, by IHS Markit, is entitled The GHG Intensity of Canadian Oil Sands: A New Analysis, and reaches the conclusion that the combined GHG intensity of Canadian oilsands projects fell by 20 per cent between 2009 and 2018.

“Based on the trend we’re seeing there seems to be a continuous effort to drive GHG intensity down,” Birn told oil and gas industry information source Daily Oil Bulletin.

But what if there was a technology available to producers that not only reduces GHG emissions dramatically but does it in a cost-effective way and unlocking pipelines and markets for the oilsands?

Well, it turns out that there is — and it has been developed right on the doorstep of those oilsands plants, at the University of Calgary.

Prof. Pedro Pereira-Almao is convinced the in-situ bitumen and heavy oil upgrading technology he and his team at the U of C have developed can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 80 per cent by eliminating or drastically reducing the use of steam and production costs, unlock pipeline limitations, by elimination diluent and opening markets with a higher quality oil.

The technology he and others at the U of C developed utilizes a nano-technology catalyst approach, whereby nanoparticles attach themselves to rock around an injection well, extracting an oil that bubbles to the surface as a light crude, with an API of 22 to 25, far beyond the eight to nine API crude that is produced now using SAGD.

“Our huff and puff approach eliminates the need for diluent. It converts bitumen in the field to a crude with an API of 22 to 25 and the recovery from the reservoir is amazing, compared to SAGD.”

NanosTech is now working to commercialize its ISU technology (ISUT), which can be easily adopted without radically altering existing SAGD facilities. It only requires a skid, which is used to introduce the catalysts into the reservoir.

A commercial version of the skid can be used to produce up to 5,000-10,000 bpd from each well.

The technology has been developed as a result of funding from the Alberta Ingenuity Centre and other Alberta government funding, as well as funding from five oilsands producers and many other companies.

The good news is the skid has been built and Nanos Tech can duplicate it and develop another skid for deployment in Alberta in a few months.

“We have the skid,” he said. “We can demonstrate the technology very quickly in Alberta.”

“It’s a no-brainer,” he said. “Alberta heavy oil and bitumen producers could compete (economically) with Saudi Arabia.”