Key Projects, Programs and Initiatives
Ceramic membrane modification and regeneration for oil sands produced water treatment Active
The project involves the development of a novel hybrid filtration process for the treatment of process and discharge water streams generated from in-situ processing of oil sands at high temperatures. The purpose of this system is to de-oil and treat oil sands produced water streams at high temperature (90C) and produce clean water suitable for reuse, recycle or disposal. The work puts a great deal of focus on the development of a ceramic and polymeric membrane process for the removal of salts, scaling compounds, suspended colloidal particles and residual oil as well as low molecular weight dissolved organic compounds from oil sands produced water streams.
The work also involves the study of membrane fouling mechanisms and methods of its mitigations such as membrane surface modification and membrane cleaning and regeneration protocols that would help the development of better and novel membranes for oil sands water treatment applications.
The project is led by CanmetMINING in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada, NRCan's CanmetENERGY, University of Ottawa and a number of oil sands companies that have provided produced water samples for the test work.
Benefits
The process developed in this project could be an alternative option to the conventional treatment system used in Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) operations, which utilizes gravity-based unit operations such as free water knockout (FWKO) vessels, API (American Petroleum Institute) separators and skim tanks, and will allow for significant energy savings and improved environmental performance. The water treatment process consists of several stages targeting primary physical oil-water separation by CanmetHYDROCYCLONE, developed and tested by CanmetENERGY, and a secondary ceramic membrane filtration stage for the removal of residual oil and high levels of dissolved solids, developed by CanmetMINING in collaboration with the University of Ottawa and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Application of ceramic micro- and ultrafiltration membranes has shown limited success in treating SAGD produced water streams, however, membrane fouling remains a significant challenge. The membrane surface modification process for treating the ceramic membrane surfaces allows for fabrication of ceramic membrane with higher degree of resistance to fouling in application related to the treatment of SAGD produced water.
Areas of focus
Water Recovery and Recycling
Partners & Collaborators
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- CanmetENERGY, NRCan
- MEG Energy
- Rauchert Inopor
Advanced Separation Process Development and Evaluation for Water Management in Mining Active
The objective of this project is to develop processes that will enable the Canadian mining industry to manage water resources more effectively by maximizing water recovery and recycling and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of water treatment discharge and management. The project supports the Clean Innovation Engagement Strategy and the Water Management priority of the CanmetMINING 5-year research plan.
The project is designed to investigate and identify opportunities for improving water recovery, treatment and recycling in the mining mineral extraction operations as well as to develop, assess and de-risk technologies and processes for recovery and treatment process water streams in operations for mineral extraction.
Some of the technologies that are being investigated and evaluated include pressure driven membrane separation processes such as reverse osmosis, nano- and ultrafiltration, electro technologies such as electrodialysis and electrocoagulation, ceramic membrane based processes as well as vacuum mebrane distillation.
Benefits
The project contributes to reducing the impact of mining operations on Canada’s freshwater resources and helps improve water management in mining and mineral processing mineral processing plant performances such as mineral/metals recovery and concentrate grades.
The project will create processing tools to help mining companies to:
- Improve the recovery and reuse of water - opportunities throughout the mining lifecycle;
- Reduce contaminants discharge into the environment; and
- Improve the capacity for the recycling of water throughout the mineral and metal extraction process with the ultimate goal of a minimal liquid discharge (MLD) operation.
Areas of focus
- Climate Change
- Water Recovery and Recycling
- Flotation
- Mineral Processing
Partners & Collaborators
- Rouchert Inopor
- Hydro-Québec