Executive Summary

 

   

Alternative Energy
CO2s
Completions
Drilling
Driving Safety
Environmental
Fundamental Research
Heavy Oil
Innovation
Natural Gas Production
Oil Production
Oil Sands
Reservoir / Geoscience
Eco-efficient Technologies
Telecommunications

List of 227 Projects Launched Since Inception
 Total Approx. Value: $132.9 Million+

Key:
1 = 1997 (6),    2 = 1998  (19),    3 = 1999 (26),   4 = 2000 (39),   5 = 2001 (36),   6 = 2002 (29),   7 = 2003 (20)   8 = 2004 (8)    9 = 2005 (8)   10 = 2006 (8)    11 = 2007 (8)
*   This project arose from a PTAC Request for Proposal (RFP) 
** This project originated from COURSE (Coordination of University Research for Synergy and Effectiveness)
+  Includes $ 3.3 million funding for COURSE projects to be provided by NSERC and Industry (not included in project sub-sections)
(  ) Number of project participants,   K - $ 000

   

Alternative Energy

 

$384K

  • Alternative Energy 11
   

CO2

 

$235K

  • CO2 RFP 11
   

Completions

 

$1M

  • Field Pilot for Near Well Treatment to Reduce Gas Coning/ Channelling – $200K 2
  • Field Pilot to Remove Pyrobitumen Blockage from Oil and Gas Reservoirs with the PRIstine™ Process – $400K 3
  • Low Cost, High Performance Diverting and Blocking – $190K 2
  • Gel-Foam Applications - $107K4
  • Improved Water Production Prediction in Carbonates - $107K4
  • A Mechanistic Study on Foamed Gel Technology - 64K6**

 

    

Drilling

$1.5M

  • Rotator Project – $460K 1
  • Research and Software Development Project to Reduce Drilling and Completion Costs Associated with Borehole Instability – $130K 1
  • Development of Coiled Tubing Drill Strings for Sour Service Underbalanced Drilling – $100K 2
  • Evaluation of Coiled Tubing Serviceability for Sour Service Applications -
    $150K 4
  • A New Measurement while Drilling Surveying Technique Employing the Technology of Fiber Optic Gyroscope in a Strap Down Inertial Navigation System – $113K 4**
  • Borehole Stability and Sand Production Risk Assessment Software - Phase 2 - $250K4
  • Foamy Oil Flow Modeling Including Non Equilibrium and Mobility Effects - 260K6**
  • Drilling Seasonal Load Leveling Business Case - 70.9K 9

 

    

Driving Safety

$83.6K

  • Infrared Driving Technology JIP Phase I - 33.6K7*
  • Infrared Driving Technology JIP Phase I - 50K7*

    

Environmental

$93M

  • Onsite Electrical Generation from Flare Gas - $400K2
  • Determination of Environmentally Acceptable Endpoints for Residual Unrefined Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil– $766K 2* 
  • Flare Speciation – Part I,  R&D Provider: University of Alberta– $266K 2*
  • Flare Speciation – Part II, R&D Provider: Advanced Combustion Technologies – $270K 2*
  • Flare Performance – Part I, R&D Provider: University of Alberta – $263K 2*
  • Flare Performance – Part II, R&D Provider: Advanced Combustion Technologies – $180K 2*
  • Flaring - Improved Liquid Separation, R&D Provider: Synergas Technologies – $222K 2*
  • Flaring - Alternate Technologies – Part I, R&D Provider: Advanced Combustion Technologies – $265K  2*
  • Flaring - Alternate Technologies – Part II, R&D Provider: Ontario Hydro Tech/University of Calgary – $130K 2*
  • Assessment of Phytoremediation as an In-Situ technique for Cleaning Oil Contaminated Sites Phases 1&2  – $888K 3,4,8,9
  • Fugitive Emissions – $162K 3*
  • Hydrophobic Soils – $200K 3*
  • Evaluation of Past Revegetation Mitigation Efforts – $91K 3*
  • Emissions from Individual Oil and Gas Reservoirs – $141K  3**
  • Flaring Technology Field Test Facility:  Phase 1a - Flaring Mitigation Centre Market Assessment - $45K 3*
  • Blair Air Systems - $1M 4
  • Gas Plant Remediation - $214K 3**
  • Weyburn C02 Monitoring Project - $ 42M 4
  • Development of Soil and Water Quality Guidelines for Sulfolane and DIPA: Environmental and Human Health - $100K 4
  • Natural Gas Losses – $55K 4*
  • Monitored Natural Attenuation – $1.5M 4*,7,8
  • Evaluation of Hydrocarbon Degradation & Uptake by Plants – $375K 4*
  • Improving the Performance of High Temperature Fuel Cells –  $184K 4**
  • Degradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons at the Soil/root Interface in Contaminated Soils –  $102K 4**
  • Natural Attenuation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons at Upstream Oil and Gas Facilities –  $1.4M 4**
  • Combustion Enhancement and Emission Reduction from Flare Stacks using Passive Jet-flow Control –  $112K 4**
  • Options for Conventional Heavy Oil Vent Gas Utilization and Mitigation – Phase 1a $113K 4 *
  • Flare Performance Research Initative - $3.5M 5,7,8
  • Fatigue Analysis and Damage Mitigation Control of Industrial Co-generation Systems - $209K 5**
  • Real-Time Internet Based Surveillance of Oil/Gas Pipelines - $342K 5**
  • Geomechanical - Reservoir Processes of Waste Injection (Disposal) into Unconsolidated Formations - $363K 5**
  • Control of Methane Emissions from Heavy Oil Development - 191K5
  • Well Test Flare Plume Monitoring -1 - 27K5*
  • Well Test Flare Plume Monitoring -2 - 88K5*
  • Treatment of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Water Using Constructed Wetlands Phase III - 500K5
  • Foothills Model Forest Grizzly Bear Research Project - 3.4M5,7,8
  • Options for Thermal Heavy Oil Vent Gas Utilization and Mitigation Phase 1b -17K5
  • Options for Conventional Oil and Gas Production Facilities Phase 2a - 28K5
  • Options for Conventional Gas Processing and Compression Facilities Phase 2b - 28K5
  • Reclamation and Management of Crested Wheatgrass Invaded Sites in Southern Alberta - 193K6
  • Native Vegetation/Wetland Inventory and GIS Mapping: Parkland Natural - 250K6
  • Framework Foundation and Guidance for Tier 2 Site Specific Development of Soil/Contact Cleanup Standards for PHC Contaminated Areas - 59K6
  • Determination of Environmentally Acceptable Endpoints for Residual Unrefined Petroleum Hydrocarbons Phase 3 - 98K6
  • Recovery of Caribou Ranges in Alberta, Boreal & West Central - 1.5M 6,7,8,9
  • University of Alberta Protective Clothing Research - 500K6
  • Controlled Human Exposure Studies to H2S Investigation of Neurobehavioural Potential API - 1.7M6,7,8
  • Catalytic Solutions for the Mitigation of Hydrocarbon GHG Emissions - 344K6**
  • Laboratory Testing of Novel Sealant for Field Trial Implementation - 561K6**
  • Extraction of Carbon Dioxide as Gas Hydrate from Flue Gases - 112K6**
  • Economic Feasibility of Horizontal CO2 EOR Projects in Alberta - 600K6
  • West Pembina Eco-Efficiency Audit - 5M6
  • Supercritical Fluid Extraction - 60K6
  • Flare Performance Research Initiative - 150K 7
  • New Flare Burner Designs - 20K 7
  • Solution Gas and Knock-out Liquids Characterisation - 228K 7
  • Well Test Flare Plume Monitoring Phase II - 150K 7
  • A Re-evaluation of the Toxicity of CCME Petroleum Hydrocarbon Fraction 3, and Interaction Effects Between Fractions - 212K 7,8
  • Ecotoxicity Risk Assessment of Hydrocarbon Residuals in Bioremediated Oil-Contaminated Clay Soils - 32K 7
  • Improved Methods of Evaluating Revegetation for Determining Reclamation Success on Cultivated land - 40K 7
  • Testing Remediation Techniques for Salt Affected Sties - 60K 7
  • Field Verification of Salinity Models Proposed for Developing Risk Based Salt Criteria in Soil - 60K 7
  • Native Species for the Sandy Soils Disturbances of the Parkland Ecoregion - 500K 8,9,10
  • The Facilitation of Sustainable, Eco-Efficient and Greenhouse Gas Technologies - 1.8M 7
  • Caroline Livestock Study - 1.2M 8
  • Environmentally Acceptable Endpoints for Weathered/Aged Petroleum Hydrocarbons - 175K 8,9
  • CCME Fraction 3 Gap Study - 150K 8
  • Imaging the Fate and Transport of Salts with Time-Lapse Resistivity - 214K 8
  • Compost amendment of oil field waste to remediate high concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons F3 and F4 fractions - 77K 8
  • Reclaimed Soil Quality Benchmark Study - 120K 8
  • Removing the Wellsite Footprint - 3.2M 8,9,10,11
  • Development of drought tolerant/salt tolerant native grass, forb and legume ecotypes for use on disturbed land in the praries and boreal forest - 195K 8
  • Biodiversity - 6M 8,9,10
  • Field Compatible Measure of Flare Efficiency and Emissions - 905K 8
  • Quantification of Soot Emissions from Flares - 450K 9,10
  • Catalytic Combustion for the Elimination of Methane, BTEX and other VOC - 414K 9,10
  • Resolving Air Flow Over Elevated Terrain to Improve Dispersion Modelling for Sour Gas Flares - 279K 9
  • Effect of Sour Fuel Composition on Flare Combustion Efficiency - 198K 9
  • Toxicity Testing for Methanol, Amine and Glycol Quality Guideline Development - 260K 9,10
  • Development of Generic Site Assessment Criteria for Salinity Below the Root Zone - 190K 9,10
  • Grizzly Bear Habitat Mapping and Modeling in Alberta - 2.5M 9
  • Assessment of Species at Risk (SARA) Setbak Distances Relative to Oil and Gas Activities - 310K 9,10,11
  • Numerical Simulation of a Sour Gas Flare - 196K 10
  • Validation of Toxicology Test Methods for Assessing Petroleum Hydrocarbon and Brine Spills in Boreal Forest and Taiga Eco-Zone Soils - 50K 10
  • Assessment and Refinement of Ecotoxicity Methods for Development of Tier 2 Soil Eco-contact Standards and Application to Site Specific Risk Assessments (Tier 3) - 93K 10
  • Putting Grizzly Bear Research Results into Today's Land Management and Planning - 600K 10
  • Identifying Key Native Species and Efficient Strategies for Revegetationg Sensitive Landscapes - 80K 10
  • Gaseous Fuel Mixture Effects on Total Soot Yield from Flares - 86K 11
  • GHG Emissions And Reductions from Solution Gas Flares in Alberta - 43K 11
  • Catalytic Combustion for the Elimination of Methane, BTEX and other VOC - 397K 11
  • Final Phase - Guideline Derivation for Soil Salinity Below the Root Zone - 60K 11
  • Validation of Subsoil Hydrocarbon Criteria for Stratified Remediation at Upstream Oil and Gas Facilities in Alberta: Field Study - 200K 11
  • Distinguishing Natural vs Petroleum F3 Hydrocarbons in Oil Spill Impacted Muskeg Material - 159K 11
  • Chemical and Isotopic Characterization of Water and Dissolved Gases in Shallow Aquifers in the Vicinity of Coal Bed Methane Operations in Alberta - 314K 11
  • Identifying Key Native Species and Efficient Strategies for Revegetating Sensitive Landscapes: Oil Sand Areas, Saline Areas, Boreal Forest and Foothills Regions - 93K 11
  • Putting Grizzly Bear Research Results into Today's Land Management and Planning in Northwestern Alberta: Developing Food Based Maps and Models for Land Use Planners in Alberta - 1.9M 11
  • WIPC SAGD - 135K 11
  • WIPC Produced Water Management - 36K 11

    

Fundamental Research

Full Listing of Fundamental Research Projects by Technical Area

    

Heavy Oil

$14.7M

  • Development of Full Project Engineering and Economics for the Vapex Process – $450K(14)1
  • Assessment of Heavy Oil Fluid Gathering System Alternatives – $250K (10) 1
  • Cyclic Waterflood Simulation Study – $18K 2*
  • Reducing the Cost of Tank Cleaning in Heavy Oil Operations – $176K (8) 2*
  • Heavy Oil Upgrading with Water via Super Critical Partial Oxidation – $325K 2
  • Evaluation of Markets for Produced Sand – $30K* 2
  • Pipelineable Bitumen and Heavy Oil Project (NCUT/AST) – $76K2
  • Thermal Solvent Process – Field Scale Engineering & Economics – $600K 3
  • In Situ and Refinery Upgrading of Vapex Heavy Oil Production for Increased Value and Reduced Emissions (Vapex Phase II) - $500K 3
  • Casing Deformation Study - $200K 3
  • Vapex Refinery Upgrading Project – $68K 3
  • Bio-upgrading for Heavy Crude Quality Improvement – $253K 3**
  • Heavy Oil Vent Gas Utilization - $70K 3*
  • Progressive Cavity Pump Run-Life Improvements – $200K 4
  • Characterization of Conventional Oil and Gas, Heavy Oil and Bitumen Formations using low field NMR Spectroscopy – $333K 4**
  • Asphaltene Deposition – $243K 4**
  • Intermetallic-based Alloy-coatings on Steel Structures used in Oxidation, Sulphidization and Carburization Environments – $128K 4**
  • Enhanced Oil Recovery by Urease-catalyzed, Microbial Calcium Carbonate Blocking – $137K 4**
  • In-line Multiphase Flow Meter Development – $115K 4**
  • Performance Evaluation of Shale for Ensuring Hydraulic Isolation Around Thermal Wellbores – $380K 4**
  • Vapex Engineering and Economics, Phase 3 - $375K4
  • Foamy Oil Behaviour: Beyond the Cold Production Process - $107K4
  • Cyclic Solvent-Based Process for Heavy Oil Reservoirs - $107K4
  • SAGD Application in Reservoirs with Depleted Gas Caps - $107K4
  • Geological Controls on the Isotope Geochemistry of Formation Gases in the Alberta Oilfields - $275K 5**
  • Data Sufficiency for Petroleum Reservoir Decision Making - $155K 5**
  • Foamy Oil Flow in Cold Production of Heavy Oil - $182K 5**
  • Effect of Residual O2 in CO2 for a Combined Miscible Flood/CO2 Sequestration Process - $959K 5**
  • Seismic Monitoring for Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery - $416K 5**
  • Fundamental Study of the Roles of Fines in Upgrading - 156K6
  • Identification and Assessment of Low Pressure SAGD Wellbore Architecture Alternatives - 230K6
  • 2002 PTRC R&D Program - 2.3M6
  • Toe-to-heel air injection (THAI) - 4M7
  • Unconventional Heavy Oil Roadmap - 180K 9
  • Carbonate Triangle and Conventional Heavy Oil - Lowest GHG Porduction Scenario - An Exploration Study - 360K 10
  • Novel Low GHG Recovery Technology for Canadian Heavy Oil - 270K 11

    

Innovation

$160K

  • Spudding Innovation - 120K 7
  • R&D Oil and Gas Database - 40K 9

 		    

Natural Gas Production

$2M

  • Water Content and Physical Properties of Acid Gases – $300K 1
  • Mitigation of Harmonic Distortions in Oilfield Electrical Distribution Systems – 212K 3**
  • Optimization of Steam Generator Performance –  $298K 4**
  • Experimental and Modelling Study of the Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Hydrate Decomposition - $400K 5**
  • Identifying "Sweet Spots" in Basin Centered Gas Accumulations - 42K5
  • Development of Models to Predict Significant Stress Corrosion Cracking of Pipeline Steels in Near Neutral pH Environments - 226K6
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Stress Corrosion Cracking - 294K6
  • Injection/Falloff Testing for Low Permeability Reservoirs - Perm PT - 250K6

    

Oil Production

$1.3M

  • Predicting Internal Pitting Corrosion of Multiphase Pipelines – $352K 1
  • Exploration and Wear Corrosion Synergism and Development of Guidelines for Materials Selection and Design - $343K6**
  • Water Crude Oil Emulsion/Study of the Stability of Micron Sized Water Droplets in a Continuous Oil Phase by Molecular Modelling - $417K6**
  • Multi-Component Oil Well Tester (MCOT) Method for Oil Well Testing - 225K 6

    

Oil Sands

 

$4.8M

  • Development of a Novel Hardfacing Material System for the Oil Sands Industry: Pseudoelastic Composites with Nanostructured Reinforcing Particles –
    $330K 3**
  • Investigation of Interfacial Mass-Transfer Mech. in the VAPEX Process for Heavy Oil Recovery – $96K 3**
  • Online Slurry Air-content Determination and Analysis (OSADA) Technology for Oil sands Development – $104K 3**
  • Solids Distribution in Hydrotransport Process – $107K 3**
  • Destabilization of Emulsified Water and Fine Solids Through Asphaltenes Precipitation – $210K 3**
  • Oil Sand Lump Size Estimation (LSE) by 3-D Sensing – $220K 3**
  • Particle Flow Modelling of Oil Sands Excavation – $174K 3**
  • Metallurgical Studies for the Production of Rutile Concentrate from Oil Sands Tailings – $101K 3**
  • Role of Microbial Process on Sulfate-Enriched Tailings Deposits – $123K 3**
  • Geotechnical Behaviour of Oil Sands Paste Tailings / Geotechnical Physics of Producing Thickened Tailings (Paste)  –  $354K 4**
  • Fundamental Study of Bitumen Digestion Process –   $278K 4**
  • Development of a New Technology to Improve the Equipment Utilization Rate in Mining Operations –  $149K 4**
  • Research into Cold (25C) Conditioning of Oil Sands with Regard to Solids Reduction in Froth through Solvent/demulsifier Nascent Froth and Naptha/paraffinic Diluent Prost-production Froth Treatment Schemes  –  $163K 4**
  • At Face Slurrying: Advancing Innovative Technology for Oil Sands Production –   $522K 4**
  • Impact of Residual Bitumen Removal Methods on the Separation of Heavy Minerals in the Oil Sands Tailings –  $261K 4 **
  • Investigation of the Erosion-Corrosion Mechanisms in Slurry Flow - $290K 5**
  • Intelligent Shovel Excavation in Varying Oil Sands Formation and Bitumen Content - $505K 5**
  • Impact of Asphaltene-Solvent Interaction on Vapex Process - $151K 5**
  • Scale-Up of Dispersion Coefficients in Vapex Process - $327K 5**
  • A Microstructural Approach to Modelling Sand Production - $182K 5**
  • Effect of Gas Pressure Induced Dilation on Permeability Change of Oil Sand and Surface Heave - 220K6

 

    

Reservoir / Geoscience

 

$5.7M

  • Field Pilot for Water Abatement in Gas Reservoirs – $302K 2
  • Economically Beneficial Waste Gas Injection for Medium/Heavy Oil Depletion – $100K 2
  • Seismic Velocity Imaging of the Steen River Crater: Technique Development for Exploring Crater Reservoirs – $95K 3**
  • Increasing Gas/Oil Recovery from Naturally Fractured Reservoirs with Water Coning Problems: Process Understanding and Field Applications – $211K 3**
  • Evaluation of Miscible and Sub Miscible Flue Gas Injection for Improved Recovery of Light Oils and Sequestering of Green House Gases –  $73K 4**
  • Seismic Velocity Anisotropy and Depth Imaging – $430K 4**
  • Enhanced Waterflooding Using Toe-to-Heal Displacement - $107K4
  • Water Abatement in Gas Reservoirs - $107K4
  • Wireless Digital Sensors and Analysis Systems for Monitoring Petroleum Reservoirs - $405K
    • 5**
  • Screening of Alberta Pools for CO2 Injection - 225K
  • CO2 WAG Flooding - 225K
  • Gravity Stable Waterflooding - 225K
  • Improved Formation Evaluation of Carbonate Reservoirs - 225K
  • Water Abatement in Gas Wells - 225K
  • Regain Permeability in Tight Gas Reservoirs - 225K5
  • Understanding Impact Generated Hydrocarbon Reservoirs - 497K6**
  • Controlled Gas Phase Combustion within Porous Media - 469K6**
  • Geostatistical Characterization of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs - 291K6**
  • EnergyINet Increased Recovery of Conventional Oil & Gas Business Case - 1.3M 8,10
  • Enhanced Gas Recovery by Downhole Compression - n/a 8

 

    

Sustainable and Eco-efficient Technologies

 

$5M

  • A New Technique for Mitigating Electrical Disturbances Caused by Energizing Generator Transformers - 191K5**
  • Fuel Cell for Conversation of Hydrogen Sulfide - 280K5**
  • Improving Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Operations Using Hydrocarbon Fuels - 1.4M5**
  • Detection of Island Conditions for Distributed Generators - 242K6**
  • Application of Electron Microscopy Techniques in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Research - 480K6**
  • Fuel Cell for Conversion of Hydrogen Sulfide - 429K6** 
  • The Facilitation of Sustainable, Eco-Efficient and Greenhouse Gas Technologies - 1.8M 7

 

    

Telecommunications

$620K

  • Crude Oil Document Exchange (CDOX) Pilot - 500K5
  • Trusted Communication Project - 100K6
  • A&D Data Exchange Project - 20K

 

    
 

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For further information,
please contact:

Arlene Merling, PTAC
Director, Operations
phone 403.218.7702
fax 403.920.0054
amerling@ptac.org

      

© PTAC 2007

2007 10 26 LF