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BY TOM KEYSER
Freelance Columnist
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Industry, government and academia are tackling a
problem as old as oil sands development itself: what do you
do with all those tailings created by the mining process?
There is a solution, Dr. David Sego, P.Eng., believes, and
the Oil Sands Tailing Research Facility will find it.
When universities, governments and big corporations find themselves
on the same page, exciting things tend to happen.
Such high-level synergies aren't exactly rare. But they seldom
come about unless one or two energetic individuals rely on
an inspired combination of persuasion, determination and organization
to get the project off the ground.
In the case of the University of Alberta's $2.2-million Oil
Sands Tailing Research Facility, that human catalyst is an
engineering prof named Dr. David Sego, P.Eng.
The Tale of the Tailings
The issue the new facility will address is of critical importance:
how to dispose of enormous volumes of waste byproducts created
during the process of extracting bitumen from the oil sands.
“It's a problem that's plagued the industry since its
beginnings in 1967,” sighs Dr. Sego, who has made a
specialty of this study.
Such waste products are known as tailings: a water-clay mixture
about the consistency of a “thin liquid yogurt,”
in Dr. Sego's words.
During the hot-water extraction process, these clays disperse
in the water. But hydrocarbon-based gels or bridges prevent
the complete settling of the clay particles.
“Mature fine tails consist of about 85 per cent water
and 15 per cent mineral by volume,” Dr. Sego explains.
“And there are massive volumes of it. Right now, among
all the operating companies, there would be about 500 million
cubic metres of mature fine tails being contained within existing
tailings dams.”
Back to Nature
With research, however, will come solutions, Dr. Sego and
his research team at the Oil Sands Tailing Research Facility
believe. They've set high goals — they seek to significantly
reduce tailings volumes and simultaneously speed up the reclamation
process — yet they're optimistic about their long-term
chances.
Says Dr. Sego: “We want to reach a point where we can
return the tailings to a condition of absolute stability —
to create a stable, natural landscape, which would allow plants
and animals to thrive on it.
“We want to take all the material from the discharge
pipe to certification, where the land can be returned to the
public in a stable, natural state.”
To be based at the CANMET Western Resources Centre in Devon,
about 40 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, the facility will
ask a team of top-notch post-graduate students to apply their
skills to the task.
Meanwhile, corporate partners in the research facility will
benefit in more ways than one, when several of Dr. Sego's
students inevitably gravitate towards the industry itself.
“No doubt our students will be attracted to an industry
which, as it expands, is going to require the services of
many highly qualified people,” Dr. Sego reasons.
A Well-Grounded Dream
The industry, of course, also wants some advances on the tailings
front. Dr. Sego began to actively pursue his dream of making
those advances three years ago, after preliminary inquiries
with industry and government indicated they liked his idea.
“I had been doing quite a bit of work on mine tailings
for the oil sands,” he recalls, “and I quickly
realized there needed to be a coordinated effort to address
the tailings issue.”
Dr. Sego first sounded out a variety of senior industry reps
and was encouraged by their response. “Yes, let's go
for it,” they said, and they backed up their words with
financial commitments.
Next, he put together a steering committee. Then he and his
colleagues worked up a series of funding proposals, submitting
them to the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Alberta Innovation
and Science, and Natural Resources Canada.
The group wound up with more than $2 million to cover capital
costs. That includes a contribution of $250,000 from five
corporate partners, four of which have agreed to ante up an
additional $50,000 per year to cover operating costs and funding
of graduate students.
Meanwhile, a fifth corporation has recently stepped up and
also asked to be involved.
The original proposal allows funding for 10 grad students
(six with their PhDs, four with masters of science and three
post-doctorates) as well as cash support for visiting professors.
Things are, quite obviously, clicking. But Dr. Sego isn't
the type to blow his own horn. When pressed, he does quietly
admit the whole experience has been “satisfying, extremely
satisfying.”
That's an understatement. Thanks to his determination to make
this happen, every Albertan stands to benefit for many years
to come.
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