Areas of interest
> Environment
- Remediation of soil impacted by recalcitrant petroleum hydrocarbons, salts (mostly NaCl) or both, to as close to pristine conditions as possible.
- Improved delineation of soil impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons, salts or both.
- Enhancements in SOx, NOx reduction technologies
> In-situ bitumen recovery
- Bitumen-hydrocarbon phase behaviours with temperature and pressure variation (13 to > 200°C)
- Formation of hydrates upon depressurization of C2-C3-C1-bitumen-HC mixtures
- Miscible and partially miscible finger modeling (using macroscopic parameters)
- Mass transfer in solvent finger/bitumen matrix networks (diffusion and dispersion)
- Modeling of heat and diffusion boundary layers in steam-thermal-solvent processes
- Improvements in multiphase pumps, novel water softening, water hardness analyzers, waste heat utilization, external heat source engines, abrasion resistant materials
> Lubrication of engines and industrial equipment
- Tribology and lubrication of next generation engines and industrial equipment.
- Next generation drive train and power steering fluids
- Lubricants with enhanced performance (longer lifer, enhanced fuel economy, improved resistance to high temperature oxidation and deposits, enhancements in emission systems protection, improved low temperature performance)
- Novel lubricant additives, effect of additives on lubrication processes
> Refinery products, processes and facilities
- Novel approaches for the removal of sulphur, phosphorous and nitrogen from hydrocarbon streams
- Improved understanding of fouling and corrosion of process equipment both hydrocarbon and inorganic, and means to mitigate same
- Novel approaches for quality enhancements for fuel products, oxygenate containing fuel products, and asphalts
- Improvements in yields, energy efficiency, run lengths, and molecular composition of product streams in refinery processing equipment
- Improved production of basestocks from crudes
- Enhanced process control system -- modeling of refinery systems (improved molecular characterization, reaction kinetics, hydrodynamic modeling)
> Chemicals
- Improvements related to polyethylene manufacturing and products technology, particularly polyethylene for injection and rotational molding applications
- Improvements related to ethane/propane gas cracking to produce ethylene
- Improvements related to manufacturing of vinyl intermediates, aromatics and naptha based solvents
> Geoscience
- Diagenetic history, cementation, clay formation, burial history and petrographic studies of the McMurray Fm to determine the variation in ore quality
- Emplacement variability and degradation of Northern Alberta bitumen using novel approaches
- Resolve the stratigraphy and sedimentology of Post Cretaceous sediments in the Athabasca region
- Applications of remote sensing to mine development
- Investigation of mud sedimentation in shallow water clastic depositional environments
- Modeling of oil migration pathways through the Palaeozoic sediments of the Athabasca basin
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