Excessive freshwater use and its eventual capture in tailings ponds represent some of the most concerning elements of the oil sands industry. The requirement for water to be heated as part of the process is also a serious concern, as it demands the use of considerable energy as part of the extraction process.
Developing a Non-Aqueous Extraction (NAE) method for recovering oil from the oilsands without the use of water could significantly reduce the environmental and carbon footprint of extracting these resources, and the fundamental science developed to support this process could enable significantly improved cleanup of oilsands sites.
Researchers on Heavy Oil - Non-Aqueous Recovery
Over seven years, Future Energy Systems plans to support more than 100 researchers and up to 1,000 Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP), including graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. To learn more about our researchers, visit the Researcher Directory.
