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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (4601)	8/20/2006 10:03:25 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24213

New technique promises to make oilsands extraction much greener Amber Shortt, CanWest News Service Published: Saturday, August 19, 2006 * * * * EDMONTON -- A new way of extracting oil from the ground has the potential to turn the oilsands into a recycling depot for clean water. Researchers at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. have discovered what they describe as an environmentally friendly and inexpensive way to separate water from crude oil once the mixture has been extracted from the sands. "Your water can go through a bit more purification and be tossed in the river," said Philip Jessop, a chemistry professor whose findings were printed Friday in the international journal Science. He said the secret lies in creating a surfactant _or surface active agent, a molecule where one end blends easily with water and another end that doesn't. To extract the oil from the sands, workers currently inject water, carbon dioxide and a surfactant into the ground. Then, just as soap combines oil with water so it can be lifted from human hands, the surfactant creates an oil and water mixture so it can be separated from the dirt. "The only problem they have is they don't turn off," Jessop said, noting workers then have to add extra chemicals to the mixture to get the oil out of the water. Instead, Jessop and his team of researchers created a surfactant which can reverse as easily as breathing. When mixed with carbon dioxide, the compound combines oil and water. Then, when air is bubbled through the mixture, the compound reverses and splits the oil from water. "It's neither expensive or dangerous for workers or the environment," Jessop said. A report last March by the Pembina Institute said the oilsands industry uses 65 per cent of the water taken from the Athabasca River, amounting to nearly 350 million cubic metres of water per year. To create one cubic metre of oil, workers must use 4.5 cubic metres of water. The new compound could be used to renew or reuse that water , Jessop said. "If you have an effective way of turning off the surfactants, it's much easier to recover the water, oil-free water," he said. Jessop said the surfactant project represents the new "green chemistry" movement, a philosophy that works to solve industry's problems with environmentally friendly methods. "Almost always it works out that those processes are cheaper as well," he said. He noted there are other methods that can be used to turn off surfactants but they either use light, which can't easily pass through a thick black mixture, or harmful, expensive acids. The new compound would be cost-effective for the industry since it already uses carbon dioxide to extract the oil and air is readily available, he said. Jessop is hoping to test the compound in the field. He is currently in talks with an Alberta oil company, but said he is looking for more industry sponsors to fund the program. "To take this invention and run with it we need industrial funding," he said. "Inventing things that are good for the environment that never get used are not as useful." ashortt@thejournal.canwest.com Edmonton Journal canada.com