article thumbnail

Pitt engineers using membrane distillation to recycle water used in fracking and drilling

Green Car Congress

Engineers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are using membrane distillation technology to enable drillers to filter and reuse the produced water in the oil and gas industry, in agriculture, and other beneficial uses. The team is back in the lab to find a fix. Shamlou, Elmira & Vidic, Radisav & Khanna, Vikas.

Water 303
article thumbnail

Researcher urges more effort on assessment of land and water impacts of oil sands production; reference point for other unconventional fuels

Green Car Congress

Bitumen production from the Canadian oil sands provides a point of reference that could be used to observe and better manage the land and water impacts of a rapid transition to unconventional fuels, suggests Dr. Sarah Jordaan of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University.

Oil-Sands 231
article thumbnail

Studies find oil sands-derived crude oil no more corrosive in pipelines than other crudes

Green Car Congress

Both scientific research and industrial experience have found that bitumen-derived crude oil (i.e., crude from the oil sands) is no more corrosive in transmission pipelines than other crudes, according to Natural Resources Canada (NRC). In the absence of water, the crude oil is noncorrosive. —ASTM G205.

Oil-Sands 225
article thumbnail

New study suggests reported PAH emissions in oil sands region greatly underestimated

Green Car Congress

Results from a new modeling assessment of contamination in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) suggest that officially reported emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in that region have been greatly underestimated. Accounting for evaporative emissions (e.g., —Parajulee and Wania. Source: Parajulee and Wania.

Oil-Sands 220
article thumbnail

Study concludes permanent loss of peatlands in open-pit oil sands mining adds significantly to carbon burden of oil sands production

Green Car Congress

Researchers at the University of Alberta (Canada) have quantified the transformation of the boreal landscape by open-pit oil sands mining in Alberta, Canada to evaluate its effect on carbon storage and sequestration. Oil sands mining and reclamation cause massive loss of peatland and stored carbon. —Rooney et al.

Oil-Sands 270
article thumbnail

Oil sands GHG lifecycle study using operating data finds lower emitting oil sands cases outperform higher emitting conventional crude cases; a call for more sophisticated tools and reporting

Green Car Congress

Well-to-wheel (WTW) greenhouse gas emissions for in situ SAGD and surface mining pathways generated employing GHOST/TIAX/ GHGenius combination and comparison with SAGD, mining and conventional crude oil literature pathways (all results are on a HHV basis). 74% of WTW emissions in our oil sands pathways. Click to enlarge.

Oil-Sands 287
article thumbnail

U Calgary study finds oil shale most energy intensive upgraded fuel followed by in-situ-produced bitumen from oil sands

Green Car Congress

A team at the University of Calgary (Canada) has compared the energy intensities and lifecycle GHG emissions of unconventional oils (oil sands and oil shale) alongside shale gas, coal, lignite, wood and conventional oil and gas. This is not the same as crude oil occurring naturally in shales, as in the Bakken.

Oil-Sands 150