Oil Sands
The extraction and upgrading of heavy oils and bitumen across the Canadian Oil Sands region is very different from conventional oil and gas processing with many additional challenges. A significant amount of energy and natural resource is required during extraction that makes it essential that every stage is optimized to eliminate or reduce reprocessing or recycle requirements.
A wide range of Tracerco technologies have been used in oil sands and heavy oil processing allowing our customers to troubleshoot problems or gain a better understanding of vessel fluid dynamics in order that they can maximize throughput at minimal cost and impact on the environment.
Within primary separation cells, settling vessels and inclined plate separators Tracerco has performed TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Scanning as well as TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Residence Time and Distribution studies that has allowed a better understanding of the interface quality between bitumen / middlings and bottoms slurry as well as the determination of hydrocarbon, water and solids residence times that can often be reduced from design due to bypassing or shortcutting within these very large vessels. In addition to our diagnostics services Tracerco has also redesigned its award winning TRACERCO Profiler™ technology allowing a full density profile within these vessels across a span as wide as 11 meters to ensure optimal interface and level control. These technologies have also been applied to the SAGD separation train where an understanding of the produced oil and water interface as well as fluid dynamics is an essential aspect of product throughput.
Other scanning and tracer technologies are used in interconnecting pipe work to determine accurate flow rates, header distribution, blockage, slugging of oil, water or solids as well as continuous density control using ultra stable none intrusive nuclear density gauge instrumentation.
In the upgrading area, many Tracerco services and products are used including TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Scanning Technologies in distillation and separation towers, heat exchanger leak testing, flare flow studies as well as fluidized and fixed bed reactor optimization.
In order to offer our Oil sands customers a fast response specialist engineers experienced in Oil Sands applications work in our Edmonton offices. Same or next day service is considered part of our normal service provision. Please give us a call today to discuss your particular oil sands processing problem.
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