{"id":379,"date":"2008-07-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/2018\/02\/01\/innovation-anthology-155-associate-technologist-tailings-research-and-development-team\/"},"modified":"2018-02-25T21:29:56","modified_gmt":"2018-02-25T21:29:56","slug":"innovation-anthology-155-associate-technologist-tailings-research-and-development-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/2008\/07\/29\/innovation-anthology-155-associate-technologist-tailings-research-and-development-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation Anthology #155: Associate Technologist, Tailings Research and Development Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Download MP3 Link<\/a><\/p>\n

The current process for separating oil from oil sands<\/strong> requires huge volumes of water. <\/strong> <\/p>\n

But that may change thanks to the research of Dr. Steve Kuznicki<\/strong> at the Imperial Oil-Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Oil Sands Innovation.(COSI) <\/strong> <\/p>\n

Dr. Kuznicki is a specialist in new molecular sieves.<\/strong> These are crystals, both natural and man-made, that separate molecules. <\/p>\n

Dr. Kuznicki’s new sieve is made from thin slices of volcanic rock<\/strong> that are heated in the presence of oil sand. <\/p>\n

DR. STEVE KUSZNICKI:<\/strong> First of all, the bitumen sticks to the surfaces and starts breaking, just as it would on a cracking catalyst. Now the net result of this is that you can take the bitumen in oil sand, selectively break the heavy molecules, the asphaltenes. And now that they’re broken you can remove the oil that’s now cracked, using a light hydrocarbon like hexane or pentane without the need for water. <\/em> <\/p>\n

Because hexane and pentane can be processed on site, Dr. Kuznicki says this waterless extraction process<\/strong> becomes a self-renewing cycle. And the environmental benefit is enormous. <\/p>\n

Thanks today to Alberta Ingenuity<\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n

Learn more at InnovationAnthology.com<\/strong> <\/p>\n

I’M CHERYL CROUCHER <\/strong> <\/p>\n

Guest<\/h2>\n

Eric Leneve, <\/h3>\n

Syncrude Canada Ltd, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, <\/h4>\n

Sponsor<\/h2>\n

Alberta Ingenuity<\/a><\/h3>\n

Established in 2000, the Alberta Ingenuity Fund supports science and engineering research of the highest calibre, to create a prosperous future for the province of Alberta. It draws funding from a $1 billion endowment established in 2000 and managed by the Government of Alberta to build the capacity for innovation, especially in areas with long lasting social and economic impact. <\/p>\n

Among its many programs, Alberta Ingenuity supports graduate students and university researchers, industrial research and commercialization partnerships, and has established several Centres and Institutes.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn January 2010, under the new Alberta Innovation Framework, Alberta Ingenuity was restructured and absorbed in the new agency Alberta Innovates Technology Solutions.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Program Date:<\/strong>\u00a02008-07-29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The current process for separating oil from oil sands<\/strong> requires huge volumes of water. But that may change thanks to the research of Dr. Steve Kuznicki <\/strong>at COSI, the Imperial Oil-Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Oil Sands Innovation. Dr. Kuznicki is a specialist in new molecular sieves. <\/strong> His new sieve is made from thin slices of volcanic rock that are heated in the presence of oil sand. (Alberta Ingenuity)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,16,20,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alberta-ingenuity","category-nanotechnology","category-natural-resources","category-oil-sands","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/1-155steve_kuznicki.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4473,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379\/revisions\/4473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovationanthology.com\/import\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}