In situ thermal treatment for hydrocarbon recovery

Proponent:

Golder Associates

Name of project:

Development and demonstration of an in situ bioslurping extraction system, coupled with a soil heating system to recover hydrocarbons.

Summary description of project:

To facilitate the in situ decontamination of low permeability soils contaminated by hydrocarbons, such as silt and clay soils, Golder Associates Ltd and its partners have developed a new treatment technology that has two components. The first consists of a heating system that allows increasing the soil temperature and, as a result, mobilizing the contaminants absorbed in the soil particles. The second component is a vacuum extraction system that recovers the contaminants and sends them to a treatment unit.

The combined heating and vacuum extraction system allows reaching recovery rates that are better than those obtained using the traditional extraction processes.

Although the technology gives rise to higher baseline and operating costs than a conventional technology, it remains financially advantageous as it significantly reduces the treatment duration and consequently the overall costs of the process.

Technical partners:

• Biotechnology Research Institute (NRCC-BRI)
• Consortium de reSearch minérale (COREM)
• City of Montréal
• Hydro-Québec
• Hydrogéo Plus Inc.
• University of Waterloo

Funding partners:

• Golder Associates Ltd
• Montreal Centre of Excellence in Brownfields Rehabilitation (MCEBR)
• Fonds des priorités gouvernementales en sciences et technologies - volet environnement (FPGST-E)
• Biotechnology Research Institute (NRCC-BRI)
• Shell

For more information, consult the technical data sheet.