Canadian Oil Sands Project to Recycle Produced Water With GE Evaporation Technology

Grizzly Oil Sands ULC has selected GE’s produced water evaporation technology for its Algar Lake project near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Phase 1 of the Algar Lake Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) project will produce 5,000 to 6,000 barrels per day of bitumen and, by using GE’s produced water evaporation process, will recycle up to 97% of the produced water.

Grizzly’s Algar Lake is one of three recent projects, including Harvest Black Gold, to choose evaporative technology to treat and recycle its SAGD wastewater, assisting this producer to minimize water consumption and comply with the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) regulations and directives pertaining to water use.

Coupled with GE’s proprietary contaminant reduction system, the technology can produce a high-quality distillate suitable for use as feedwater to high-pressure drum boilers.

As projects in Alberta’s oil sands continue to grow, so does the potential for production activities to produce large quantities of wastewater. Developers of oil sands resources are increasingly turning to evaporative and zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) technologies to address this critical issue.

Until recently, SAGD produced water could not be recycled as boiler feedwater because conventional treatment technologies were unable to produce the necessary water quality. The evaporation process and contaminant reduction system achieves complete water recycling. It dramatically reduces freshwater requirements and also offers lower total capital and operating costs.

In addition to the produced water evaporation system, GE also is providing the Algar Lake SAGD project with system design, equipment, instruments and controls, training and site support. GE will deliver equipment to the site in the first half of 2012, with installation and commissioning scheduled for the second half of 2012.
 

Source: GE