Special Projects

BUREAU VERITAS BATCH EXTRACTION OPERATORS HAVE PROVEN CREDIBILITY AMONGST SOME OF THE LARGEST OPERATORS IN THE OIL SANDS INDUSTRY

Small-scale extraction testers or Batch Extraction Units (BEUs) are a proven and cost-effective way to evaluate oil sand samples of varying quality and performance characteristics when processed using variations in process variables such as temperature, water chemistry, and engineering modifications.

Bureau Veritas BEU operators undergo exhaustive training and competency testing both internally and prior to each program. 

Our Batch Extraction Testing includes project management/BEU program management with cataloging (grade and size) and storage of ore, ore homogenization and blending, process water preparation, performance testing using chemical additives, reporting of BEU programs in mass balance tables that allow for effortless review and much more!

BUREAU VERITAS IS A LEADER IN INNOVATION FOR CRUDE OIL BLEND MODELLING 

Delivering Alberta petroleum to refiners requires the addition of light hydrocarbon (diluent) such as natural gas condensate and synthetic crude in order to meet the viscosity requirement for pipeline transport and refiners. As the North American petroleum industry grows, the demand for diluent from Canadian oil producers grows and is predicted to triple in the next decade, making cost management of diluent addition pivotal to well managed oil producers.

Benefits of blend modeling:

• Viscosity Prediction – Through application of blend models and laboratory blending procedures in accordance with one of the blend methods outlined in ASTM D7152, Maxxam’s team of expert scientist have a legacy of experience in assisting crude marketers in optimizing blends resulting in significant cost savings for our customers both in diluent costs and reduced maintenance expenses.
   
• Diluent Quality – Maxxams’ Petroleum Technology Center has a variety of service offerings that can provide detail to qualify diluents for market according to a variety of pipeline specifications and compositional detail for development diluent compatibility trends.
   
• Compatibility – Blends are necessary to ensure confidence in the market for a materials’ stability as it travels through the pipeline. Unstable blends can precipitate and foul pipelines resulting in extensive maintenance costs and decreased product value. See our complete Crude Compatibility capability.
   
• Shrinkage Predictions – Blend models provide estimations of shrinkage value based on a comparison of measured and calculated densities of the blends to assist our customers in predicting costs associated with blend options for their diluents and crude products.
   
• Corrosion Prevention – Having the finished material blended to pipeline specifications allows our clients to ensure the blended material is processed through pipeline corrosion testing which elevates their materials value on the market.

When handling residual products from thermal processes or when crude oils are blended at the wrong proportions or in the wrong order, fouling from precipitated asphaltenes can occur. This incompatibility can cause increased processing time and additional maintenance and energy costs as well as a lack of credibility for our customer’s products on the open market.

In order for refiners to have faith in opportunity crudes on the market, a comprehensive compatibility testing will provide the buyer confidence our customers need to support the value of their product. Compatibility data is useful also to petroleum refiners to control and optimize the refinery processes and by blenders and marketers to assess the intrinsic stability of blended asphaltene-containing heavy oils.

Intrinsic Stability Testing:

Crude materials are mixed at different proportions with toluene solvent and then titrated with heptane to promote flocculation of asphaltenes. Each mixture is monitored optically for asphaltenes formation to produce a stability graph that when plotted indicates the inversion point of the material.

Detailed analytical testing on solid particles in an industrial landscape is paramount to the operation of a successful process. Particle origin, composition, population distribution, and physical characteristics play an enormous role in process operations such as flocculation/settling programs, mine tailings management, problem sourcing and when determining the process-ability and ultimately the value of a mining lease.

BUREAU VERITAS OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF CAPABILITIES FOR PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND COMPOSITION

Particle Size Distribution (PSD) capabilities include methods such as laser diffraction (LD), mechanical dry sieve, wet sieve, combination of wet/dry/LD, hydrometer (sedimentation) method, PSD imaging by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Composition of samples/particles can be determined by methods such as x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, whole rock analysis, and laser ablation ICP/MS. 

Management and reduction of the Fluid Fine Tailings (FFT) in Oil Sands settling and tailings ponds are crucial for sustainable mine management and eventual closure. Settling and flocculation studies are important programs that assist mining engineers in understanding and predicting the behavior of their material and manage costs associated with the addition of any chemicals and flocculants. Bureau Veritas has expert scientists experienced in managing both large and small scale programs with diverse testing regimens.

BUREAU VERITAS HAS TREMENDOUS EXPERIENCE IN TAILINGS CHARACTERIZATION AND INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Through the release of Directive 085 the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) establishes the newest expectations for mine operator tailings management, which is to evaluate the entire tailings inventory rather than the strength of the mature fine tailings alone. Tailings ponds are typically evaluated using a cross-sectional grid framework with samples collected at intervals from the solid/liquid interface to the settled solids below with analytical analyses varying between programs.