Accelerated remediation of oil-sands process water by complementary pairing of advanced oxidation and biodegradation

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Oil sands deposits of Northern Alberta contain an estimated 1.7 trillion barrels of oil in the form of bitumen, representing among the largest reserves of crude oil in the world. Recent acceleration of their development has resulted in their accounting for a major fraction of Canada's total energy production today and it is estimated that total production from oil sands will be 2-3 million barrels per day by 2020. For every 1 barrel of oil produced by surface mining, between 2 and 5 barrels of freshwater are required and only a small fraction of this is returned to natural systems. This is because oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) is acutely toxic to aquatic organisms and, therefore, must be retained on-site in engineered settling ponds for decades. To keep pace with the booming industry, new OSPW reclamation options are needed to accelerate their remediation and to reduce the net pressures on freshwater resources. The toxic constituents of OSPW are a complex mixture of naturally occurring organic compounds that are co-extracted from the oil sands - naphthenic acids (NAs). Using a highly specific and sensitive analytical method we will i) characterize how NAs slowly degrade by microbial activity in OSPW, ii) apply and assess the effectiveness of advanced oxidation techniques to destroy the toxic and biologically-persistent NA fractions, and iii) ensure that advanced oxidized NAs in OSPW are less toxic to aquatic organisms, including fish. Preliminary results show great promise that this strategy can be effective, and by working closely with the industry we ensure a rapid translation of new knowledge into practice. This improved OSPW remediation strategy will strengthen and sustain Canada's energy industry to continue generating wealth and creating employment for Canadians while simultaneously protecting the fragile boreal ecosystems of Northern Alberta that support human and environmental health.