Evaluation of alternative energy sources for SAGD operation

传统碳氢化合物来源的发现越来越少，而开采速度却在不断提高。因此，像油砂这样的非常规石油储备变得越来越重要。 对于地表以下70至800米的矿床，沥青通过原位方法回收。原位技术通过使用热能将沥青从地下的沙子中分离出来，以降低沥青的粘度，以便将其输送到地面。 最常用的原位开采技术是蒸汽辅助重力泄油（SAGD）。在SAGD操作中，天然气被用作将水加热成蒸汽以用于注入的主要能源。 天然气的低成本和目前的丰富使其成为油砂运营商的经济选择。然而，与SAGD生产相关的“碳足迹”显著高于其他沥青和原油生产方法。我们的团队已经探索了几种用于SAGD操作的替代能源。 我们研究了地热，水力，太阳能，风能和生物质为基础的电源。基于生物质的替代能源是最可行的，与天然气相比，燃料成本较低，加工成本较高。本研究的目的是开发一个使用生物质作为燃料来源，以补充或取代天然气在森科尔的Firebag网站的使用潜力的深入分析。 第二个目标是确定与（a）秸秆、（B）林地生物量和（c）来自森林作业的废木材相比，藻类是否可以成为生物量能源的可行来源。拟议的研究是直接相关的森科尔的业务，因为他们寻求降低燃料成本和开发石油生产的绿色技术。

Discoveries of conventional sources of hydrocarbons are becoming less frequent while the rate of extraction is increasing. Therefore, unconventional oil reserves like oil sands are becoming more important. For deposits between 70 and 800 meters below ground surface, bitumen is recovered by in-situ methods. In-situ technology separates the bitumen from the sands underground by using thermal energy to reduce bitumen viscosity so that it can be transported to the surface. The most commonly applied in-situ recovery technology is Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD). Natural gas is used as the primary energy source to heat water to steam for injection in SAGD operations. The low cost and current abundance of natural gas makes it an economical choice for oil sands operators. However, the "Carbon Footprint" associated with SAGD production is considerably higher than other bitumen and crude production methods. Our group has explored several alternative energy sources for SAGD operations. We examined geothermal, hydro, solar, wind, and biomass based power sources. Biomass based alternative energy was the most feasible with lower fuel costs and higher processing costs than natural gas. The objective of this study is to develop an in-depth analysis of the potential for using biomass as a fuel source to complement or supplant the use of natural gas at Suncor's Firebag site. A secondary objective is to determine whether algae can be a viable source of biomass energy as compared with (a) straw, (b) woodland biomass, and (c) waste wood from forest operations. The proposed research is directly relevant to Suncor's operations as they seek to lower fuel costs and develop green technology for oil production.