Collecting hyperspectral data of tailings through a sapphire window to assess the feasibility of instrument development

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ConeTec is an international site investigation company with specialization in the design and use of in-situ soiltesting equipment including a wide range of cone penetration testing (CPT) probes and sampling systems.ConeTec is currently one of the service providers for the oil sands operators in Alberta. The oil sands operatorsneed CPT for geotechnical characterization of tailings. In regards to geotechnical characterization of tailings,estimation of the swelling potential of clays is of great importance for the management of tailings. The activityof clays significantly affects the settling and consolidation of tailings and the geotechnical stability of a finaltailings deposit for reclamation purposes. The activity of oil sands tailings solids is typically determined usingthe methylene blue index (MBI), an analytical technique that quantifies the ionic absorption capacity of asample. Currently, ConeTec needs to collect samples from different depths of the tailings ponds that are thensent to commercial laboratories for the estimation of the tailings MBI. This procedure is costly and timeconsuming. Dr. Rivard's research group at the University of Alberta (UofA) has investigated the use of spectralsensors for tailings characterization. This research has laid the foundation to establish a quick and reliablein-situ method for determining the MBI of tailings based on hyperspectral observations. Consequently ConeTecis interested in integrating a hyperspectral sensor in their CPT probes for the downhole estimation of MBI. Insuch case, the spectral measurements would be collected through a sapphire window embedded in the CPTprobe. The proposed work is therefore a feasibility study to address the challenge of collecting spectralmeasurements of tailings through a sapphire window and assess the quality of such data for the purpose of MBIestimation.