Oil Sands Molecular Engineering

虽然加拿大的油砂行业以其非常大的运营规模而闻名，但真正决定尾矿沥青提取、升级和回收成功的是在纳米级(一纳米相当于一米的十亿分之一)的非常小规模的过程。流体(水和沥青)和固体颗粒(砂和粘土)之间复杂的相互作用力控制着从油砂中回收沥青，随后从尾矿中去除水分，以及油砂加工的整体能源效率。然而，纳米尺度的结构-性质关系、反应性和界面的传输性质还没有被很好地理解。需要在测量这些界面的成分和作用力方面取得突破，以使新的处理技术能够减少用水量、修复尾矿并减少温室气体排放。需要解决的关键问题包括： ·固-液界面的化学和物理结构和动力学及其时间和空间相关性是什么？ ·界面区域如何影响油砂的化学和物理性质？ ·从外部控制界面的行为以改进油砂加工的可能性有多大？ 到目前为止，阿尔伯塔大学的工作在回答这些问题方面取得了很大进展，但还需要更好的信息来了解界面上分子的化学以及它们在纳米尺度上如何相互作用的物理。CERC开发的仪器将包括： ·远距离光声光谱学，可感知远距离表面的分子 ·表面和地下成像化学识别显微镜，以确定化学成分 ·基于MEMS(微型机电系统)的物理和化学传感器，用于测量油砂流的特性。 这些工具将用于研究油砂界面对电场和化学梯度、温度、压力、离子浓度和机械力的响应。 油砂分子工程CERC的候选人Thomas Thundat博士以其对界面分子和纳米结构的研究而闻名。他已经确立了自己作为世界领导者的地位，开发了检测表面分子的新技术，甚至是微量的分子，并开发了在油砂处理中具有巨大潜在应用的新传感器。

While Canada’s oil sands industry is known for the very large scale of its operations, it is the very small-scale processes operating at the scale of nanometers (one nanometer is 1/1,000,000,000 of a meter) that actually determine the success of bitumen extraction, upgrading and reclamation of tailings. The complex interplay of forces between the fluids (water and bitumen) and the solid particles (sand and clay) controls the recovery of bitumen from oil sand, the subsequent removal of water from the tailings, and the overall energy efficiency of oil sand processing. However, the nanoscale structure-property relations, reactivity, and transport properties of the interfaces are not well understood. Breakthroughs in measuring the composition and forces at these interfaces are needed to enable new processing technology to reduce water use, remediate tailings, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Key questions to be addressed are: • What are the chemical and physical structure and dynamics of the solid–liquid interfaces and their temporal and spatial dependence? • How does the interfacial region influence chemical and physical properties of the oil sands? • To what extent is it possible to extrinsically control the behavior of interfaces to improve oil sands processing? Work to date at the University of Alberta has made great progress in answering these questions, but better information is needed on the chemistry of the molecules at the interface and the physics of how they interact at the nanoscale. The instrumentation developed by the CERC will include: • Standoff photoacoustic spectroscopy to sense molecules on surfaces at a distance • Surface and subsurface imaging chemical recognition microscopy to define chemical composition • MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems)-based physical and chemical sensors to measure the properties of oil sands streams. These tools will be used to investigate the response of the interfaces in the oil sands to electric and chemical gradients, temperature, pressure, ion concentration, and mechanical forces. The candidate for the CERC in Oil Sands Molecular Engineering, Dr. Thomas Thundat, is famous for his studies of molecules and nanoscale structures at interfaces. He has established himself as a world leader in the development of new techniques for detecting molecules on surfaces, even in trace quantities, and in the development of new sensors that have tremendous potential application to oil sands processing.