Innovation Anthology #504:
When Syncrude first started its operations in the 1970’s, raw bitumen was moved by conveyor belt to the plant.
But the conveyor belts could not handle distance or cold weather.
Veteran technology researcher Richard Masalanko helped Syncrude pioneer a new method called “hydro transport”.
That’s where bitumen is pumped down a pipeline in a slurry.
RICHARD MASALANKO: The advantage there was we could pump it great distances and then distance was no longer a limiting factor whereas the conveyor belts were. The other advantage was that we could go a lower temperature. That was a great innovation, On the environment we were definitely being environmentally responsible by not using as much energy, not having to heat the slurry as much anymore. But we also were able to get the advantage of not having to spend a lot of money on conveyors that had to be replace continually. There are many, many people involved in this, engineers and people that designed this equipment. They had to evaluate pumps and they had to determine what the density of this material had to be so that it wouldn’t sand out in the pipe. Or how fast it would have to be pumped so it wouldn’t freeze, for example, in the pipes.
Thanks to the early work of Richard Masalanko and his team, hydro transport is now used across the oil sands industry.
Thanks today to SYNCRUDE
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
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Sponsor
Syncrude
Program Date: 2012-10-11