#891: Chris Apps: C-FER Builds ELDER Sandbox

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Chris Apps is a senior research engineer at C-FER Technologies, a subsidiary of Alberta Innovates.

C-FER is known globally for its testing facilities in Edmonton.

As Chris explains, in order to evaluate new technologies that could improve the detection of leaks from pipelines, C-FER had to mimic the outdoors.

CHRIS APPS :   Yes, these are the four main technologies we’ve been looking at, these external cable based technologies.  And what we did is basically we built a big sandbox where we buried a chunk of pipeline and made specialized leak ports in it and buried these technologies around that pipe.  And over the course of a week, we make sort of lab based leaks in this big sandbox using real diluted bitumen from an actual pipeline.  And at the end of the week, we gather up the data from the vendors that tell us when they saw a leak and when they didn’t see a leak, and we compare that with when we actually did have leak and have some information on how they performed given those conditions.

Chris Apps calls the sandbox ELDER – the External Leak Detection Research facility.

Thanks today to Alberta Innovates

Listen to the full interview with Chris Apps at Innovation Anthology.com.

I’M CHERYL CROUCHER

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Alberta Innovates

Alberta Innovates is a provincially funded Corporation with a mandate to deliver 21st century solutions for the most compelling challenges facing Albertans. We do this by building on our province’s research and technology development strengths in the core sectors of health, environment, energy, food and fibre and platforms such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and omics. We are working with our partners to diversify Alberta’s economy, improve our environmental performance and enhance our well-being through research and innovation. 

The Alberta Innovates system has roots stretching back almost 90 years

In March, 2016 the consolidation of Alberta Innovates was announced and on November 1, a single, integrated innovation powerhouse, Alberta Innovates, was formed. Two applied research subsidiaries – Innotech Alberta and C-Fer Technologies –  serve public and private sector interests.

The Alberta Innovates system was first created in January 2010, as part of an overall innovation framework developed within the Alberta Research and Innovation Act. At that time, four corporations were established:

  • Bio Solutions
  • Energy and Environment Solutions
  • Health Solutions
  • Technology Futures.

The Alberta Innovates system has a 90-year legacy. Our expertise is built on the successes of:

  • Alberta Institute for Agriculture
  • Forestry and the Environment
  • Alberta Agricultural Research Institute
  • Alberta Forestry Research Institute
  • Alberta Life Sciences Institute
  • Alberta Ingenuity
  • Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research
  • Alberta Research Council
  • iCORE
  • nanoAlberta
  • Alberta Water Research Institute (AWRI)
  • Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI)
  • Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA).

 

Program Date: 2017-08-31