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Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the recovery and extraction of crude bitumen from Canada’s oil sands

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  • Nimana, Balwinder
  • Canter, Christina
  • Kumar, Amit

Abstract

A model – FUNNEL-GHG-OS (FUNdamental ENgineering PrinciplEs-based ModeL for Estimation of GreenHouse Gases in the Oil Sands) was developed to estimate project-specific energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in major recovery and extraction processes in the oil sands, namely surface mining and in␣situ production. This model estimates consumption of diesel (4.4–7.1MJ/GJ of bitumen), natural gas (52.7–86.4MJ/GJ of bitumen) and electricity (1.8–2.1kWh/GJ of bitumen) as fuels in surface mining. The model also estimates the consumption of natural gas (123–462.7MJ/GJ of bitumen) and electricity (1.2–3.5kWh/GJ of bitumen) in steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), based on fundamental engineering principles. Cogeneration in the oil sands, with excess electricity exported to Alberta’s grid, was also explored. Natural gas consumption forms a major portion of the total energy consumption in surface mining and SAGD and thus is a main contributor to GHG emissions. Emissions in surface mining and SAGD range from 4.4 to 7.4gCO2eq/MJ of bitumen and 8.0 to 34.0gCO2eq/MJ of bitumen, respectively, representing a wide range of variability in oil sands projects. Depending upon the cogeneration technology and the efficiency of the process, emissions in oil sands recovery and extraction can be reduced by 16–25% in surface mining and 33–48% in SAGD. Further, a sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the effects of key parameters on the GHG emissions in surface mining and SAGD. Temperature and the consumption of warm water in surface mining and the steam-to-oil ratio (SOR) in SAGD are major parameters affecting GHG emissions. The developed model can predict the energy consumption and emissions for surface mining and SAGD for oil sands.

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  • Nimana, Balwinder & Canter, Christina & Kumar, Amit, 2015. "Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the recovery and extraction of crude bitumen from Canada’s oil sands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 189-199.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:143:y:2015:i:c:p:189-199
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.01.024
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    13. Di Lullo, Giovanni & Zhang, Hao & Kumar, Amit, 2016. "Evaluation of uncertainty in the well-to-tank and combustion greenhouse gas emissions of various transportation fuels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 413-426.
    14. Sapkota, Krishna & Oni, Abayomi Olufemi & Kumar, Amit & Linwei, Ma, 2018. "The development of a techno-economic model for the extraction, transportation, upgrading, and shipping of Canadian oil sands products to the Asia-Pacific region," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 273-292.
    15. Radpour, Saeidreza & Gemechu, Eskinder & Ahiduzzaman, Md & Kumar, Amit, 2021. "Development of a framework for the assessment of the market penetration of novel in situ bitumen extraction technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    16. Baidya, Durjoy & de Brito, Marco Antonio Rodrigues & Ghoreishi-Madiseh, Seyed Ali, 2020. "Techno-economic feasibility investigation of incorporating an energy storage with an exhaust heat recovery system for underground mines in cold climatic regions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    17. Soiket, Md.I.H. & Oni, A.O. & Kumar, A., 2019. "The development of a process simulation model for energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of a vapor solvent-based oil sands extraction and recovery process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 799-808.
    18. Xia, Wenjie & Shen, Weijun & Yu, Li & Zheng, Chenggang & Yu, Weichu & Tang, Yongchun, 2016. "Conversion of petroleum to methane by the indigenous methanogenic consortia for oil recovery in heavy oil reservoir," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 646-655.
    19. Hannouf, Marwa & Assefa, Getachew & Gates, Ian, 2021. "Carbon intensity threshold for Canadian oil sands industry using planetary boundaries: Is a sustainable carbon-negative industry possible?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    20. Liu, Hao & Cheng, Linsong & Wu, Keliu & Huang, Shijun & Maini, Brij B., 2018. "Assessment of energy efficiency and solvent retention inside steam chamber of steam- and solvent-assisted gravity drainage process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 287-299.
    21. Dai, Zhenxue & Zhang, Ye & Bielicki, Jeffrey & Amooie, Mohammad Amin & Zhang, Mingkan & Yang, Changbing & Zou, Youqin & Ampomah, William & Xiao, Ting & Jia, Wei & Middleton, Richard & Zhang, Wen & Sun, 2018. "Heterogeneity-assisted carbon dioxide storage in marine sediments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 876-883.
    22. Ampomah, W. & Balch, R.S. & Cather, M. & Will, R. & Gunda, D. & Dai, Z. & Soltanian, M.R., 2017. "Optimum design of CO2 storage and oil recovery under geological uncertainty," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 80-92.
    23. Nimana, Balwinder & Canter, Christina & Kumar, Amit, 2015. "Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from Canada's oil sands-derived transportation fuels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 544-554.

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