Lower emissions and costs with winning oil sands SAGD heating technology

“Challenge programs like these have been great for connecting COSIA members with innovators who may have potential solutions to the problems we are trying to solve.”

AMSEnergy’s Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger (HPHX) technology is the winner of the final stage of the ARCTIC Waste Heat Challenge, Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre and COSIA announced in a press release.

The technology is designed to reduce costs and greenhouse gases, while increasing energy efficiency by capturing and re-purposing heat lost during oil sands production.

As part of the Waste Heat Challenge process, AMSEnergy participated in a six-month sprint and received support to advance their waste heat technology.

In the final stage of the challenge, almost $500,000 will go towards adapting AMSEnergy’s technology to an in situ oil sands facility.

A Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger is made up of a cluster or number heat pipes and as a heat transfer device, it transports a large quantity of heat with a very small temperature differential between the primary (waste, source or evaporation) and the secondary (recovery, sink or condensing) sides of the heat exchanger, according to the AMSEnergy website.

Heat pipes utilize evaporative cooling to transfer thermal energy from one end of the evacuated and hermetically sealed pipe to another by a two phase operation of a working fluid.  The process offers a great number of advantages and benefits.

“With six challenges currently underway across a number of resource sectors, the ARCTIC program has proven to be a successful model for incentivizing transformative technologies that address environmental and energy issues,” said Neil Huff, managing director of Foresight.

A front-end engineering design study is expected to support the commercialization of the new technology and will be completed in March 2018.

“Challenge programs like these have been great for connecting COSIA members with innovators who may have potential solutions to the problems we are trying to solve,” says Dan Wicklum, COSIA chief executive. COSIA is comprised of member companies supporting innovation – ConocoPhillips Canada, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources Limited and Devon Energy.

“This is a rigorous process. Congratulations to AMSEnergy for advancing its technology through the sprint process and bringing it to the field where it will have a real impact.”

The ARCTIC Innovation Challenge program brings together industry, entrepreneurs, and the public sector to find and fund cleantech solutions for resource sector challenges in western Canada.

“AMSEnergy is thrilled to work with Canadian industry to advance a new technology that will have economic and environmental benefits. We look forward to the successful conclusion of the study and to contributing to job creation and building a supply chain here in Canada,” said Michael Sams, founder and owner of Tennessee-based AMSEnergy.

It is funded with support from Western Economic Diversification (WD) and the BC Innovation Council (BCIC).

Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) partnered with Foresight on funding the initial phases of the ARCTIC Waste Heat Challenge. Consulting partners Tessellate Inc. and The Delphi Group are providing advisory services.