Briefly, bitumen is steamed out of the earth, then processed to separate out the sand and water, as other steam assisted gravity drainage projects, then the water gets recycled back into steam.Combining the substitution of syngas-from-trash-bitumen for expensive natural gas plus the upgrading to low sulfur light synthetic crude, will vastly improve the economics of the entire oilsands venture.
Where Long Lake gets interesting is that the diluted bitumen then gets partially upgraded, and those products get further upgraded through a hydrocracker into light synthetic crude with low sulphur content, with the asphalt-like bits turned into synthetic gas. The gas is subsequently burned to produce the steam to produce the bitumen, and as a source of hydrogen for the hydrocracker that produces the synthetic crude. _CalgaryHerald
Until Hyperion and other companies can provide small nuclear reactors to provide the steam and energy for harvesting oilsands and upgrading in situ, this new gasification process will probably be the frontrunner for oil sands development.
It is too bad that BP and Husky weren't in on the project. They will either have to play catch-up or get out of the game.
Thanks for the post... Perfect timing! I found it in my Reader right after watching a podcast on tar sands from 60 Minutes - and have written a post on The Energy Roadmap.com (part of FutureBlogger network) Really enjoy your blogs-- and writings- across the board of ideas!
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Garry G
Editor
The Energy Roadmap
Thanks very much. I noticed you had taken the initiative over there. Good work!
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