Alberta’s oil sands are one of the world’s largest known hydrocarbon deposits. Currently, Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) is the commercial recovery method of choice. This requires large amounts of steam to be injected into the oil sands reservoirs, resulting in steam loss to the overburden. Companies continue to expand operations with new pad development. […]

If the development of oil sands is to continue, improved environmentally friendly processes with minimal footprint have to be implemented. Thus steam will either have to be faced out or it will have to be augmented by chemicals such as solvents. The major drawback of solvent is the perceived low mass transfer rates. However, if […]

In the last decade optimization is expanded in many applications from food production to sophisticated applications such as engine fuel efficiency. In the proposed package, it is tried to apply optimization techniques along with physics based analytical and semi-analytical methodologies to create a compelling framework which can help thermal-process based oil industry to reduce their […]

Next-generation integrated circuits require the innovation of new interconnect materials in order to maintain the performance improvements of Moore’s Law scaling. Cobalt (Co) and ruthenium (Ru) are two specific metals that are garnering strong interest for use in the filling of interconnects because of their better electrical performance and reliability at the extremely scaled dimensions […]

Indoor air is contaminated by a variety of chemical and microbial contaminants. These contaminants can be effectively removed or inactivated using a process known as photocatalysis. In this method, a photocatalyst is chemically activated using ultraviolet (UV) radiation and readily degrade the contaminants when coming in contact with them. The application of newly emerged ultraviolet […]

This four-month research project proposal aims to contribute to bioremediation projects carried out by the partner industry by evaluating the biodegradability of some halogenated aromatic compounds, such as dichloroaniline (DCA), and chloroaniline (CA), present in a contaminated site. Through some biodegradability tests, we will verify and better understand how native microbes from the mentioned site […]

Nanomaterials as carriers are very suitable for the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer treatment. Because nanomaterials as a carrier platform have strong permeability and retention delay in the treatment of tumors, they can passively target tumor cells. Metal organic framework ?MOF ?is a kind of porous material with large pore size and high specific […]

Unmanned Arial Surveillance is rapidly gaining acceptance for various applications, such as monitoring of long power transmission lines, pipelines and mass transit systems that extend for hundreds of kilometers. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) such as drones provide the flexibility to reduce costs. In the case of natural disaster occurrence such as earthquake, flood or hurricane, […]

Today, 75% of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from CO2 produced by the energy and chemical sectors. In Canada, extreme temperatures and a dispersed population cause the figure to be over 80%. New solutions that are either CO2-free or CO2-negative are urgently needed. The approach in this project is to produce solid carbon […]

To reduce the negative impact on the environment and increase the competitiveness of Canada’s oil resources in the global economy it is essential to improve the ability to separate crude oil from water. This proposal aims to advance the understanding of a novel mechanism to do this by studying individual oil and water droplets. The […]

The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as increasing microbial resistance to antibiotics, has highlighted our vulnerability to the spread of infectious diseases. Suncor has developed a photodynamic bioactive can prevent microbial growth on high-touch surfaces, such as doorknobs, railings, and keypads. In collaboration with Dr. Todd Hoare’s group at McMaster University, this efficacious compound will be […]

2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), as one of the most promising green chemicals, has found a variety of commercial applications, particularly in the synthesis of polyesters, polyamides, and plasticizers as well as adhesives and coatings. FDCA is commonly produced from pure 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) by selective oxidation. However, pure 5-HMF is by far very expensive, generated by catalytic […]