While modern pesticides have dramatically improved crop yields and food security, the challenges of emerging pest resistance, environmental run-off, and the need to help crops better cope with weather-related stresses like drought and extreme heat all demand new solutions. Our partner, Suncor, has recently developed a new class of plant immune aids that activate a […]

Recently, global society has been trying to develop biorefinery processes to produce renewable, biomass based, fuels and chemicals to enable the transition to a more environmentally friendly economy that is less dependent on fossil fuels. However, it is still very challenging to achieve the cost-effective biorefinery process due to some issues associated with the recalcitrant […]

This project aims to convert feedstocks to H2-rich syngas for FT biojet fuel synthesis by using a two-stage system. The first is a hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) process, one of the most promising thermochemical pathways to liquefy solid biomass into liquid products including bio-crude with higher heating values and an aqueous product. The second is a […]

The Operational Excellence (OpEx) team at Spartan Controls is actively involved in several initiatives for developing advanced process control (APC) solutions to the oil sands industry. The OpEx team collaborates with Professor Biao Huang’s research group through the NSERC Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in the Control of Oil Sands Processes program for solutions that require […]

Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world, mostly in oil sands located in the northern Alberta, which is estimated to be 166 billion barrels. Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) has been the only commercially viable in-situ recovery method available to date. Application of SAGD is known to be energy intensive and has […]

Oil spills pose both acute and chronic hazards to ecosystems and require effective and timely treatment. As large quantities of crude oils are transported across and in the proximity of oceans. rivers. and other waletways, it is especially important to be prepared for spills into water. The dynamic and variable character of aquatic environments especially […]

Biomass valorization with natural gas to produce high-quality fuel and sustainable chemicals (i.e. aromatics) will be investigated under mild conditions (400ºC,

This proposal is to accelerate the Aereus Technologies’ development of antimicrobial coatings. Antimicrobial coating has been becoming an effective solution to battle the hospital-acquired infections. Aereus Technologies is developing an antimicrobial coating consisting of marine paint and biocidal copper-alloy based microparticles. One of the key concerns for this new coating is that the microparticles are […]

The goal of this research project is to study and develop optimal strategies for operating anaerobic co-digestion processes involving organic waste with cellulosic substrate derived from paper wastes. The effects of enzymatic treatment to boost degradation of the paper wastes in anaerobic conditions will also be evaluated. Furthermore, best approaches for transitioning feedstock compositions, such […]

Most of the heavy oil and bitumen produced in Western Canada is transported through pipelines to refineries in North America. Prior to transportation, the high viscosity of those fluids must be reduced by either dilution with a light solvent or upgrading. The high costs associated with handling diluents has increased the interest in upgrading; that […]

High capital and operational costs together with the need of large process units remain a challenge for the widespread application of carbon capture and storage in carbon-intensive industries. Industrial Climate Solutions Inc have proposed the utilization of the Regenerative Froth Contactor (RFC) – a technology originally developed as a biological-chemical filter – as a process […]

This research project will develop recyclable nanoparticles for water treatment challenges in Canada’s pulp & paper industry. Key advantages of these recyclable nanoparticles are that they are light-activated, do not require the addition of any treatment chemicals to the water, and can be re-used and cycled continuously. The work will focus on developing magnetically response […]