Infinity, Genetics and Oil

What do you do when you have more choices than atoms in the universe? You develop computer software to make the best decision… and not just any software but the type that is modeled after life itself. Enter Genetic Algorithms (GA), a class of computer programs that mimic the process of biological genetics in order to find the best possible solvent-steam recipe for getting the most oil out of a reservoir.

“For the last 15 years researchers have been trying to get the optimal amount of oil out of various geologic formations, by injecting different combinations of solvents and steam,” explains Laricina Energy Ltd.’s Neil Edmunds, Vice President Enhanced Oil Recovery. “The very first time we used this new software, it ran for two weeks and produced results that were superior to all the best techniques that human beings had written down over the last 15 years.”

The use of solvent and steam is preceded by technologies that injected only steam, a common extraction approach of in-situ oil sands operators today. With hard sticky bitumen deep below the surface in oil sands geologic formations, the steam heats it enough so that it can be extracted like conventional oil. This is often done through a process called steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), which is one of the most well known in-situ techniques. Latin for “in place”, in-situ technology recovers bitumen from deep below the earth’s surface using wellbores. In-situ operators use various approaches to loosen the viscosity of the bitumen enough so that it can flow up through a production well. In the case of SAGD technology, steam is injected into one horizontal well and the softened bitumen flows down into a parallel production well where it is pumped to the surface.

SAGD requires energy and water (mostly non-potable groundwater from deep saline aquifers) to generate the steam needed to heat the bitumen. Industry has been improving the efficiency of SAGD with engineering and better technology that continues to reduce oil sands water and energy use which not only improves the economics but reduces greenhouse gas emissions. For companies like Imperial Oil, Laricina and EnCana, one solution is using solvents which act as diluents for bitumen. On one end of the solvent-use spectrum, there is the cold solvents approach, which basically involves no steam and injecting a solvent like propane into the oil to make it thin enough to be pumped. While this approach requires minimal energy and has no emissions or water usage, it is also comparable to the speed at which molasses flows on a cool January morning.

“If the process is too slow, you end up needing to drill too many wells,” explains Edmunds, “which impacts your rate of return and efficiency”. As it is right now, the cold-solvent extraction approach is too slow to be efficient. Of course, on the other end of the spectrum is the previously discussed SAGD approach in which no solvents are used at all. The gamut of possibilities that sits between the two extremes is astronomically large.

“The problem with using solvents is the number of choices you can make,” explains Edmunds.  “If you have a certain amount of steam and two types of solvents, for example, and let’s say we’re going to allow for a different injection rate every few months, and you do that for five years, you end up with more possibilities than the number of atoms in the universe.”

Making Choices

So how exactly does it all work and why are there so many changing variables involved? Basically, a solvent combination with a low boiling point is injected together with the steam, Edmunds explains. As the steam mixture moves out into the reservoir the steam condenses at a higher temperature than the solvent, causing the solvent vapour to move ahead of the steam, essentially “beating the steam to the punch.” Ultimately this allows the entire steam front to move through the reservoir quicker as the solvent mobilizes the oil in regions that are cooler than the steam zone. “At the end of the day we’re draining the same oil using half the steam and therefore half the water and half the carbon emissions.”

Of course the term “half” in all of these contexts is variable depending on the choices an engineer makes on a project. And it’s not just the solvent types, mixes and quantities that make for an expansive array of possibilities, but other variables as well, such as the shape, size and characteristics of a reservoir or the steam and solvent injection rate. Even economic factors such as market prices of solvents can exponentially increase the number of variables in a given operation.

“If there are 60 possible variables, and each one of those variables can have 10 values, the total number of different options is 10⁶⁰,” explains Edmunds, likening the optimization process to finding the highest peak of a mountain, which is usually obscured by clouds. “In this sense, the surface to be optimized on cannot be seen (only sampled at different points), it exists in many, many dimensions, it is very nonlinear and therefore the same action often generates different or opposite effects when applied in different situations.” In other words, it makes advanced calculus look like a game of duck-duck-goose.

But that hasn’t stopped companies from trying to nail down an optimal process. In the end, the sheer enormity of possibilities explored on a pencil-to-paper basis was enough to drive throngs of engineers crazy, making the transition from wetware to software an inevitable part of the technology’s evolution.

Using Smarter Software

“Genetic Algorithms is a program for automating the process of optimizing complex and nonlinear problems,” explains Edmunds, adding that GA is basically an implementation of some of the basic mechanisms of biological evolution. And it seems to make sense. Genetic variation is, after all, a process that also optimizes outcomes that are best suited to organisms’ environments and also deals with a vast selection of seemingly infinite variables.

Sticking with the analogy, the engineer creates a ‘genome’ that defines an arbitrary number of variables to be investigated, each with a finite range and specified number of possible values. Using the software, the genome is a simulation that reflects the particular values encoded in an arbitrary bit string of a certain length. The engineer could input an ‘objective function’ for a given simulation, such as ‘minimize supply cost’, as one example out of many. The program would then calculate the ‘score’ based on economic evaluation.

“Essentially, we’re just borrowing from nature itself to find ways to get the most amount of oil for the least amount of cost and environmental impact,” concludes Edmunds who also teaches as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering.

So far, Laricina has conducted a series of tests with solvents in its carbonate Grosmont Formation at Saleski, southwest of Fort McMurray. As GA software continues to simulate and model various solvent-steam combinations, the company expects commercial production to begin in 2014 and grow steadily for 10 to 15 years, all the while improving recovery techniques, lowering operating costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Following Friday

All about energy, all on Twitter. It’s a river out there, so here’s our favourite tweets we liked today.

Will legislation trigger change? TaigaCompany Are North American Companies Improving Their Climate Change Performance? http://bit.ly/31N6bb

Rent a ruminant and save time and energy. greenforyou Rent-a-Goat in Action! Clearing Brush the Way Nature Intended It #green http://bit.ly/JUUXQ

kids and models delivering the story. greenforyou Two very different climate disruption messages#green http://bit.ly/2zyodC

sun might light the way for your EV TaigaCompany Toyota Developing Solar-Powered EV Charging Station http://bit.ly/IP2N2

Plastic bag incentives bring eco-friendly benefits

Saving the environment one bag at a time

Full Story [HDTV]

A green idea cool enough for Canada

A Mountain Equipment Co-op in Ontario used a ground-breaking material to keep its store cool this summer – ice.

This cool idea comes from a company called Ice Energy, who has come up with a hybrid air conditioning system that really does use ice – massive blocks of it – to keep air temperatures low.

This hybrid, the Ice Bear, uses up to 95 per cent less energy than conventional air conditioners.  How?  By taking advantage of off-peak electricity at night and alternating with air cooled by the ice during the day. The ice cools a refrigerant, which cools the circulated air.

The 5-tonne blocks of ice are re-frozen every night inside the system, and are reused the next day. The Ice Bear is hooked up to the existing air conditioner and requires no modification. It sounds like a great plan, but there’s a small catch.

Even Ice Energy admits the Ice Bear’s price tag is pretty large if you’re not committed to fostering a green image. For that reason, most of the Ice Bear’s target market consists of utility providers, not commercial installations like the Burlington MEC.

With Ontario’s Green Energy Act, Ice Energy’s not surprised the province’s utility providers are taking a keen interest in the Ice Bear. London Hydro, Hydro Ottawa, and Hydro One are all “very seriously” considering using this new technology.

As Ice Energy’s website says, “clean energy doesn’t get any cooler than this.”

Suncor chief calls for national energy strategy

Speaking to a Toronto audience earlier this month, Suncor CEO Rick George said that Canada needs a national energy strategy in order to take full advantage of its vast resources and its proximity to the United States. George told the business audience that Canada cannot wait much longer for a national energy strategy in light of events around the world, and especially south of the border.

“The Canadian energy sector is simply too important to manage passively or leave to chance,” said George. “The Obama administration is moving forcefully on both energy security and climate change issues. If Canada is to be a policy maker rather than a policy taker, we need to get our own energy house in order — and quickly.”

Such a strategy, in George’s view, could have many characteristics. For example, Canada should do a thorough, long-term energy assessment for its businesses and residents then match that assessment with policies and infrastructure. As well, energy efficiency should be a hallmark of a national energy strategy, said George, and policy makers should look beyond basic energy production to consider the full life cycle of energy sources. “After all, up to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions from a barrel of oil are generated through the tailpipe.”

“Many of the countries where conventional oil reserves are still abundant are plagued by political and economic instability. For Canadians and for our neighbours to the south, Canada is and should be seen as a pillar of reliable and responsible resource development.”

Toronto Hydro releases CR report

If you don’t know where you’re starting from, it’s hard to track your progress. This applies to pretty much everything – including, of course, reducing carbon emissions.

For the second year in a row, Toronto Hydro is making an effort to do just that by releasing a report on its operational greenhouse gas emissions. The Corporate Responsibility Report aims to establish a baseline, and set emission targets.

Using this report, they will be able to keep tabs on their progress in reducing their carbon footprint – until they reach their goal of carbon-neutrality. The report has been made with the city of Toronto’s Climate Change Action Plan in mind.

Toronto Hydro is also making it a priority to be mindful of the province’s Clean Energy Act. While their product (hydro-electricity, obviously) is considered a clean energy source, they are aware their operation is not 100 per cent clean. To be fair, few are.

The previous two years’ results show they have a good start. According to the report Toronto Hydro’s greenhouse gas emissions are already down by 2.7 per cent. The company’s total electricity consumed is down as well.

In addition to actually reducing these factors, Toronto Hydro is taking some more proactive steps. The company reported planting 10,000 native trees around the city, and supports local economic development. They invested some $500,000 in community initiatives.

Their vehicle fleet is already running on biodiesels, but they are also experimenting with natural gas-powered vehicles, electric vehicles, ethanol enhanced fuel, and anti-idling devices.

With initiatives like this, Ontario can fairly be said to be taking the lead in green energy and making strong headway in carbon-neutral operations.

More solar options for charging on the go

Solar panel backpacks and other bags that charge as you go

Full Story [CnetNews]

Developing countries will prove a booming solar market, industry panelists say

Developing countries could become the future solar market

Full Story [Green Inc.]

Solar power in unusual places

Harnessing solar energy requires creativity and ingenuity. Sometimes that ingenuity pops up in unusual and unexpected places.

Unusual places like on backpacks.

UniqueSolarProducts.com sells solar backpacks, among many other unusual items that make use of solar power. Wearing this bag around can capture enough energy to keep your phone, GPS, or camera charged and at the ready. Green bonus – the shell is made from recycled pop cans.

Unusual places like on pool covers.

Most solar power is used to heat water, true, but not a lot of pools actually make use of their own covers in order to heat them. Covering you pool prevents evaporation, which is where some of the heat, along with the water, is lost.

Solar pool covers not only maintain heat, but generate it. Water that passes through the pool’s filter is also passed through solar collectors, which heat the water.

And unusual places like the Yukon.

Not only was it believed to be impossibly cold for this to work, but the Yukon spends half of its year in total darkness. But bless them; Yukon Energy is making a go of it.  They see solar power as ideal for use in remote locations.

To prove it, they’ve made a functional model to tour around and demonstrate to Yukoners the potential of solar energy. Called the Solar-Hybrid Unit, It has made appearances at the Dawson Gold Show, the Commissioner’s Potlatch and the Yukon Agricultural Fair.

Designed for residential use, it can capture enough energy to run small household appliances and power tools, but does need to be recharged in the winter.

Wednesday Words

LEED | Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the nationally accepted standard for designing and constructing green buildings with a focus on sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality

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