2022 Alberta Upstream Petroleum Research Fund (AUPRF) R&D Projects

Project Title	Description
Quantification of Methane Emission in Stationary Engine Exhaust and Best Management Practices for Mitigation	Methane slip is the term associated with unburned methane that passes through the combustion process in stationary engines. According to the AER, stationary engines are suspected to contribute 4.9 MT CO2e from unburned methane emissions in Alberta.
Experimental Design Assessment of Accurata Project	No info available yet
Methane catalyst for lean burn natural gas engines	Design, manufacture and install catalyst technology on two natural gas lean burn engines operating in the Alberta/BC gas patch. The project would include extensive pre and post data gathering and analysis on the two pilot engines
Methods for Estimating Emissions from Tanks – Part 2	Deploy relevant tank measurement techniques from uncontrolled fixed-roof liquid storage tanks at single well and multi-well oil and gas batteries across Alberta. Understand the magnitude of tank emissions and recommend alternate methods, techniques, best practices, calculations, and technologies to estimate tank emissions.
EcoSeis Phase 2	This project will address 2021 Ecological habitat restoration and reclamation policy issues and knowledge gaps by reducing the amount of reclamation needed, developing a method to reduce the amount of new line clearing in sensitive habitats. The study has applicability for Remediation and Reclamation technology advancement, and the  tracking of CO2 and Methane emissions related to both field operations and decomposition of cut vegetation.
Using Various Forms of Remote Sensing to Improve our Ability to Manage Risk of Incidental Take for Pileated Woodpeckers	The Migratory Bird Convention act is a law that is intended to limit the accidental destruction of nests during various human activities. Recent amendments to the act have created an additional stipulation for Pileated Woodpecker nests. This project will involve the development of new technologies to address how to manage for Pileated Woodpeckers.
Process Guide for Approaching Salt Contamination	This proposal is for developing technical and administrative regulatory improvements for existing processes related to contaminated site management. It specifically focuses on developing a process guide for approaching, managing, and assessing salinity impacted sites in the upstream petroleum industry.
Evaluation of Soil Chloride Delineation Requirements	This proposal is for developing technical and administrative regulatory improvements for existing processes relating to contaminated sites management. It specifically focusses on developing new recommendations for soil chloride delineation requirements, when assessing salinity impacted sites in Alberta.
Expanded Correlations Between Hydrometer Data, Sieve Data, and Saturation Percentage Data	This project proposes to update the saturation percentage vs clay content database with additional Alberta-wide site data from recent years, and also to incorporate sieve data to allow for additional comparisons between all three parameters. This will improve the insights that the saturation percentage data is able to provide into SST Version 3.0 assessments.
Subsoil Salinity Tool Version 3.0 Technical Manual	This project will benefit the oil and gas industry as a whole by enabling the consultants who work on assessing and remediating salinity impacts to have more in-depth knowledge of the underlying assumptions of a critical tool (SST Version 3.0) for addressing salinity impacts in an efficient, cost-effective, scientifically-defensible, and sustainable manner.
Evaluation of Reclamation Practices on Peatland Wellsites Stage 3, Phase 4B – Research Program	The goal of this project is to provide recommendations for an acceptable policy framework/decision support tool(s) to assist industry and regulators in making decisions around appropriate management and certification of these sites that ensures that functioning ecosystems are developed and that there is a process that outlines eligibility for reclamation certification.
Background Soil and Water Data, Saskatchewan	For a detailed explanation see RFP link – https://www.ptac.org/rfp-rrrc-2201-background-soil-and-water-data-saskatchewan/
GRF Grassland Reclamation Forum Recovery Strategy Updates – 2Documents (over 2 years)	Funding was approved to update two of the Grassland Reclamation Recovery Strategy Documents
Development of a Chloride Water Quality Guideline Based on Hardness and Consideration for Cation Toxicity	PTAC  commissioned a multi-year study, working with  Equilibrium Environmental Inc. (EEI) and associated research laboratories in Canada (Nautilus Environmental) and the United States (University of Georgia, Research Foundation Inc., Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources; Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Environmental Health Division), in order to generate additional toxicity information for species sensitive to chloride toxicity, and data analysis on the topics described above, with a focus on water hardness.
Testing Alternate Products in Place of Cement for Well Decommissioning and Remediation	This project aims to accelerate local and international market acceptance for alternative sealing and decommissioning products in the following series of steps: • rapid laboratory testing of alternative materials to achieve regulatory acceptance, • subsequently field trialing of the accepted technologies and, • publicize the results to gain market acceptance.
Towards Net-Zero Emissions: Mechanics, Processes and Materials to Support Risk-Based Well Decommissioning	The project focuses on permanent decommissioning utilizing infrastructure established in Phase I and addresses sub-projects in 7 complementary areas: dump bailing, off-bottom plugs placement, sequential cleaning and cementing, and squeeze cementing methods, together with modeling well leakage and data analysis of identified well types. New areas include study of alternate cementitious materials and steel-cement bonding mechanisms.
Gas Migration measurements for inventory accuracy and well abandonment	In this project we focus on improving methods to quantify Gas Migration (GM) methane emission rate. Rate measurement of GM is important as Industry wants to revise the AER’s zero-tolerance rule on GM at well abandonment and estimates of GM inventory are nearly 30 years old and may be inconsistent with today’s leak rates.
Controlled Methane Injection Pilot Demonstration of a Biocover Concept for Mitigating Leaking Oil and Gas Wells	There is need for cost effective alternative options for mitigation of leaking oil and gas wells, particularly for marginal leakage, where emissions pose a low risk to the environment. This study proposes to address this gap through applied R&D of engineered biocovers as a passive, low-cost and sustainable technology for mitigation of leaking oil and gas wells.
Alberta Water Tool	The Alberta Water Tool (AWT) is a point-and-click tool that helps scientists, communities, and government decision-makers to understand accurate, real-time information about water resources in Alberta. This is achieved through a modular design approach, currently featuring three modules: watershed reporting, streamflow monitoring, and water use analytics. Presently, the AWT covers the Athabasca River watershed and the headwaters of the Peace, North Saskatchewan, and South Saskatchewan Rivers in West-Central Alberta.
Development or Adaptation of an Existing Sensor Technology to Monitor Leaks in Temporary Surface Pipelines	For a detailed explanation see RFP link – https://www.ptac.org/rfp-wipc-2201-development-of-sensor-technology-to-monitor-leaks-in-temporary-surface-pipelines/