ADJUSTABLE SPEED DRIVE APPLICATIONS AS RELATED TO THE OIL SANDS

PROCESS
Copyright Material IEEE
Paper No. PCIC-2008-CN81

Mark Throckmorton Rick Paes William C. Livoti

Member, IEEE Senior Member, IEEE Member, IEEE
Shell Canada Rockwell Automation Baldor / Dodge / Reliance
nd
3655 36 Street NW 6223 2 St SE 6040Ponders Court
Calgary, Alberta T2L 1Y8 Calgary, Alberta T2H 1J5 Greenville, SC 29615
Canada Canada USA
mark.throckmorton@shell.com rhpaes@ra.rockwell.com wclivoti@baldor.com

Abstract – There are currently a number of existing Mega-
Projects as well as several new projects planned and under
construction in the Athabasca Oil sands which utilize open
pit mining as the method for the extraction. This technique,
as opposed to SAGD (Steam Assist Gravity Drainage) and
other in-situ methods, involves the handling of large
quantities of the oil sand materials by conveyors, apron
feeders, rotary breakers, cyclofeeders and a variety of
pumps.
This paper will cover the strategic importance and an
overview of the oil sands, summarize the open pit mining
process and associated adjustable speed drive applications
with the primary focus being on the slurry and tailings
handling pumps. Both slurry and tailings are of relatively
high density (specific gravity) which makes the pumping of
this material somewhat unique particularly to the petroleum
industry.
There appears to be a limited understanding even within
the industry as to the requirements of this application which
has led to design practices that appear to be overly
conservative and costly with respect to motor and drive
design and rating selections.
Present production from the oil sands is well over 1 million
barrels a day with future growth estimated at 3 million by
2020 and 5 million by 2030. Fig. 1 shows the current
estimated global oil reserves as of 2007. It can be seen that
Canada represents the second largest single reserve in the
world, about 180 billion barrels of proven reserves, with 175
billion of this amount locked in the Canadian oil sands.
The actual amount of oil to be found in the oil sands
formation is actually much more (1.7 trillion barrels by
conservative estimate), however, current techniques are not
able to economically exploit all the sands so this is not
“proven”.
The first recorded attempt at separation of bitumen from
the oil sand in the Canadian region was in 1883 when G. C.
Hoffman of the Geological Survey of Canada attempted to
do so by using water. Dr Karl Clark of the Alberta Research
Council patented a hot water extraction process in 1928
which is still the primary extraction method in use today.
300
250
Billions of Barrels - Proven

Index Terms — Large AC Drives, Oil sands, Adjustable

200
Speed Drive (ASD), Slurry Pumps, Hydro-transport, Material
Handling
150

I. INTRODUCTION
100

The Athabasca Oil Sands located in Northern Alberta,

Canada as well as the province itself is possibly the fastest 50

growing petroleum producing region in the world. While

there are oil sand deposits in other locations in the world, the 0
Russia
UAE

USA
Libya
Iraq

Iran

Nigeria

Canadian oil sands are experiencing rapid growth due to the

Kuwait
Saudi Arabia

Canada

Venezuela

combination of the global requirements for energy, the

location of supply relative to very large US market, existing
development and infra-structure as well as the stability and
security of this region. World energy requirements continue
to grow despite attempts at conservation and are expected Fig. 1 Top 10 Oil Reserves - 2007
to increase by 70% by 2030 with 88% of this increase
coming from natural gas, oil & coal sources. While With the current global demand for oil and the obvious
alternative energy sources (green sources) such as solar, reserves available in the region, the future looks very
wave, geothermal and wind power are making headway, it is promising. There are other factors which will ultimately
expected that these green sources will have limited impact in determine the long term trend if the role of oil in the current
serving the worlds needs. There is also no question that oil energy and the economic outlook remain unchanged. The
is a very convenient and portable resource.
most prevalent of these factors are energy resources in the
region, the world environmental situation – Kyoto accord –
and the ability of the province and region to provide the
required infra-structure and human resources to maintain the
required construction and pace. With respect to energy and
emissions, natural gas remains the primary fuel for
producing steam and the electricity which is used in the
process itself. Alberta is fortunate to have relatively
inexpensive natural gas reserves within the province,
however, this fuel could also be used for other purposes.
Natural gas is the cleanest burning fuel producing the least
amount of green house gases when compared to substitute
fuels such as coal, coke and bitumen which are also
available in the region. Changing to these other fuel sources
would substantially increase green house gas emissions.
Even with continued use of natural gas, the current
projection for increased production to 5 million barrels by
2030 means that natural gas, air emissions or both will
become limiting factors to realizing this goal. Nuclear
generation has been discussed and is in the early planning
stages (for in-situ facilities in particular) as an alternative
energy source.
Regardless of the fuel and environmental considerations,
any of the extraction techniques used will always require
more effort and expense than other sources of supply such
as in the Middle East. While the current oil price allows for
these higher production costs to be absorbed, end users
must be aware that they must remain competitive with easier
to access alternatives from the Middle East. Research is
ongoing, looking for ways by which to reduce production
costs as well as to make use of deposits which are not
economically or technically feasible to produce with current
technology expanding the available reserves.
II. OIL SAND TECHNOLOGIES
Surface mining of oil sand was the first approach explored
and is the process in use for the larger facilities currently in
Northern Alberta. Development began in 1967 with one
operator. Today, there are 3 major operations in the region
with these producers utilizing open pit mining technology
which is the most energy efficient approach. All of these
producers are expanding their operations in existing or new
leases. This is not the only development occurring in the
region since there are numerous leases held by individual
companies or joint ventures. There are several new projects
in various stages of development which will also use
the open pit mining approach. The decision as to
technology which will be used to exploit a deposit
greatly depends on the geology which is depicted in
Fig. 2. Open pit extraction in the Fort McMurray area is
practical for deposits less than approximately 80 to
100 meters below the surface which are only a
relatively small percentage of the potential deposits in
the area; roughly 6%. Surface mining usually
produces in the range of hundreds of thousands of
barrels per day. There are a number of smaller scale
projects planning to make use of in-situ technology for some
of the deeper oil sand reserves such as Steam Assisted
Gravity Drainage (SAGD), Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS)
and Toe to Heel Air Injection (THAI) techniques, however,
these are much smaller operations often in the range of tens
of thousands of barrels per day although operations at Cold
Lake are producing in excess of 150,000 barrels per day.
Fig. 2 Typical Oil Sand Geology
Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is the technology
of choice for most of the new in-situ oil sands projects which
consists of drilling parallel wells – one to inject steam near
the top of the formation, the second under the first to draw off
the resulting water and bitumen. The THAI technique has
the additional benefit of reducing the need for water which is
another limiting factor in the oil sands but this is very
experimental at this time.
Open pit mining is the most energy efficient method of
extraction yet still requires the input of about 20% of the
resultant energy to produce. Due to the energy required in
the in-situ techniques, distributed small scale nuclear
reactors are being seriously discussed in the region to
supply the energy requirements for each facility. This is an
even more interesting development if one considers that at
one time a US geologist suggested detonating nuclear
devices in the oil sands to provide the necessary energy to
promote bitumen flow. This was in the 1950’s, a time when
the ramifications of such an approach were not fully known
and thankfully not adopted.
III. SURFACE MINING
As mentioned, there are several different techniques which
may be employed to extract the bitumen from the sand with
the primary determining factor being the depth of the deposit.
In cases where the oil sand is relatively close to the surface,
the economics support the more conventional open pit
mining approach (Fig. 3) where overburden on the surface is
removed to expose the oil sand which is hauled away using
a combination of trucks, shovels and conveyors to introduce
the oil sand into the process. Details of the process vary
from one producer to another but the principle concept and
the applications remain similar. After truck and shovel,
further handling of the oil sand involves the use of crushers,
apron feeders and rotary breakers or cyclo-feeders.
This initial part of a commonly used process involves
passing the mined ore through large crushers. This breaks
up large pieces of oil sand and rocks and allows the ore to
be transported via conveyors to the next stage. In the
second stage the oil sand is moved to a surge facility
typically by a conveyor system. The surge facility transfers
Fig. 3 Oil sands open pit mining process
the oil sand via apron feeders to another conveyor system to
feed the rotary breakers or cyclo-feeders. The function of
the apron feeders is to provide a steady feed of oil sand to
the process. The function of rotary breakers is to tumble the
oil sand while introducing warm water to produce a water / oil
sand mixture which can be moved by pipeline further into the
process. This mixture of water and oil sand is known as
slurry and the pipeline used to carry this slurry further into
the process is known as the hydro transport or conditioning
pipeline. Hydro-transport is cost effective and efficient since
it replaces conveyor systems between the mine and the
extraction plant and combines two steps into one. It
conditions the oil sand by starting the separation of bitumen
from sand while moving it to extraction. The water used for
hydro transport is cooler than traditional water temperatures
used in the past in tumbling techniques which reduces
energy costs.
Regardless of the initial conditioning process, the next
step after pumping action which is involved in both of the
prior techniques is to take the blended slurry into a Primary
Separation Vessel (PSV) or into a settling tank process
where it is allowed to settle into layers as shown in Fig. 4.
Additional hot water is added to the slurry to speed up the
separation process. Impure bitumen froth floats on top, sand
sinks to the bottom and a combination of bitumen, sand, clay
and water sits in the middle (known as middlings). The
settling and separation takes approximately 20 minutes. The
sand, mixed with water, is pumped into settling basins called
tailings ponds. The impure bitumen froth is taken from the
top of the vessel and further into the process for additional
refinement. This is the primary separation process.
The middlings have some remaining bitumen content and
are taken into a secondary separation process which
involves the addition of air to the mixture while in flotation
tanks allowing further bitumen recovery of 2 to 4%. This
secondary froth is brought back to the primary froth recovery
system. Steam is used to heat the froth to remove excess
air in the de-aerator so the material can be pumped without
risk of pump cavitation. The bitumen froth taken from the
Fig. 4 Separation Vessel
extraction area requires further processing to remove water
and remaining fine solids in the froth treatment plant. This
involves a number of techniques including the addition of
diluents to the bitumen to keep it flowing easily and the use
of a combination of centrifuges and inclined plate settlers
(counter current decantation vessels). This completes the
hot water extraction process used in open pit mining. This
recovers over 91% of the bitumen contained in the oil sand
feed which is ready to be upgraded into synthetic crude oil.
Froth treatment tailings have trace amounts of diluents
(naphtha), which is recovered in a stream-stripping column
called a NRU (naphtha recovery unit), before the tailings are
discharged to the tailings ponds. The counter-current
decantation vessels mix solvent with the bitumen feed.
Water, solids and some ashpaltenes (heaviest component of
bitumen) are removed. The end result is clean diluted
bitumen called Dilbit. The Dilbit is sent by pipeline to an
Upgrader where the bitumen is processed further.
IV. APPLICATIONS
As can be seen from the description of the open pit
mining and oil sand process, a great deal of material
handling and pumping is involved in production from the oil
sands. Numerous processes have been employed for the
transport of bitumen from the mine to processing plant.
Initially belt conveyors were the approach taken, however,
this proved to be a costly as well as labor and energy
intensive process which is being displaced for the most part
by large trucks as in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 Truck and shovel extraction
Trucking has its draw backs as well; tires as one example.
The replacement tires for these huge trucks have a delivery
lead time of a year or more not to mention the fuel cost, high
maintenance and logistics of maintaining such a piece of
equipment. The trucks take the oil sand ore to a crushing
facility which is the beginning of the extraction process. The
next several steps involve material handling equipment
before going to the more pump intensive portion of the
process. Before discussing these specific applications, there
are some general aspects to discuss.
The largest concentration of MV Adjustable Speed Drives
(ASDs) to be found in the world is in the Fort McMurray
region. The Northern Alberta environment is one of the most
challenging to be found in the world being a remote area with
temperatures ranging from 35°C to minus –45°C. The
nature of the materials being handled - water, dirt and
bituminous materials – combined with air born contamination
such as dust prove to be further challenges particularly for
the loads and motors at these facilities. An example of the
challenging conditions can be seen in Fig. 6. Both of these
items lead to application and maintenance challenges which
are further reason that AC induction motors are preferred
and when adjustable speed is necessary, AC adjustable
speed drives. While some applications such as conveyors
have continued to use older technology such as wound rotor
machines, this is being displaced by adjustable speed drive
technology which has gained in general acceptance since
their initial introduction in the mid 1970s.
Fig. 6 Environmental conditions
A. Material Handling
As discussed earlier, the open pit mining process is
unique in that it brings in aspects of mining to what is an oil
extraction process. Conveyors, rotary breakers, crushers
and apron feeders are examples of applications often
involved in the open pit oil sand process. These types of
loads are also seen in the cement and mining industry and
are quite different in nature from the more usual pump
applications seen in the petroleum industry. These material
handling loads typically have constant torque load profiles as
well as more demanding starting requirements; in all cases,
greater than motor rated torque is required to start these
applications under varying circumstances. Apron feeders
are similar to but differ from conveyors in that they utilize
metal belts and have substantially more demanding load
torque profiles in their “upset” conditions which include
severe cold starts with loaded belts as well as cyclic
overloading. Examples of conveyors and apron feeders as
used at the surge facility are shown in Fig. 7. Required
starting torques of 180% or higher are not uncommon.
Torques of this magnitude can be achieved by using ASDs.
Fig. 7 Apron feeder / conveyor application
This is particularly important in the case of large machines
which have poor locked rotor or starting torque (50-80% of
rated) making it impossible to start these load types across
the line. ASDs have the ability to utilize the motor on the
right hand side of the motor speed torque curve since motor
slip is controlled. This makes it possible to achieve rated
torque as standard and a high percentage of motor
breakdown torque (80 % of BDT or higher) with the addition
of an encoder for rotor speed and position feedback. While it
is possible to use other starting methods such as wound
rotor induction motors, this requires custom machines with
very limited speed control and poorer efficiencies. As such,
particularly when speed control is beneficial, ASDs may
provide the best solution allowing the use of a smaller
standard induction motor than would otherwise be possible.
B. Pumps
Pumps and fans (variable torque loads) represent the vast
majority of loads worldwide and the oil sands process is no
exception. These load types are governed by the affinity
curves which make them ideal candidates for energy
savings. The benefits of using ASDs on pump applications
due to the energy savings related to the affinity curves are
well known. There are additional considerations and benefits
depending on the specific pump being utilized.
Pump Energy - Percentage of
Industry Type
Total Motor Energy Use
Petroleum 59%
Forest
31%
Products
Chemical 26%
Food
19%
Processing
Primary Metals 9%
Fig. 8 Pump use by industry type
Pump systems, in general, are often the most energy
intensive component in a given industry as can be seen in
Fig. 8. The energy required to drive pumps in the
petrochemical industry accounts for 59% of their total
demand typically. For the most common pump type – the
centrifugal pump - load torque is proportional to the square of
the speed of the pump and it exhibits low speed bandwidth
and requires little overload capability at starting (110% is
usually provided by design). There are a wide variety of
pumps involved in the handling of water, bitumen and sand
in the production process as well as the transportation of
bitumen and the end product by pipeline later on. The
particular pump type will depend on the viscosity,
temperature and nature of the fluid being handled. The pump
type can range from standard water pumps which are
required to bring water into the process – open pit mining or
in-situ - to the more extreme cases involving the use of
pumps to move solids by mixing with water over several
kilometers. These latter pump types are known as slurry and
tailings pumps. Regardless of the specific purpose and
design particulars of these centrifugal pumps, they all are
governed by the affinity curves (Fig. 9) which means that
energy savings will be realized with the use of ASDs at
reduced operating speeds and loads.
Fig. 9 Energy savings for pump application
In fact, as Fig. 10 illustrates, over 60% of industrial motor
loading involves fluid handling with just over one third of the
motor population. This is due to the fact that these loads
also represent the larger loads at their respective facilities.
C. Slurry Pumps
Today, the favored approach for transporting material
through the process after the initial crushing and mechanical
breakdown of the ore has been completed is hydro transport
or conditioning pipelines. These pipelines involve the use of
slurry pumps which are specialized centrifugal machines
Other Just over
4.3% Pumps
24.8% 1/3 of the
Material processing motor
22.5%
population
Material handling Fans accounts for
12.2%
ati
on 13.7% almost
r
ge
fri .7%
Compressed Air 2/3 of the
Re 6 15.8%
energy
Over 60% of industrial motor –system energy
consumption involves fluid handling
Fig. 10 Load distribution
designed to move fluids with a relatively high concentration
of solids. The open pit mining process utilizes numerous
slurry pumps to transport oil sand in solution from the mining
and extraction process through to the resultant tailings
(primarily sand) which must be moved to large containment
and settling ponds for disposal; these pumps are referred to
as tailings pumps. Moving these materials is done by
pumping a high density water / solids combination usually
over several kilometers into the process or to containment
settling ponds several kilometers away. As with any
process, there are issues that must be overcome when
handling solids in this manner, issues which result in the
widespread use of adjustable speed drives for this
application. To begin with, due to the extremely abrasive
nature of the material being pumped, the use of control
valves is not reliable or practical. There is also the fact that
the ability to vary speed to follow the process requirement
reduces wear of the pump and associated pipe allowing
optimal life of the fluid handling system to be achieved. A
further factor is that pump operating adjustments required to
address changes in line length, internal pipe drag and
required head when settling pond locations are moved as
well as changes in material density which occur in the
process are easily facilitated by adjustable speed control.
These factors will be discussed in more detail later. While
efficiency has not been stated as a primary consideration, it
has and will increasingly become a more of a factor. Slurry
and tailings handling represents the largest load component
at an open pit oil sand facility involving a number of large
motors over each slurry train with several trains per facility.
As such, this slurry pump application is one to target for
efficient operation and energy savings. Each slurry pump in
service has an operating set of curves which are shown in
Fig. 11. The curves give the required horsepower over the
defined operating speed range as given by the pump
manufacturer to suit the unique operating requirements of
the particular pump at a specific fluid density. The highest
intended Specific Gravity (SG) of the slurry being moved
must be used in torque calculations and the electric drive
train selection must be done to provide satisfactory service.
4000
3500
3000
Power (kW)
stability. Specifically in the case of a long discharge (to the
destination), the hydraulic transient could last for hours. This
transient condition can and will reduce the pump life by as
much as 50%. When flow can be directly controlled, the
process can be run at a rate which matches production
requirements, not only minimizing wear to that which is
actually required but also serves to reduce the number of
times these undesirable starting transients are seen by the
system
The typical slurry and tailings pump is configured on a
“skid” to allow for portability in Fig. 12. A typical pump skid
consists of an induction motor, coupled to a gear box that is
in turn coupled to the slurry pump. The multiple components
require substantial maintenance not to mention maintaining
component alignment after each move. This skid is
generally around 6’ wide by about 24’ long. This size alone

2500
presents a challenge when moving the pump system from
2000
one location to another (overall size and portability is an
1500 issue)
1000
100 %Duty
500
120 %Duty
0
BEP
250 288.50 314.50 350.80
MaximumQuote
Pump Operating Speed
Variable torque

Fig. 11 Slurry Pump Analysis - SG = 1.65

As mentioned earlier, a major consideration and benefit

when using ASDs is the pump operating point can be easily
adjusted. This facilitates operation at BEP – the Best
Efficiency Point - and the ability to adjust to production
requirements as well as system configuration changes. This Fig. 12 Slurry Pump Skid
is particularly true in the tailings handling process where
pipeline adjustments such as line length and elevation The applications discussed are all-friction systems which
changes are frequent. The aforementioned changes are are well-suited to variable speed control. The following
necessary as distances increase or decrease when lines to typical pump curve in Fig. 13 illustrates the benefit of
the settling ponds are moved and elevation changes when controlling the pump speed during the extended start-up
berm heights are raised to increase settling pond capacity. sequence as well as during normal operation where system
These sorts of changes can substantially increase demands may fluctuate.
requirements not only changing the system curve but could
even mean that the number of series pumps must change as
well in order to maintain the optimum operating point.
Slurry pump performance is adversely affected by the
inherent solids due to increased friction losses in the pump
and slip between solid and liquid which leads to rapid wear
of pump casings and impellers. In addition, the slurry which
is being moved consists not only of sand, water, and bitumen
but also a significant quantity of small to medium size rocks.
These rocks also have a negative impact on the entire
system particularly when flowing at higher speeds. Wear
and corrosion are the reason that using control valves to
throttle this process is not practical. Studies have shown that
the life of the pump components is dramatically extended
when the speed of operation is reduced. The wear rate is
proportional to the speed of the pump raised to the 2.5 Fig. 13 All Friction System Vs Pump Speed
power which means that a 50% speed reduction will result in
a 600% increase of expected pump life. In addition to the Control of the system is critical to the pump reliability as
wear associated with steady state operation, the start-up and well as efficiency. Pump system reliability and energy use is
shut down sequence of any pumping system is very harsh highly dependant on where the pump is operating on the
on the pump and in some cases the induction motor. This is head-capacity curve.
due to the time it takes for the “system” to achieve hydraulic

System Curve uncertainty results in uncertain pump
operation. The use of Adjustable Speed Drives allows
optimization of the operating speed point so that the Best
Efficiency Point (BEP) can be realized. This is important as
this leads to the most efficient utilization and energy savings.
• VFD
The (4) pole motor integral to the gearbox addresses
several issues, mass, ease of maintenance, lower
maintenance cost, reduced mass, weight and overall
length (foot print).

Energy is the dominant cost of ownership in a pumping

system. In Fig. 14, the total cost of ownership for a typical
pump installation is given.

Installation
9%
Pump
14%

Downtime
9%
Fig. 15 Gear motor
Energy
32%
By design the (4) pole motor is considerably smaller then a
Operating
9%
“high” pole count unit as well as less costly to repair.
Elimination of one coupling reduces length by approximately
Maintenance 20” as well as minimizing alignment issues. The solution as
20%
outlined will reduce the overall dimension of the pump skid
by approximately 4’.
Fig. 14 Total Cost of Ownership
In addition the (4) pole induction motor is more efficient and
Capital costs of equipment are generally the main focus of has a better power factor then a high pole count unit as
system designers, however, over the life of the equipment, it noted in the chart below. A 2500hp 4000V (4) pole induction
typically only accounts for 14% of the total life cycle cost. motor at full load is 95.8% efficient with a PF of 89%. By
The major cost of ownership is energy followed by comparison a 2500hp 4000V (16) pole induction motor is
maintenance. Maintenance and energy comprise 52% of the 94.6% efficient with a PF of 80%. Improving the PF can
total cost of ownership of a pumping system yet most maximize current-carrying capacity, improve voltage to
st
companies will focus their attention on the initial “1 cost” equipment, reduce power losses, and lower electric bills
and ignore the potential energy savings over the life of the (assuming there is a PF correction charge).
equipment. For example, for a 5000hp machine running at
rated load 24/7, the annual operating cost @ 7.5 cents per 4 Pole 4000 Volt
KW/hr would be approximately $2,500,000.00 therefore a
HP IFL PF @ FL Eff @ FL
1% efficiency gain results in an annual saving of $25,000.00.
2500 316 89 95.8%
With the rising cost of energy, concerns related to global
3500 441 89 96%
warming due to Greenhouse Gases and our aging fleet of
5000 629 89 96.2%
power plants, we cannot continue to ignore the impact of
energy cost on the “bottom Line”. 4 Pole 2300 Volt

To maximize slurry pumping efficiency and reliability the HP IFL PF @ FL Eff @ FL

following must be considered: 2500 548 89 96%

3500 767 89 96%
5000 1094 89 96.2%
• Overall size (portability)
• Ease of maintenance (reduced components) 16 Pole 2300 Volt (450rpm)
• Efficiency HP IFL PF @ FL Eff @ FL
o Pump (BEP) 2500 619 80 94.6%
o Motor 3500 837 82 95.5%
o System 5000 1135 86 95.5%

To achieve the desired efficiency and reliability the 16 Pole 4000 Volt (450 rpm)
optimum slurry pump configuration would include: HP IFL PF @ FL Eff @ FL
2500 356 80 94.6%
• (4) pole induction motor 3500 481 82 95.5%
• Gearbox integral to the motor (elimination of one 5000 653 86 95.9%

coupling)
 Figure 16 PF Vs Efficiency 4 Pole / 16 Pole Motor
Low power factor, electrically speaking, cause’s heavier
current to flow in power distribution lines in order to deliver a
given number of kilowatts to an electrical load.
The power distribution system in a plant can be overloaded
by excess (useless) current. Generating and power
distribution systems owned by the local utility have their
capacity measured in KVA (KVA = VOLTS X AMPS X 1.73
(three phase system) / 1,000). With unity power factor
(100%), it would take 2,000 KVA of generating and
distribution network capacity to deliver 2,000 KW. If the
power factor dropped to 85%, however, 2,353 KVA of
capacity would be needed. Thus, we see that lower power
factor has an adverse effect on generating and distribution
capacity. Low power factor overloads generating,
distribution, and networks with excess KVA. The use of
adjustable speed drives improves system power factor since
the distribution system will see the power factor of the drive
rectifier which can be as high as unity depending on the
drive topology chosen.
A final note on efficiency and energy conservation, power
demand is expected to surge 30% by 2030 in North America.
With the continued expansion of the Oil Sands region energy
conservation will become a critical factor in profitability and
continued expansion. Electricity cost will continue to rise in
order to finance construction of new generation and
transmission. Increased efficiency can offset a substantial
portion of the increase in generating capacity needed to
meet rising electricity demand while reducing the impact on
operating cost.
V. CONCLUSION
As can be seen, the Canadian Oil Sands represents a vast
petroleum resource with huge economic potential. Already
producing a substantial portion of the world oil supply, this
can only be expected to increase. With the current world
energy, economic and political situation, there is no reason
to expect that development will not continue with the pace
being the long term question.
The technology used in the region is quite unique in the
petroleum industry with research ongoing to find methods to
make increasingly more of the oil sands viable sources of oil.
The region has many challenges; however, the use of
current technology will be a key driver in the long term
outlook for the region. Adjustable speed drives are one
component of the technology required to make extraction
economically and technically feasible. In addition, the overall
electrical drive system should also be reviewed to insure that
the most energy efficient approach is adopted which benefits
not only the environment but has the additional benefit of
reducing energy usage and the overall cost of production.
VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] CAPP, Canadian Oil Sands Outlook,
September 12, 2007
[1] IEEE, Oil & Gas Producers, March 13 2006,
Oil Sands Volume 4
[2] Bitumen Recovery Technology, A Review of Long Term
R & D Opportunities, April 2005, Len Flint, PhD, PEng
[3] Extraction and Upgrading of Oil sands Bitumen
Intensive Short Course, Murray Gray, Jacob Masliyah
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering,
University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada
[4] Load Profile of Slurry Pump Application as related to the
Oil Sand Process, Mohammad Farid, Rick Paes
- PowerPoint presentation at the Calgary 2007 ESTMP
[5] Shell Technology report 2007
VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank Mohammad Farid of
AMEC for his contributions to the paper.
VIII. VITA
William Livoti graduated from Concordia University with a
Mechanical Engineering degree in 1972. He is a member of
ASME and IEEE. Bill has over 30 years experience in the
pump industry, designing, field testing, repairing and
troubleshooting mechanical seals, compressors and
pumping systems across various industries. He has worked
for several major pump OEM’s as well as Principal Engineer
at a large power utility company. He is a member of various
IEEE and Hydraulic institute working groups, Vibration
institute and Pump Systems Matter where he is on the Board
of Directors. Mr. Livoti is currently writing a book on Power
Plant Process Guide Lines for Pumping Systems and co-
author of another book titled Pumping System Optimization
Guide Lines. His primary responsibilities at
Baldor/Dodge/Reliance include industry specific applications
for motors, drives, gearing, and bearings as they apply to
Power Generation and Fluid Handling.
Mark Throckmorton is a 1993 Electrical Engineering
graduate of the University of Alberta. He is a Member of
IEEE and is a Professional Engineer in the Province of
Alberta. He worked in the oil sands industry as the lead
electrical on several major projects before joining Shell
Canada in 2006.
Richard Paes received his degree in electrical/electronic
engineering technology from Conestoga College, in
Kitchener, Ontario Canada in 1981. Since graduation, he
has been employed with Rockwell Automation in Cambridge,
Ontario. His primary roles include the application of various
motor starting methods, including medium voltage drives, for
medium voltage induction and synchronous motors. He is a
member of IEEE and was a committee chair for the 2001
PCIC conference in Toronto and is currently Vice-Chair of
the PCIC transportation subcommittee, past chair of the
2007 Calgary IEEE IAS Mega Projects committee and chair
of the 2008 Edmonton IEEE IAS ESTMP.