Alberta-based oilpatch supplier Spartan Controls, in conjunction with Emerson Process Management, recently committed to five years of funding for oilsands research at the University of Alberta’s faculty of engineering.
Both companies have joined Syncrude, Cenovus and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada in funding oilsands process control research. The NSERC Industrial Research Chair researches systems that control the oilsands processes.
One example of research is using advanced data analytics to improve the lifespan of electric submersible pumps used in steam assisted gravity drainage sites.