Posted on ADVFN13 May 2021 08:50
BusaMitch13 May '21 - 07:39 - 18893 of 18893
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From George Stapleton via Alen D. End of May target for FEED.
"As I am sure you are aware, the Petroteq Oil Sands Plant (POSP) is a proof of process for our bitumen stripping process. It has been assembled using components from the original pilot plant. As such, it is comprised of a number of equipment components that would likely not have been selected for a new plant designed from a clean sheet of paper.
Recent upgrades to the plant were meant to address certain equipment issues (incorrect pumps for a particular service) and other recurring problems associated with version 1.0 of the Demonstration Plant. Version 2.0 is still made up primarily of original plant components upgraded with better, fit for purpose, pumps, improvements to mixing tanks plus the addition of a 3rd tank, and, more recently, the addition of heat to the process flow at key locations upstream of mixing and immediately upstream of the centrifuges used to remove clay fines from the bitumen/solvent slurry to reduce basic sediment & water (BS&W) prior to solvent recovery.
When we restarted the plant in January, we were not fully aware of the negative impact very cold ambient temperatures had on stripping of bitumen and clean-up of bitumen/solvent slurry. Plant operations had previously been conducted during much warmer summer months. We’ve recently completed the installation of line heaters at critical locations in the process flow. We are back in production and the plant is operating well, but our focus right now is on testing different oil sands ores, solvent concentrations and mix tank residence times. We are continuing to generate test data to better inform the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) of our first 5,000 BPD commercial production train, which design is nearing completion. At this time, our primary focus is data collection and not commercial production from the Demonstration Plant.
We are targeting end-May for FEED completion, so will have to complete most of the tests used to refine the engineering by then. At that point, we will likely shift towards maximizing production.
Please Email me any other questions you may have and I will try to provide answers."