Canadian Refinery to recycle its water with GE new technologies
TREVOSE, PA.— Seeking to reduce the use of water in the refining process and as a way of minimizing its environmental impact on the North Saskatchewan River, North West Redwater (NWR) Partnership turned to GE’s Water & Process Technologies for NWR’s new Sturgeon refinery in Alberta, Canada. Like many regions, Alberta has very stringent regulations regarding freshwater withdrawal and effluent discharge, and Water & Process Technologies provided an innovative solution to meet NWR’s sustainability and environmental goals as well as the province’s policies.
To minimize the use of freshwater, Water & Process Technologies will provide water treatment systems with process water from the refinery being treated and recycled multiple times. Surface water runoff from the facility will be contained in the retention ponds and used for process purposes to reduce the water withdrawal from the North Saskatchewan River.
“The Sturgeon refinery is the first new refining facility to be built in Canada in almost 30 years’ time,” said Kerry Margetts, chief operating officer, North West Redwater Partnership. “For this greenfield project, it is our mission to process Alberta bitumen to add value to this local resource, but to do so in a responsible and sustainable manner. With the help of GE’s water and wastewater chemical treatment technologies, the Sturgeon refinery project will enable us to recycle wastewater and meet stringent discharge regulations,”
The Sturgeon refinery project is the world’s only refinery designed from the ground up to incorporate gasification and a carbon capture and storage solution while producing the cleaner, high-value products needed to meet North America’s new low-carbon standards.
Phase one of the Sturgeon refinery will process 50,000 barrels of bitumen per day. The refinery is expected to be operational in 2017.
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