TREVOSE, Pa. — GE reports that MEG Energy Corp. has selected its evaporation technology for Phases 2B and 3A of the Christina Lake Project, located in Northern Alberta, Canada, according to a press release.
GE’s evaporators will be used to recycle a significant portion of the steam generator blowdown for reuse as boiler feedwater, noted the release.
The Christina Lake project uses both cogeneration and once-through steam generators (OTSGs) to drive the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process for the production of bitumen, which is a heavy crude oil produced from oil sands, the release reported, and MEG Energy will use GE evaporators to treat its OTSG blowdown and recycle it as boiler feedwater as opposed to disposing of it by deep well injection.
“We’ve witnessed industry trends of SAGD projects either installing new systems with OTSG evaporators or retrofitting existing units. As projects in Alberta’s oil sands increase, more companies are turning to GE’s evaporative technologies to address the critical issue of how to handle produced water,” said Bill Heins, general manager, thermal systems — water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.
According to the release, GE will supply fifth generation, fully modularized evaporator systems, which are designed to achieve the lowest possible project costs.