MCW'S PATENTED OIL SANDS EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY
MCW Oil Sands Recovery, LLC owns a patented, environmentally-safe, continuous flow closed-loop technology, which extracts oil from a wide range of oil and other hydrocarbon sediment types. It can be effectively applied to both "water-wet" deposits (such as the oil sands projects in Alberta, Canada), and/or "oil-wet" deposits such as the resources typically found in Utah. This unique technology utilizes no water during the process, which is a key advantage when applying it to the western desert states in the U.S., where water is widely unavailable. The process produces no greenhouse gas, requires no high temperature/pressure and is capable of extracting 99% of all hydrocarbon content. It recycles over 99% of the solvents within the closed-loop system.
BACKGROUND OF THE TECHNOLOGY
MCW's research and development teams in Russia and U.S.A. have been focused on designing an efficient process to extract oil from both "water-wet" and "oil-wet" oil sands deposits.
During the first stage of development, a unique solvent composition was developed and patented by the MCW research team. This composition is capable of dissolving 99% of heavy bitumen, asphalt, and other lighter hydrocarbons, and prevents their precipitation at the comparatively mild temperature range of 50 – 60 C degrees. Solvents used in this composition form an azeotropic mixture that boils at the low temperature of 70 – 75 C degrees. This procedure guarantees a high energy efficiency level for the successful operation of the extraction process.
In the next technology development stage, the MCW research team developed and implemented a fluidized bed solvent extraction system to extract oil from oil sands. .This principle has been successfully utilized on a commercial scale in the coal burning industry, chemical industry, and a wide variety of different industries for decades. Pilot studies and an extraction plant have been successfully operated in Russia for the past several years.
The technology breakthrough occurred when the MCW development team successfully applied the fluidized bed process as it pertains to oil extraction technology, with specific calculations and a custom fabricated extraction unit design. In doing so, MCW has proven the validity of utilizing this long recognized process for oil sands extraction.
As a subsequent step in the development of MCW's technology, a small scale (production of 100 barrels per day) pilot plant was fabricated and it has been operating in the Russia for the past few years. This extraction technology has proven to be extremely energy effective, economical and environmentally-friendly.
HERE'S HOW MCW'S EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY WORKS
Preparatory Stage: Mining and crushing of the oil sands ore to prepare for processing.
Stage 1: Crushed ore delivered into patented fluidized bed extractor. Extraction process is performed at temperatures between 50-60 C degrees
Stage 2: Solvent composition with extracted oil bitumen is delivered from extraction column to the evaporator and then to distillation column.
Stage 3: Hydrocarbons (oil/bitumen) are extracted from the solvent in the distillation column and pumped to the storage tank.
Stage 4: Solvent is recycled, warmed up and returned back to the extractor within the continuous flow, closed-loop system.
Stage 5: Purified sands leave extractor and go through the drying process.
At this point, the extracted crude oil is free of sand and solvents. It is then pumped out of the system and into a storage tank. The sand exits the extraction system as clean, dry sands, which can be sold or replaced to its origin. Any heat generated during the process may also be recycled. The crude oil produced is very low in sulphur content (reducing refinery costs for added processing) and the average API range for Utah oil sands is excellent at 14 API, making it much easier to transport.
MCW'S EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY WAS RECENTLY EVALUATED BY A REPUTABLE, INDEPENDENT ENGINEERING FIRM.
MCW's oil extraction technology was recently evaluated by a reputable consulting firm, Chapman Engineering Company, who are experts in petroleum and chemical engineering as well as providing economical analyses for resource development processes.
THE INDEPENDENT REPORT CONCLUDED THAT MCW'S EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY IS VIABLE AND COST EFFECTIVE.
"The Company's oil sands extraction process has been designed utilizing good engineering practices and confirmed chemical and physical principles. Many innovative chemical and engineering aspects have been incorporated into the process to achieve over 98% of bitumen extraction from the oil sands, and a greater than 99.5% solvent recycling efficiency. The principles and processes implemented utilize established technologies, and are comparable to ones successfully utilized in different industrial applications for many years."
The report goes on to state:
"For energy-efficient comparison, the only other available technology that could be considered comparable for the production of mined oil sands is the traditional Clark Hot Water Approach. (Utilizing heat and the mechanical motion of a slurry to liberate bitumen.), and has Energy Returned Over Energy Invested (EROEI) of approximately 5 or 6 in terms of the caloric energy of the liquid output products compared to the energy required to process the crushed ore. By comparison, MCW’s process calculates an EROEI closer to 20:1, using conservative estimates of the input energy requirements. In addition, the hot water process is not really applicable to oil-wet oil sands deposits. With this in mind, MCW's process is capable of accessing crushed ore that has little other commercial demand."
The conclusions of the Chapman Report show that MCW's extraction process could reasonably expect to have overall processing costs of $ 30.00 - $ 40.00 STB of crude bitumen generated, representing a netback of approximately $ 49.00 per STB. There is a 90% confidence level that the per-STB processing costs will fall between $ 22.84 and $ 38.87 per STB, based on conservative and reasonable assumptions of the major cost items and their variability, using the output probability distributions in the Report's analysis discussions.
WITH THE VALIDATION OF THE CHAPMAN REPORT, MCW IS MOVING FORWARD WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITS TECHNOLOGY AND THE FABRICATION OF AN EXTRACTION UNIT
MCW is confident that with the positive findings/conclusions of the comprehensive Chapman Engineering Report, "The Evaluation of Oil Sands Extraction Process - NW Asphalt Ridge, Utah," the Company is now moving forward with the development of an initial 250 bbl/day extraction unit, which will be completed during the summer of 2014. Subsequent, larger, scaled up extraction units will be added in 2015. During 2013-2014, MCW has been enhancing/improving the efficiencies of its proprietary extraction technology at each stage of fabrication. Improvements have been made in the dryer/mixer components for better consistency and flow of oil sands materials, and the unit will be insulated to ensure year-round operations.