JNE Welding is proud to have had the opportunity to fabricate the Tailings Recovery System “TRS” shown in the picture below. As per the story excerpt from the CIM Magazine, the TRS was developed by Mr. Svorcan and his team at Technika Engineering. At an early stage, JNE was asked to participate in the design from a fabrication practicality perspective. Later, when Technika had the approval to proceed with their first order, JNE had the opportunity to tender on the fabrication of 3 units and were successful in winning the award. It was an honor for JNE to participate in moving the industry forward through the introduction of this new and innovative approach regarding oilsands tailings management.
Excerpt from CIM Magazine – “Innovation rush in the oil sands” By Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco
Accelerating the reclamation of the oil sands mining operation is also a pressing project that has sparked an array of approaches from both inside the industry and out. Among the many contenders is Calgary-based Technika Engineering, which observed the issues with conventional mature fine tailings (MFT) reclamation technologies using dredges and barges with submersible pumps.
“We thought there had to be a better approach,” said Radé Svorcan, the company’s president. “So we set out to design it.”
Technika has developed what it calls the Tailings Recovery System (TRS). Oil sands MFT have considerable shear strength and viscosity that increase with the depth of the ponds, which typically reach 30 meters deep. Due to debris in the MFT and its rheology, conventional technologies using dredges and barges with submersible pumps encounter MFT dilution at the suction point and clogging. TRS technology uses a caisson-type telescoping shell structure located at the pond surface that can go down to a 15-plus meter depth to leverage the principle of hydraulic pressure balance to bring MFT to the surface. “Because the MFT is on the surface within the TRS, it’s much easier to recover it and the challenges of MFT dilution and pump clogging are addressed. We are using the natural hydraulics to draw the MFT up,” said Svorcan.
Technika Engineering’s Tailing Recover System (TRS). Courtesy of Technika Engineering
The benefits of the technology, which has already been successfully deployed at an oil sands operation, is that it allows for year-round reliable clogging-free recovery. It is fully winterized and can be remotely operated. On a 2,500 m3/h MFT supply system, TRS results in $10 to $20 million savings in capital costs and $5 to $10 million in annual operating costs compared to barge or dredge technologies, according to the company.