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Steffen Lange, research technologist at Syncrude Research and Development in Edmonton, holds a nanochip sensor module that will be used in future oilsands production.

Photograph by: Larry Wong, Edmonton Journal , Edmonton Journal

 

Demands by Syncrude Canada to design and build the world's toughest wireless remote sensor has pushed Edmonton startup Scanimetrics Inc. to do just that, and earn the attention of other mining firms and equipment manufacturers around the world.

"Wireless miniature electronics is our forte, but this product for Syncrude wasn't even on our radar before they talked to us three years ago," said Chris Sellathamby, vice-president of sales for the firm, which began life as a spinoff from the University of Alberta - with one patent to commercialize.

When you are running a complex oilsands operation with thousands of employees producing hundreds of thou-sands of barrels of oil each day, the last thing you want is a "surprise."

But the unexpected happens all the time in the industry. A loose bolt could fail, production could be slowed - with the penalty a $6-million-per-day loss of revenue.

In an effort to track the strain on critical steel components, Syncrude previously used monitors that require extensive wiring and provide vast amounts of raw data that must be analyzed by technologists, a process that can take many weeks, says Khaled Obaia, who is head of the condition monitoring project.

The new Scanimetrics units are small, easy to attach battery-powered "motes" that can transmit to a base station that feeds the raw data to the Scanimetrics office, where a new software program designed for Syncrude evaluates the data and provides regular reports on the condition - basically the strain on the metal from continual flexing.

"We have them on our apron feeders (for bitumen ore), vibrating screens, conveyor belts, ore crusher and the large mining trucks. They are working very well," Obaia said.

Syncrude research technologist Steffen Lange says the oilsands environment is harsh, with extremes of hot and cold, and quartz-rich oilsands ore which quickly grinds away at even the hardest steel. Even the buckets on giant shovels which dig out the ore, made with the hardest steel avail-able, lose half their thickness in a couple of months. The teeth can last just days.

"The aviation industry is the leader in monitoring for stress because they must make planes so light. Our issue is not lightness, because our equipment is very heavy, but the stresses on metal are extreme, with continual impact on hard surfaces," he said.

During a recent tour of the Syncrude lab in Edmonton, Lange and Obaia were testing new monitors for idlers which support rollers under the massive conveyor belts critical to moving 1,300 tonnes per hour of crushed ore.

Predicting wear should allow staff to repair or replace the units before they seize up.

Syncrude and Scanimet-rics are now working with U of A nanotechnology re-searchers on silicone based sensors that could be glued to metal parts.