Moisture induced damage of hot mix asphalt pavements has a significant economic impact in terms of excessive maintenance and rehabilitation costs. The moisture sensitivity of an asphalt mix depends on the combined effects of material properties, mixture design parameters, loading conditions and environmental factors. Traditional methods to assess moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixes rely on mechanical tests that evaluate the mix as a whole. These methods do not measure material properties and their role in moisture sensitivity of the mix independently. This information is very important to select materials resistant to moisture induced damage, or to modify locally available materials to improve their resistance to moisture damage for economic reasons. The objective of this research is to develop experimental and analytical tools to characterize important material properties that influence the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixes. Quality of adhesion between the aggregate and bitumen binder in wet and dry conditions plays an important role on the moisture sensitivity of the asphalt mix. A part of this research work was to develop the Wilhelmy plate method and the Universal Sorption Device to measure the surface free energy components of the bitumen and aggregate with adequate precision and accuracy, respectively. Surface energy of these materials was used to identify parameters based on thermodynamics that can quantify their interfacial adhesion and propensity to debond in the presence of water. The thermodynamic parameters were shown to correlate well with the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixes determined from laboratory tests. Specific surface areas of the aggregates were also used to account for the influence of mechanical interlocking at the micro scale. In some mixes, chemical bonding also contributes to the adhesion between bitumen and aggregate. The use of a micro calorimeter was introduced in this research as a versatile and fast tool to quantify the combined effects of physical and chemical adhesion between these materials.

In-Situ Combustion (ISC) is a very complex thermal recovery process that is strongly affected by the chemical composition and physical properties of reservoir rock and fluids. Stability of the process depends on the amount of heat continuously generated from the chemical reactions between fuel formed during ISC and injected oxygen. Heat generation depends on the amount of fuel formed, which, in turn, is affected by initial oil saturation (IOS). Thus, in this study, ISC process dynamics were investigated at various saturations on 7.5 °API Peace River bitumen, under 3.4 l/min air injection rate. Through one-dimensional combustion tube experiments higher combustion front temperatures were observed for increased IOS. The degree of bitumen upgrading was determined in terms of viscosity and API gravity changes. Correlations for hydrogen-carbon ratio, air requirement, consumed fuel, and combustion front velocity were obtained. Good burning characteristics of Peace River bitumen resulted in stable self-sustained combustion with 26.01% IOS. However, an experiment with 13.39% IOS failed because of insufficient fuel generation. Furthermore, X-Ray cross-sectional images were taken along the combustion tube after each run to support and enhance the interpretation of experimental results. Particularly, fluctuations in concentrations of produced gas composition were explained with computed tomography (CT) data.

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The research presented in this thesis studies the effects of foamed bitumen on the deformational behaviour and performance of pavement materials. The research was conducted in the laboratory and the field, using specific New Zealand materials. The aggregate used is a blend of a coarse aggregate imported from the Auckland region with a crushed dust from the Canterbury region. The bitumen selected for the study is an 80/100 bitumen grade, and the active filler was a Portland Cement, both commonly used for foamed bitumen stabilization in New Zealand. In the laboratory, samples of mixes with different foamed bitumen content were tested under various loading and stress conditions to investigate the effects of foamed bitumen on the deformational behaviour of the mix. The tests performed were: Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS), Indirect Tensile Resilient Modulus (ITM), Repeat Load Triaxial compression (RLT) and Monotonic Load Triaxial compression (MLT). Preliminary ITS and RLT tests conducted on mixes with 1% and 0% cement, at different foamed bitumen contents, indicated that mixes without cement performed poorly compared to the mixes with 1% cement. Therefore, the rest of the laboratory study was on mixes with 1% cement. ITS tests were conducted on 150 mm specimens prepared with 0% 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% bitumen content, with a common 1% cement. Results indicated that foamed bitumen increases the ITS values of the mix, up to an estimated optimum of 2.8% bitumen content. Similar trends were obtained with ITM tests, in which a diametrical load pulse was applied on 150 mm specimens, showing an estimated resilient modulus peak near to 2.8% bitumen content. RLT specimens were prepared at 0%, 2% and 4% bitumen content, at two compaction efforts, creating specimens at low and high bulk density. Permanent deformation RLT tests involved the application of seven stages of 50,000 load cycles each (4 Hz), with increasing deviator stress (from 75 kPa in the first stage, up to 525 kPa in the seventh stage) and at constant confining pressure of 50 kPa. Results of RLT permanent deformation tests indicated that the increase in the foamed bitumen content resulted in an increase in the permanent deformation of the material. MLT tests were conducted on specimens at 0%, 2% and 4% bitumen contents, at two compaction efforts, creating specimens of low and high bulk density, at confining pressures ranging from 50 kPa to 300 kPa, with a deformation rate of 2.1% per minute. Results indicated that the effect of foamed bitumen was a reduction of the peak vertical stress, or a reduction in the peak strength. The peak stresses obtained in MLT tests were plotted in stress diagrams, and the failure was approximated as linear function of the confining stress. The fundamental shear parameters (angle of internal friction and apparent cohesion) were estimated, and results indicated that foamed bitumen has no apparent effect in cohesion but does reduce the angle of internal friction. The reduction of the angle of internal friction explains the general trends observed in the laboratory, that on one hand the compressive strength decreases with increasing bitumen content, but on the other hand, the tensile strength increases up to an optimum. A full-scale experiment was carried out using an accelerated testing of foamed bitumen pavements at the Canterbury Accelerated Pavement Testing Indoor Facility (CAPTIF). In the full-scale experiments, the same materials that were tested in the laboratory (aggregates, bitumen, cement) were used to construct six different pavement sections, each with different contents of bitumen and cement. Three were constructed using foamed bitumen contents of 1.2%, 1.4% and 2.8% respectively, plus a common active filler content of 1.0% cement. Two more pavements were constructed adding cement only (1.0%), and foamed bitumen only (2.2%). In addition, one control section with the untreated unbound material was tested. Strains were collected using a 3D Emu soil strain system installed in each pavement section. The curing time between construction and pavement loading was approximately three months. The pavement response, such as surface deformation (rutting), surface deflections and strains were periodically recorded during the execution of the test. The strains were collected at different depths by using an array of Emu strain gauges. Deflections were recorded using both a Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) and CAPTIF Beam deflectometer, which is a modified Benkelmann beam. A total number of approximately 5.6 million equivalent standard axles were applied on the pavement sections. The rutting measured in the sections stabilised with foamed bitumen and cement was the lowest, showing that the addition of foamed bitumen significantly improved the performance of materials with 1% cement. The sections stabilised with cement only, foamed bitumen only, and the control untreated section showed large amounts of rutting and heaving by the end of the test. Deflection measurements showed that the effect of foamed bitumen content is a reduction of pavement deflections, with the lowest deflection measured in the section stabilised with 2.8% bitumen and 1% cement. The elastic pavement strains showed that foamed bitumen reduced the tensile strains in the basecourse but did not have a significant effect on vertical compressive strains. During the construction of pavements, material samples were taken for ITS and RLT testing. Results indicated that the highest ITS was measured in the section with 2.8% foamed bitumen content and 1% cement, and the ITS in the section without cement and foamed bitumen only was about 4-5 times lower than the ITS measured in specimens with cement. RLT specimens without cement performed poorly in comparison with the specimens with 1% cement. The specimens with 1% cement showed higher permanent deformation with increase in the foamed bitumen content, supporting the results from the previous laboratory study. To interpret and relate the results observed in the laboratory and the field, stress path analysis was used, in which the stress ratio of the foamed bitumen layers was calculated at different depths. The analysis showed that foamed bitumen content decreases the maximum stress ratio, hence reducing the proximity to failure and relative damage of the layer. Three-dimensional and two-dimensional finite element modelling of the CAPTIF pavements, were used to further investigate the stress and strain fields induced by the loading and to explain the pavement performance observed in the full-scale experiment.

Production in Canada’s oil sands has been increasing, with a projected rate of 4.5 million barrels per day by 2025. Two production techniques are currently used, mining and in-situ, with the latter projected to constitute ~57% of all production by that time. Although in-situ extraction methods such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) are less invasive than mining, they result in more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per barrel and require large amounts of water that must be treated and recycled with a make-up water requirement of about 10%. CanmetENERGY is developing a steam generation technology called the High Pressure Oxy-fired Direct Contact Steam Generator (HiPrOx/DCSG, or DCSG for short) that will reduce these water requirements and sequester GHGs. This study evaluates the technical feasibility of this technology using process simulations, bench-scale testing, and pilot-scale testing. At first, a method in which to integrate the DCSG into the SAGD process was presented and process modeling of expected system performance was undertaken. The process simulations indicated that DCSG decreased the energy intensity of SAGD by up to 7.6% compared to the base SAGD case without carbon capture and storage (CCS), and up to 12.0% compared to the base SAGD case with CCS. Bench-scale testing was then performed using a pressurized thermogravimetric analyzer (PTGA) in order to investigate the effects of increased pressure and high moisture environments on a Canadian lignite coal char’s reactivity. It was found that under reaction kinetic-controlled conditions at atmospheric pressure, the increased addition of steam led to a reduction in burning time. The findings may have resulted from the lower heat capacity and higher thermal conductivity of steam compared to CO2. At increased pressures, CO2 inhibited burnout due to its higher heat capacity, lower thermal conductivity, and its effect on C(O) concentrations on the particle surface. When steam was added, the inhibiting effects of CO2 were counteracted, resulting in burnout rates similar to pressurized O2/N2 environments. These preliminary results suggested that the technology was feasible at a bench-scale level. Conflicting literature between bench-scale and pilot-scale studies indicated that pilot-scale testing would be advantageous as a next step. At the pilot-scale, testing was performed using n-butanol, graphite slurry, and n-butanol/graphite slurry mixtures covering lower and upper ends in fuel reactivity. It was found that stable combustion was attainable, with high conversion efficiencies in all cases. With the n-butanol, it was possible to achieve low excess oxygen requirements, which minimizes corrosion issues and reduce energy requirements associated with oxygen generation. With graphite slurry, it was found that it was possible to sustain combustion in these high moisture environments and that high conversion was achieved as indicated by the undetectable levels of carbonaceous materials observed in downstream equipment. Overall, these studies indicate that DCSG is technically feasible from the perspectives of energy and combustion efficiencies as well as from a steam generation point of view. Future work includes the investigation of possible corrosion associated with the product gas, the effect of CO2 on bitumen production, the nature of the mineral melt formed by the deposition of the dissolved and suspended solids from the water in the combustor, and possible scaling issues in the steam generator and piping associated with mineral deposits from the dissolved and suspended solids in the produced water is recommended.

The vapour extraction process, or &amp / #8216 / VAPEX&amp / #8217 / has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years as a new method of heavy oil or bitumen recovery. The VAPEX (vapour extraction) can be visualized as energy efficient recovery process for unlocking the potential of high viscosity resources trapped in bituminous and heavy oil reservoirs. A total of 20 VAPEX experiments performed with Hele-Shaw cell utilizing three different Turkish crude oils. Two different VAPEX solvents (propane and butane) were used with three different injection rates (20, 40 and 80 ml/min). Garzan, Raman and Bati Raman crude oils were used as light, medium and heavy oil. Apart from normal Dry VAPEX experiments one experiment was conducted with CO2 and another one with butane + steam as Wet VAPEX experiment. All experiments were recorded by normal video camera in order to analyze visually also. For both VAPEX solvents, oil production rates increased with injection rates for all crude oils. Instantaneous asphaltene rate for Garzan oil, showed fluctuated performance with propane solvent. Butane showed almost constant degree of asphaltene precipitation. Instantaneous asphaltene rate for Raman and Bati Raman oils gave straight line results with the injection rate of 20 ml/min for both solvent. When the injection rate increased graphs showed the same performance with Garzan oil and started to fluctuate for both solvent. For asphaltene precipitation, propane gave better results than butane in almost all injection rates for Garzan and Raman oil. In the experiments with Bati Raman oil, butane made better upgrading than propane with the injection rate 80 ml/min. With the other two rates, both solvents showed almost same performace.

The Alberta Basin has been the subject of various diagenetic studies but the precise understanding of the processes behind deep burial cementation remains unclear. This study investigates late-diagenetic calcites from the Devonian Southesk-Cairn Carbonate Complex with the purpose of constraining temperature, relative timing and chemistry of the paleo-fluids involved during calcite precipitation. Two types of late-diagenetic calcites were petrographically andgeochemicallycharacterized.Whereascalcite-Iresultedfrom thermochemical sulfate reduction, calcite-II precipitated with no or little oxidized organic carbon present. As shown by the Sr isotopic signatures, some reservoirs were exposed to radiogenic Sr-bearing fluids. A slight trend of increasing fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures with depth is only seen in calcite-I, and bitumen reflectance also increases with depth following a normal burial gradient. These results, however, are not conclusive to interpret the influence of tectonically-driven fluids during deep burial.