On March 5th and 6th a delegation from Saskatchewan – headed by the Honorable Rob Norris (Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration) and including Dr. Malcolm Wilson (CEO of the Regina-based Petroleum Technology Research Centre), Mr. Mike Monea (President of Carbon Capture and Storage Initiatives with SaskPower) and Mr. Jerome Konecsni (CEO of Innovation Saskatchewan) – was in The Hague, the Netherlands for meetings with different companies and research organizations leading to the signing of agreements in the areas of enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture and storage (CCS) research.

The PTRC – current manager of the largest CO2 storage project in the world with the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas Programme Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project – is also a world leader at improving recovery rates and environmental impacts of oil production particularly in difficult-to-access deposits like heavy and tight oil formations. Two of the key meetings in the Netherlands were with officials from CATO-2 (a research consortium of some 40 partners conducting carbon capture and storage R&D in the Netherlands) and INCAS3, a not-for profit company established to develop Dutch sensors that could have significant impacts on oil recovery in Canada and globally.

At a ceremony hosted at the Official Residence of the Canadian Ambassador to the Netherlands on March 5th, Minister Norris and Dr. Wilson signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with INCAS3 towards the creation of a not-for-profit company to develop and deploy micro-sensor technology to the oil industry.

“The research being conducted by the PTRC and INCAS3 could have significant implications for the oil industry in Canada, and in particular Saskatchewan. The cooperation is a great example of two not-for-profit companies sharing knowledge and expertise to solve key industrial and environmental issues,” said Mr. James Lambert, the Canadian Ambassador to the Netherlands. “As in many other industries where our institutions and companies work collaboratively, both countries can benefit from the research and improvements initiatives of this nature bring.”

“Through this new Canadian/Dutch company we have the opportunity to apply our expertise to challenging measurement problems, like oil reservoir charting, in an environment that provides the ultimate test for the robustness and reliability of our sensor systems”, says John van Pol, Managing Director of INCAS³.

March 6th saw the signing of a second MOU between CATO-2, the University of Utrecht, the PTRC and University of Regina at the head offices of TNO (the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research) in Delft. TNO is the organization that manages the CATO consortium. The MOU covers a wide variety of potential collaborations related to CCS, from exchange of graduate students and researchers, to sharing of research results and collaborative projects.

“Linking the PTRC’s world-class research into carbon storage and enhanced oil recovery with two organizations in Europe that offer potential solutions to major challenges in Saskatchewan in particular is a win-win situation for both Canadian and Dutch researchers,” noted Dr. Wilson, “and of course the PTRC has a wealth of knowledge to share with our colleagues in Europe about the successful implementation of CCS projects.”

Dr. Jan Brouwer of CATO-2 concurred.

“Whereas climate skepticism seems to be the buzz-word nowadays, it is good to see that some countries take their responsibility and invest in technology development that will help us in the transition to a clean and sustainable society. I welcome the cooperation between PTRC and CATO and trust that the formalization of such cooperation through signing an MOU will encourage interaction of, and be beneficial to, R&D communities in both countries.”

About the Organizations

TNO

TNO is an independent innovation organisation. TNO connects people and knowledge to create innovations that sustainably boost the competitive strength of industry and the welfare of society.

TNO’s more than 4000 professionals work on practicable knowledge and solutions for the problems of global scarcity. TNO focuses its efforts on seven themes including Energy Through Innovations. TNO is working to ensure a sustainable, efficient and secure energy supply.

CATO-2

CATO-2 is the Dutch national R&D programme for CO2 capture, transport and storage in which a consortium of nearly 40 partners cooperate. The CATO-2 programme is a demand driven R&D programme and focuses on facilitating and enabling integrated development. This means that government and industries set the priorities within the research programme: the ‘problem owners’ are leading. The core of the CATO-2 programme consists of 11 sites that each offer opportunities for applied research on CCS.

INCAS³

INCAS³ is an independent, non‐profit research institute founded in 2008 to create a bridge between basic knowledge and the practical applicability of sensor systems. INCAS³ focuses on the reliability, reduction of energy usage and the applicability of sensor systems in open environments. The research is carried out on its premises in Assen by doctoral students, postdocs and senior scientists in combination with a team of excellent engineers.

INCAS³ is co‐financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Province of Drenthe, the European Fund for Regional Development and the Municipality of Assen.

PTRC

The PTRC is a not‐for‐profit research and development company founded in 1998 that directs world‐leading scientific and engineering research into hydrocarbon energy production and carbon storage. Located in Regina Saskatchewan, the PTRC uses R&D to advance and support the recovery of western Canada’s rich but often difficult to access and monetize oil resources. Its Business‐Led Network of Centres of Excellence in enhanced oil recovery (STEPS network) is expanding its research from heavy oil to tight and conventional oil as well as extra‐heavy resources like oil sands.

The award ceremony took place on January 20 in The Hague during the IMDI-Talent symposium. Mike received a nice plaque and 1,500 euros from chairman of the jury Cathy van Beek (University Medical Center Nijmegen). The other members of the jury were Josée Hansen (Health Care Inspectorate) en Hans Hofstraat (Philips Research). It is the first time that IMDI, the Innovative Medical Devices Initiative NL, granted this award.

Mike is honored that his thesis again has won a prize. In 2011 his thesis was awarded with the Thesis Prize of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) Netherlands. (read Mike’s blog) Details on the project and results can be found on the ISPO website.

Currently Mike is doing his PhD research at INCAS3 in the SPRINT project that aims to reduce falls in elderly people by using sensor systems and serious games to train balance right in their home environment.

The cognitive sensor systems chair focusses on turning data into information by learning from humans functioning in open environments. This means designing methods and systems that are capable of learning, that are aware of their situation and that can be handled by experts as well as laymen.

Prof. Sibrand Poppema, president of the University of Groningen: “Sensor technology is one of the focus areas within the North of the Netherlands and enabling for almost any application and research field. Through the collaboration with INCAS³ we will extend our high ranking research into challenging application fields, like healthcare and energy.”

“Within the international scientific community there is a tremendous amount of knowledge on sensor systems”, adds Heinrich Wörtche, scientific director of INCAS³. “However, this knowledge originates primarily from mono-disciplinary research focusing on specific applications in typical laboratory environments. Demands by society and industry commonly opt for broad applicability in living environments, requiring a wide range of disciplines and, thus, cannot be solved directly by an academic group. Within its multidisciplinary research programs, INCAS³ enhances the available scientific knowledge to solve societal and industrial challenges.”.

The University of Groningen already collaborates with INCAS³ in a number of fields, among which the interregional project SmartBot; a German-Dutch research program with a volume of over eight million euro focused on the development of intelligent robot systems.

Since its foundation INCAS³ has received requests for customer specific developments that could not be supported by the generic sensor system developments. “Combining science and industry was always our focus and Otigy enables to make the next step. The first results of our research are getting in shape to be transferred to market.”, says Heinrich Wörtche, scientific director of INCAS³ and Otigy’s CTO.

One example is the INCAS³ software and hardware model implementation of the human cochlea, the auditory portion of the inner ear. The artificial cochlea, which is enabling to analyze the response of a human to sound in real-time, has the potential to play an important role in the development of hearing aids. The model, which can also be extended to describe the sound perception of mammals, might become a tool to investigate e.g. the sensitivity of whales or dolphins to man-made sounds in natural environments.

Otigy will make use of the INCAS³ membership model to obtain the required access to INCAS³ intellectual property. The membership model distinguishes three levels: Platinum, Gold and Silver. Depending on the level, members obtain one or more non-exclusive licenses to INCAS³ intellectual property. John van Pol, managing director of INCAS³ and CEO of Otigy: “Although we strive for a large number of INCAS³ members, we realize that primarily smaller companies do not have the means to transfer the ideas into projects. Otigy is an answer to this, enabling also smaller companies to make use of the INCAS³ developments.”.

Mr. Koopmans was involved with INCAS³ from the foundation and his support was very important in building INCAS³. We are grateful for his contribution and wish him all the best in his future ventures.

For more information please contact the PhD student, Yafei Wang (yafeiwang (at) incas3.eu).

Collaboration between Japanese and Dutch top scientists in Assen

How does sound impact our living environment? Which sounds are pleasant? How do people perceive their sonic environment? This is the subject of a scientific research project which will get underway this coming month in Assen. The research is a collaboration between the Japan Institute of the Acoustic Environment and INCAS3.
During the research, prototype sound measurement instruments will be placed at several locations around Assen. These instruments will be linked to a system that is able to construct meaningful information by automatically analyzing the gathered data. At the same time, people’s evaluations will be collected at the same locations through field surveys.

By combining information on sounds and their evaluations from people, the research team will be able to construct a sound map of Assen. The map will show, for example, the city’s most pleasant location, or where the most birds can be heard. The municipality can also use this kind of information to identify the functionality of locations in a city or for harmonizing environmental sounds in case of complications in some area.

About the Japan Institute of the Acoustic Environment

The Japan Institute of the Acoustic Environment is a non-profit, independent organization that promotes research studies on the acoustic environment and its related subjects as well as publicizing the results obtained.

Both the PTRC and INCAS³ – as not for profit organizations focused on research, development and deployment of new technologies – are pleased to have found common ground for advancing science and innovation. With over 13 years managing and conducting research into better enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods, the PTRC has a track record of identifying and fostering the development of technologies that could help improve recovery rates.

Networking with INCAS³ offers unique synergies – through the application of sensor systems to help model and measure the structures of Canada’s oil reservoirs – that may help identify where problems exist within those reservoirs and how best to optimize existing recovery methods such as cold heavy oil production with sand (CHOPS).

“Recovery from existing heavy oil fields in Saskatchewan averages only about 5-8%,” noted Malcolm Wilson, the CEO of the PTRC. “If we can better characterize these reservoirs, and pinpoint where problems are occurring within them, then we can tailor existing recovery methods to push that rate up to 15 or 20%, ideally. That means a lot more money into the economy, and possibly more energy efficient processes for getting hydrocarbons out of the ground.”

One of the biggest obstacles in heavy oil production, particularly in the fields that exist along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, is the production of sand that comes up with the oil, leading to the creation of what are referred to in the industry as “wormholes”. These spaces within the reservoir affect production rates, often interfering with the flow of oil out of the reservoir, and are particularly problematic because it is almost impossible to identify their location and shape. Technologies to help identify and overcome wormholes could significantly increase the rate of return from heavy oil reservoirs – from a current average of 8% to as high as 20% – resulting in billions of dollars in additional revenues for governments.

“We believe that INCAS³ has the cognitive sensor systems, and is developing sensor nodes and advanced controls that could be extremely useful in helping to identify wormholes. Being a world leader in the development of these sorts of sensors may make INCAS³’s extensive network of scientists an important resource for our own researchers.”

John Van Pol, Managing Director of INCAS³, noted that bringing together the PTRC’s EOR and INCAS³ researchers at a workshop to determine a roadmap for solving “wormhole” challenges will be an important first step.
“We plan to help organize a workshop on the measurement and structure of western Canada’s oil reservoirs. The goal will be to outline a possible roadmap for solving the appearance and monitoring of wormholes during cold heavy oil production with sand, and then initiate the execution of that roadmap.”

Both the PTRC and INCAS³ hope the networking opportunities developed through this MOU – and the workshop being planned this November 3-4 in the Netherlands – will contribute towards a wormhole research component within the PTRC’s Sustainable Technologies for Energy Production Systems (or STEPS) enhanced oil recovery research program. STEPS is a Business-Led Network of Centres of Excellence established in 2009 with funding from the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan, with additional sponsorship from the private sector, to help advance oil recovery in Canada.

About the PTRC
The PTRC is a not-for-profit research and development company founded in 1998 that directs world-leading scientific and engineering research into hydrocarbon energy production and carbon storage. Located in Regina Saskatchewan, the PTRC uses R&D to advance and support the recovery of western Canada’s rich but often difficult to access and monetize oil resources. Its Business-Led Network of Centres of Excellence in enhanced oil recovery (STEPS network) is expanding its research from heavy oil to conventional oil and extra-heavy resources like oil sands. STEPS aims to become the national focus for leading-edge scientific research and engineering development of oil recovery methods.

We would kindly refer you to the announcement and the In Memoriam on the website of the University of Groningen.

“INCAS³ is not only an investor in Target Holding bv but is also an important strategic partner for acquiring sensor projects which need large-scale data storage,” says Gert-Jan van Dijk, Managing Director of Target Holding.

John van Pol, Managing Director of INCAS³, confirms their joint interest: “INCAS³ focuses on sensor projects which demand large-scale data storage. The relationship with Target Holding bv gives us access to the methods and facilities to make this data storage possible.”