Improving Oil Sands Extraction Performance

InnoTech Alberta and its predecessor organizations have played a significant role in developing hot-water bitumen extraction technologies and supporting the growth of Alberta’s oil sands industry. Today, we continue this legacy by helping industry develop and evaluate technologies that improve operational performance, reduce environmental impacts, and support lower-carbon oil sands production.

Whether you are developing a new extraction technology, evaluating a process improvement, or scaling an emerging innovation, InnoTech Alberta provides the expertise, testing capabilities, and pilot-scale infrastructure needed to move technologies from concept to implementation.

What's on this page?

How We Help

How We Help

Our Capabilities

Our Capabilities

From Concept to Scale-Up

From Concept to Scale-Up

Why Work With InnoTech Alberta

Why Work With InnoTech Alberta

How We Help

Organizations work with InnoTech Alberta to:

  • Evaluate new extraction technologies and process concepts
  • Improve bitumen recovery and process efficiency
  • Assess water-based and non-aqueous extraction approaches
  • Test equipment, chemicals, and process modifications
  • Generate performance data to support technology and investment decisions
  • Reduce development and scale-up risk

 

Our clients include:

  • Oil sands producers seeking operational improvements
  • Technology developers advancing new extraction concepts
  • Equipment manufacturers validating performance
  • Chemical suppliers evaluating product effectiveness
  • Organizations pursuing lower-carbon oil sands technologies

Our Capabilities

Extraction Technology Development

We help clients develop, evaluate, and optimize extraction technologies that improve recovery and overall process performance. Whether the goal is incremental improvement or transformational innovation, our team provides independent testing and technical expertise to support informed decision-making.

Water-Based Extraction

Our laboratory and pilot-scale facilities support evaluation of conventional water-based extraction processes under representative operating conditions. These capabilities help clients assess process performance, compare technologies, and identify opportunities for improvement.

Non-Aqueous Extraction

Alternative extraction technologies offer opportunities to reduce water use and improve overall process performance. We help organizations evaluate and validate non-aqueous extraction concepts from early-stage development through pilot-scale testing.

Process Optimization & Independent Evaluation

From equipment assessments to chemical evaluations, we help clients understand technology performance and identify opportunities to improve recovery, reduce operating costs, and support commercialization.

From Concept to Scale-Up

Successful innovation requires more than laboratory testing.

InnoTech Alberta provides integrated laboratory, bench-scale, and pilot-scale capabilities that allow technologies to be evaluated under increasingly representative operating conditions. This approach helps innovators generate the data required to support commercialization and deployment decisions.

Our specialized equipment  includes:

  • Batch Extraction Units (BEU)
  • Oil sands extraction loops
  • Flotation testing systems
  • Non-aqueous extraction facilities
  • Near-infrared and refractive-index analytical capabilities

Why Work With InnoTech Alberta

Whether you are evaluating a new extraction technology, optimizing an existing process, or preparing for pilot-scale deployment, InnoTech Alberta can help you generate the data and insights needed to move forward with confidence.