• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.119-142
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• 2013

Pile load tests using Osterberg cells (O-cell) were conducted on cast-in-place concrete piles founded in oil sand fill and in situ oil sand at an industrial plant site in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Interpreted pile test results show that very high pile shaft resistance (with the Bjerrum-Burland or Beta coefficient of 2.5-4.5) against oil sand could be mobilized at small relative displacements of 2-3% of shaft diameter. Finite element simulations based on linear elastic and elasto-plastic models for oil sand materials were used to analyze the pile load test measurements. Two constitutive models yield comparable top-down load versus pile head displacement curves, but very different behaviour in mobilization of pile shaft and end bearing resistances. The elasto-plastic model produces more consistent matching in both pile shaft and end bearing resistances whereas the linear elastic under- and over-predicts the shaft and end bearing resistances, respectively. The mobilization of high shaft resistance in oil sand under pile load is attributed to the very dense and interlocked structure of oil sand which results in high matrix stiffness, high friction angle, and high shear dilation.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.130-138
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• 2017

The connector of the complex behavior is to connect the individual piles of the pile to the lower foundation of the oil sand plant where the floating foundation is used. In this study, to verify the shape of a connector of the complex behavior for applying the advantages of existing group pile and piled raft foundation to an oil sand plant, a scaled model was constructed to measure the behavior of the load.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.37-42
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• 2016

The demand for wireless technology in plant structure has recently been increasing due to several advantages such as installation cost reduction, easy placement, easy extension and aesthetic benefits. Among the many wireless technologies, ZigBee is one of the most useful for plant structure; a wireless plant networking system can be configured using ZigBee alone. This research proposes a ZigBee to use for extreme cold region and thereby enable integration of wired and wireless plant monitoring systems. In this study, in order to assess the performance of ZigBee measured data by thermocouple were examined based on the results from laboratory tests between existing ZigBee and developed ZigBee. From the experiment results, performance of developed ZigBee in harsh environment can be increased well.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2017

Recently, international attention has been focused on the development of non-traditional energy resources such as shale gas and oil sands, due to the steep increase in the demand for natural resources. The materials incorporated in an oil gas plant module experience extreme environments, and are prone to various problem such as fracture, corrosion and abrasion due to low-temperature brittleness. In order to improve the plant life, it is necessary to perform characteristics study and performance evaluation of the materials. In particular, this paper explains the main set of materials which are most frequently used in oil sands plant project. In order to investigate wear characteristics, the authors carried out abrasive wear tests of TP 316, stainless steel and SS 400, structural rolled steel. For the analysis of the abrasive wear resistance of an oil sands plant, the authors carried out the test according to ASTM G 105 "Standard Test Method for Conducting Wet Sand/Rubber Wheel Abrasion Test" standard guidelines. The authors have derived the results from the data associated with the loss of mass with respect to wear rate. During the test, for a given wear length for 10,000 revolutions, the rotational speed and applied force of the rubber wheel were varied.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.213-224
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• 2016

Non-conventional resource and alternative energy were researched for predicting oil peak. In this study, one of many non-conventional resources, specifically oil-sands, was investigated due to the increasing interest of oil-sands plant modularization in permaforst areas for reducing the construction periods through modular transportation while limiting local construction workers. Hence, tehcnological trends were analyzed for oil-sand plant modularization. Data used were between 1994 and 2015 for patent analysis while targets included Korea, US, Japan, Europe and Canada. Technology classification system consisted of mining, steam assisted gravity drainage(SAGD), separation/upgrading/tailors ponds, module design/packaging, module transportation and material/maintenance. Result of patent analysis, patent application accounts 89% in US and Canada. The main competitive companies were Shell, Suncor and Exxon-mobil. Unlike other oil developments, oil-sands have a long-term stable production characteristic, hence, it is important to ensure the competitiveness of oil-sands for obtaining a patent in the long run.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.451-460
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• 2019

In this study, a complex behavior connector is proposed to overcome the problems that may occur when small pile pipe and micro pile is used as a friction pile concept in the lower foundation of an oil sand plant where a piloti foundation is used. The individual settlement and heaving of piles were connected in one group to allow the composite behavior. This study performed to analyze the load carrying capacity to identify a complex behavior. In addition, the shape of the composite behavior connector was examined to apply the advantages of pile-group and piled raft foundations to oil sand plants. A scale model was constructed to measure the behavior of the load. The stability and weakness of the device were selected to determine the shape of the connector using the scale model testing.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.29-40
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• 2018

Oil sands, which are largely distributed in Canada and Venezuela, are a mixture of crude oil and sandy soils. In order to extract crude oil from oil sands, construction of massive oil sand plants is required. Generally, the typically-used foundation types of the oil sand plant are driven piles and cast-in-place piles. Most of the oil sand plants are located in cold and remote regions. Installation of driven piles in frozen or organic surface soils is difficult due to high resistance and installation equipment accessability, while the cast-in-place pile has concrete curing problem due to cold temperature. Helical pile can be installed quickly and easily using rotation with a little help of vertical load. As the installation of helical pile is available using a small and light-weight installation equipment, accessibility of installation equipment is improved. The helical pile has an advantage of easy removal by rotation in reverse direction compared with that of installation. Furthermore, reuse of removed helical piles is possible when the piles are structurally safe. In this study, the behavior of helical piles varying helix pitch was analyzed based on the numerical analysis results. Numerical model was calibrated based on the results of model helical pile tests in laboratory. The ultimate helical pile loads, the displacement of each helix attached to the shaft of the helical pile, and the load sharing ratio of each helix were analyzed.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.211-217
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• 2019

Oil extraction from oil sands, a non-traditional crude oil resource, is attracting attention as the oil price fluctuates due to recent economical and political issues. Many oil sands sites are mainly located in the polar regions. For plant construction to extract crude oil from oil sands in harsh environment of the polar regions, fast and simple installation of plant foundation is necessary. However, typically-used conventional foundations such as drilled shafts and driven piles are not suitable to construct under cold temperature and organic surface layers. In this study, helical piles enabling rapid and simple constructions using small rotary equipment without driving or excavation was considered. The helical pile consists of steel shaft and several helices attached to the steel shaft; therefore, the behavior of the helical pile depends on the number and shape of the helices. The effect of the helices' configuration (number and diameter of helices) on helical pile behavior was analyzed based on the numerical analysis results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.571-577
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• 2017

In this numerical study, the separation efficiency of three-phase separator in an oil-sand plant was studied with various inlet head configurations. The free water knockout (FWKO) vessel was designed with a flow rate of $15.89m^3/day$ (100 bbl/day) and the SOR(stream-to-oil ratio)=3.5 was derived using Stokes' law. For modularization, optimization of the design of the inlet head configuration was performed with parallel-connected dual FWKO vessels. The feed condition of bitumen emulsion was API=17, $T_{in}=150^{\circ}C$ and $P_{in}=50bar$. A mean residence time was determined the time when 95% of the oil and water in FWKO vessel was separated. The combination between the volume of fluid (VOF) and the discrete phase model (DPM) was used to simulate the phase separation phenomenon in a multi-phase separator. Furthermore, in order to calculate multi-phase flow the pseudo-transient method was adopted.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.43-47
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• 2016

Pile foundations constructed on extremely cold regions cause serviceability problems of superstructures from repeated actions of ground freezing and thawing. Oil sand module plants are mainly constructed on seasonal frozen ground. Due to the freezing and thawing actions of grounds, vertical movements of piles have been observed. To solve these erratic pile movement problems, thin vertical layer of PET aggregates is installed around the pile shaft to prevent potential unfavorable pile movements. There is no known method to calculate "thin PET aggregate layer" -surrounded pile shaft resistance (capacity) against vertical loads; therefore, this experimental research is conducted. Specifically, in this study, horizontal (normal) pressures on pile shaft were assessed varying PET aggregate layer thickness based on the experiment.