Radio Frequency Enhanced Oil Recovery – RF XL Commercial Pilot Test

Acceleware Ltd.


Project Type

Demonstration

Project Value

$28,200,000

Project Status

Completed

Location

Calgary and Marwayne, Alberta

Funding Amount

$5,000,000

Electromagnetic Heating Technology to Reduce Oilsands Emissions

Approved for funding through ERA and Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s (SDTC) joint call in 2017, Acceleware began construction of a commercial-scale pilot of its Radio Frequency Enhance Oil Recovery (RF XL) technology. By its completion in 2023, the project completed initial demonstration of the core heating technology and began subsurface upgrade work, but faced challenges in demonstrating full commercial implementation.

Acceleware developed RF XL is an electric, scalable, on-demand and highly efficient heating technology that uses radio frequency energy to generate heat, displacing fossil fuel reliant heating systems that are emissions intensive and costly. This subsurface heating system is designed to operate with horizontal wells of commercial length aiming to economically decarbonize production of heavy oil and oil sands. RF XL acts as a replacement for steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), the largest source of oilsands emissions today. RF XL replaces natural gas combustion, currently used to produce heat for SAGD, with a near-zero emissions approach to electrification of heat, involving direct or indirect use of renewable power. The technology requires no central processing facility and therefore is less costly, uses significantly less land, and unlike other oilsands production methods, results in no residual tailings. RF XL uses radio waves to heat the water already present in the reservoir to efficiently mobilize heavy oil and bitumen, eliminating the need for water source wells, water treatment equipment, steam generators, and chemicals or solvents.

This project aimed to demonstrate the operability of Acceleware’s energy generation component, Clean Tech Inverter (CTI), at high power over a sustained period and deploy the RF XL system downhole in an oil-producing well as a commercial-scale pilot.

Pilot Progress Made, But More Subsurface Demonstration Work Needed

The project developed and deployed all aspects of a commercial scale pilot at a wellsite they owned in Marwayne, Alberta. This included drilling the wells, completing a horizontal well system with RF XL components, and energizing the CTI and RF XL. The project validated drilling and completion of a commercial length RF XL well pair, showing that heat can be transferred to the reservoir using this technology. The pilot and high-power field testing proved the performance of the CTI as an electrification engine that converts power into radio frequency energy, demonstrating that the CTI can operate successfully at full power.

The RF XL system’s power performance was limited, however, and failed to fully demonstrate the technology. It delivered significantly lower than planned level of power, due to mechanical and operational implementation issues with the well that was drilled. This led to a need for design modifications and upgrades for the subsurface components of the RF XL system. Ultimately, more wells will need to be drilled to fully demonstrate and commercialize the technology, adding significant cost. The ERA-supported pilot was paused, while further subsurface upgrade work aimed at improving performance and longevity remains in progress. However, this experience shows the challenges of implementing such step-changes to SAGD operations.

What’s next?

Acceleware has several plans, options, and actions documented to resolve system limitations in an operational environment. Subsurface components upgrading and repair and additional field demonstrations will continue. Acceleware is also investigating alternatives for operations to restart the pilot. Upon successful completion of the Marwayne pilot, Acceleware aims to deploy one or more RF XL systems with operators in Canada or internationally.

Long term, implementation of an electrification approach to oilsands extraction will require significant operational overhaul, as well as ample access to clean electricity, which is not currently available in Alberta. It is conceivable that, should market conditions change dramatically, the oilsands could reconsider implementing this technology in the future, depending on how it compares against alternatives – but this remains uncertain. In addition to the potential to replace SAGD, Acceleware is doing work on the decarbonization of other heavy emitting industrial heating applications – specifically, on the drying of mining ore and agricultural products and the production of hydrogen via methane pyrolysis. These applications appear promising, and are in the early exploration and demonstration stages, but could be alternative pathways for commercialization of the RF XL technology.