Oilsands remediation and hybrid bearings research earn two Calgary high school students national innovation recognition

CHARLOTTETOWN, May 17, 2012 /CNW/ - A healthy dandelion sprouting through road pavement triggered curiosity in Kelcie Miller-Anderson about the potential of a different approach to remediating tailings ponds of Canada's oilsands industry.

And a penchant for improving on existing technology to provide greater benefits for society led 16 year-old Zeyu Liu to develop a hybrid magnetic bearing system that could broaden bearing applications to consumer products.

Both Calgary students earned national recognition for innovation from the Manning Awards at the 51^st Canada-Wide Science Fair this week at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Kelcie Miller-Anderson, 17, a Grade 12 student at Bishop Carroll High School, was named one of four Manning Young Canadian Innovators, and with it receives $4,500 and an invitation to the national Manning Innovation Awards gala in Ottawa this October. She also earned a CWSF Silver Medal and cash for her work in the resources category.  Zeyu Liu, 16, a Grade 11 student at Sir Winston Churchill High, received a $500 cash prize from the Manning Awards Foundation, and a national bronze medal for work developing a prototype magnetic bearing.

"The dandelion led me to question why it would thrive in a hydrocarbon-based environment, and that led me to consider a Science Fair project that might create a novel remediation method with the potential to treat both mature fine tailings, and the tailings water that result from oilsands production in northern Alberta," explained Miller-Anderson.  Initial findings from her research provided enough encouragement for her to consider future additional environmental remediation research at the University of Alberta which hosts an Oilsands Research Institute.

"Currently, oilsands tailings ponds cover some 170,000 square kilometres in northern Alberta, but an assured, effective and economic method of treatment has not been established.  As well, there are some 22,000 contaminated sites in Canada -- many of them petroleum-based - so the potential for breakthrough remediation is vast," she explained.

Her research was literally a basement-lab approach in her home.  Using sample tailings and associated water supplied by an oilsands producer, Kelcie treated the industrial waste with a residual fungus from the production of Oyster mushrooms which are grown and marketed in Alberta.  The mycelium (vegetative part of a fungus) would release enzymes that enable the breakdown of hydrocarbons, which will then be absorbed by fungi hyphae and transformed into fungal sugars. Her research showed a substantial reduction of petroleum hydrocarbons, naphthenic acids and pH levels and an enhanced sodium absorption ratio of both the tailings and the tailings pond water --- all major challenges to successful remediation.  Apart from these reductions of the levels of all major constituents of concern, the fungi was also shown to prompt the formation of a biofilm in all of the experiments, and the fungi was shown to cause consolidation among certain of the mature fine tailings. These are two additional findings that have potential in the objectives of the remediation research.

Hybrid Magnetic Bearing System

Zehu Liu passionately believes that the combination of technical skills and creativity are inherent in successful innovation evidenced by work in developing the hybrid magnetic bearing system.  Traditionally, magnetic bearings support high speed rotating machinery such as vacuum pumps, micro turbines and natural gas compressors, but are expensive and complicated for consumer products such as electric cars and wind turbines.  Liu designed and built a prototype alternative, using both electromagnets and permanent magnets which is more efficient than conventional mechanical bearings and uses less energy to operate than regular magnetic bearings.

"Even at the rudimentary stage of these innovative approaches to solve present-day challenges, these projects will be of interest to Canada's industrial and manufacturing sectors," said David B. Mitchell, president of the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation. "Oilsands producers recently formed an Oilsands Tailings Research Consortium to address ways to enhance environmental management in an industry that is at the very core of Canada's role as a global energy provider.  Zehu Liu's efforts will also help create new opportunity and remind us there is always room for improvement in whatever we do.  The curiosity, passion and subsequent innovative research of young minds epitomizes the value and potential of problem-solving creative thinking, which is what we encourage and applaud," said Mitchell.

Kelcie Miller-Anderson and Zehu Liu were among the approximately 25,000 young Canadians in Grades 7 through 12 who earlier this year competed in regional science fairs across the country. Of these students, 500 Finalists gathered at the 2012 Canada-Wide Science Fair, the showcase event of Youth Science Canada.

The Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation (www.manningawards.ca) introduced its Young Canadian Program in 1992 to recognize innovative Canada-Wide Science Fair projects. Each year a judging team selects eight winning projects, four of which earn $4,500 Manning Young Canadian Innovation Awards, and four others earn $500 Manning Innovation Achievement Awards. The eight awards were presented today in Charlottetown at the science fair awards ceremony.

Media Contact: Rosemarie Enslin, [email protected] 403 245 8321 1 866 545 6206.