Bitumount: Difference between revisions
Starting rewrite to more encyclopedic style |
→History: Continuing rewrite |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
==History== |
==History== |
||
Work at Bitumont commenced after R.C. Fitzsimmons incorporated the International Bitumen Company Limited in 1925.<ref>[http://www.abheritage.ca/abresources/history/history_heroes_hydro_rc.html Alberta Online Encyclopedia: R.C. Fitzsimmons]</ref> By 1930 Fitzsimmons had constructed a small oil extraction plant at Bitumont and made the first sale of commercially produced bitumen. Fitzsimmons' approach was to crush the raw oil sand, heat it in hot water, and then skim off the oily substance that rose to the surface. The ''[[Edmonton Journal]]'' gushed that “those shipments of absolutely pure bitumen are the first and second and only shipments in the history of McMurray tar sands to be made for commercial purposes and it certainly (augurs) well for the future development of the much talked of tar sands of northern Alberta."<ref name="LM">{{cite web|last1=McKenzie-Brown, Peter (10 April 2011)|title=Rampant optimisim, tremendous drive.|url=https://languageinstinct.blogspot.ca/2011/04/rampant-optimism-tremendous-drive.html|website=Language matters: studies in energy, history and language|accessdate=22 October 2017}}</ref> After running short of capital, Fitzsimmons sold the operation to Lloyd Champion in 1943.<ref>[http://archive1.macs.ualberta.ca/FindingAids/Champion/83-160.html] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811174627/http://archive1.macs.ualberta.ca/FindingAids/Champion/83-160.html |date=August 11, 2011 }}</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | Champion's company agreed to buy the plant within a period of ten years for the original investment of $250,000. The cost of the plant was $750,000, however. A legal claim against Oil Sands Limited resulted in the province taking possession of the plant and property at Bitumount. The plant consisted of a separation unit, a dehydrating unit and a refinery. The plant conducted successful tests using the Clark hot water process in 1948/49 then closed, partly because the recent [[Leduc No. 1|Leduc]] discoveries had lessened interest in the oil sands. |
||
Located 89 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, the plant used a process similar to the hot-water separation process developed by Dr. [[Karl Clark (chemist)|Karl Clark]] of the [[Alberta Research Council]], but without the refinements. In essence, Fitzsimmons' approach was to heat [[bitumen]] ore in hot water, then skim off the oily gunk that rose to the surface. These efforts were only half as efficient in terms of oil recovery as Clark had achieved with his process, but in the early years they generated a profit. After his company made its first deliveries, the ''[[Edmonton Journal]]'' gushed that “those shipments of absolutely pure bitumen are the first and second and only shipments in the history of McMurray tar sands to be made for commercial purposes and it certainly (augurs) well for the future development of the much talked of tar sands of northern Alberta.<ref name="LI">[http://languageinstinct.blogspot.com/2011/04/rampant-optimism-tremendous-drive.html Language Matters: Rampant Optimism, Tremendous Drive]</ref> |
|||
When the Alberta government became disenchanted with federal efforts in the oil sands and decided to build its own experimental plant at Bitumount, the province engaged Oil Sands Limited to construct the plant. |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
The plant was down, but not out. In 1953 Lloyd Champion, who had acquired the plant during [[World War II]] began forming the Great Canadian Oil Sands consortium, based on his oil sands assets and his business acumen and drive. That effort lurched from crisis to crisis until Alberta Premier [[Ernest Manning]] brought his friend, [[J. Howard Pew]], into the conversation. As the chairman of Philadelphia-based [[Sun Oil]] Company, Pew soon became the primary financial backer of the project. As a result, the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant (today the Suncor oil sands plant) went into operation in 1967<ref name="LI" /> - the year of Canada's Centennial celebrations. |
The plant was down, but not out. In 1953 Lloyd Champion, who had acquired the plant during [[World War II]] began forming the Great Canadian Oil Sands consortium, based on his oil sands assets and his business acumen and drive. That effort lurched from crisis to crisis until Alberta Premier [[Ernest Manning]] brought his friend, [[J. Howard Pew]], into the conversation. As the chairman of Philadelphia-based [[Sun Oil]] Company, Pew soon became the primary financial backer of the project. As a result, the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant (today the Suncor oil sands plant) went into operation in 1967<ref name="LI" /> - the year of Canada's Centennial celebrations. |
||
Revision as of 04:31, 22 October 2017
 | This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. (September 2013) |
Bitumount is an abandoned industrial site that lies along the east bank of the Athabasca River about 80 km north of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, Canada. It includes facilities to extract bitumen from oil sands, and related buildings. Efforts at Bitumont between the 1930s and 1955 resulted in the development of a commercially extraction viable process. Some of the structures at Bitumont were declared Provincial Historic Resources in 1974, but little maintenance has been done and, as of 2017, the buildings are deteriorating.[1]
History
Work at Bitumont commenced after R.C. Fitzsimmons incorporated the International Bitumen Company Limited in 1925.[2] By 1930 Fitzsimmons had constructed a small oil extraction plant at Bitumont and made the first sale of commercially produced bitumen. Fitzsimmons' approach was to crush the raw oil sand, heat it in hot water, and then skim off the oily substance that rose to the surface. The Edmonton Journal gushed that “those shipments of absolutely pure bitumen are the first and second and only shipments in the history of McMurray tar sands to be made for commercial purposes and it certainly (augurs) well for the future development of the much talked of tar sands of northern Alberta."[3] After running short of capital, Fitzsimmons sold the operation to Lloyd Champion in 1943.[4]
Champion's company agreed to buy the plant within a period of ten years for the original investment of $250,000. The cost of the plant was $750,000, however. A legal claim against Oil Sands Limited resulted in the province taking possession of the plant and property at Bitumount. The plant consisted of a separation unit, a dehydrating unit and a refinery. The plant conducted successful tests using the Clark hot water process in 1948/49 then closed, partly because the recent Leduc discoveries had lessened interest in the oil sands.
The plant was down, but not out. In 1953 Lloyd Champion, who had acquired the plant during World War II began forming the Great Canadian Oil Sands consortium, based on his oil sands assets and his business acumen and drive. That effort lurched from crisis to crisis until Alberta Premier Ernest Manning brought his friend, J. Howard Pew, into the conversation. As the chairman of Philadelphia-based Sun Oil Company, Pew soon became the primary financial backer of the project. As a result, the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant (today the Suncor oil sands plant) went into operation in 1967[5] - the year of Canada's Centennial celebrations.
In present times, the site is greatly neglected, although caretakers occasionally cut the grass. Buildings that do not have their roofs or walls collapsed are boarded up. The buildings made of concrete are still in good condition, although the elements are slowly retaking the wooden buildings, including Fitzgerald's original cabin. All existing windows are broken. Much of the original equipment still exists, but is also in an enormous state of disrepair. [6][7]
See also
References
- ^ David Murray Architect. "Bitumont Historic Site". Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ Alberta Online Encyclopedia: R.C. Fitzsimmons
- ^ McKenzie-Brown, Peter (10 April 2011). "Rampant optimisim, tremendous drive". Language matters: studies in energy, history and language. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ [1] Archived August 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
LIwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/back-to-bitumount-how-the-oil-sands-changed-alberta-and-canadaforever/article35528769/
- ^ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/back-to-bitumount-how-the-oil-sands-changed-alberta-and-canadaforever/article35528769/
Further reading
- J. Joseph Fitzgerald, Black Gold with Grit, Gray's Publishing (1978) ISBN 0-8882-6075-X
- Peter McKenzie-Brown, Gordon Jaremko, David Finch, The Great Oil Age, Brush Education (1993) ISBN 1-55059-072-3
- Robert Bott, Our Petroleum Challenge: Sustainability into the 21st Century, Canadian Centre for Energy Information (report, 2004)
