Edgar Acosta

Key Research Areas
Associated Researchers
Associated Organizations

Recent Research Projects

Remediation Education Network (RENEW)

2014/15-2019/20 • $1,650,000 • PI,CO
The Remediation Education Network (RENEW) is a CREATE program that will train the next generation of engineers and scientists in the interdisciplinary professional and technical skills they need to work at cleaning up the most challenging contaminated sites in Canada. Contamination of soil and...

Managing interface composition and hydrodynamics to enhance coalescence in froth treatment

2017/18-2019/20 • $298,052 • PI,CO
During oil sands extraction, a froth stream containing ~30 wt% water and ~10 wt% solids dispersed in bitumen (~ 60 wt%) is produced. Solids and water need to be removed to mitigate erosion, fouling and corrosion in downstream processes. In the naphthenic froth treatment (NFT) process, naphtha...

Interfacial curvature of surfactant systems

2019/20 • $28,000 • PI
The goal of the interfacial curvature program is to use chemical engineering principles to design products and processes involving Surfactant-Oil-Water (SOW) systems. We have used the hydrophilic-lipophilic-difference (HLD) + net-average curvature (NAC) as equation of state (EOS) for SOW systems...

Interfacial curvature of surfactants

2014/15-2018/19 • $220,000 • PI
The long-term goal of this interfacial curvature program is to develop a framework to predict the phase behaviour and dynamics of surfactant-oil-water (SOW) systems. This knowledge would enable using a chemical engineering approach (mass and energy balances, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics and...

Enabling the discovery and development of functional materials and technologies via confocal rheometry

2017/18 • $147,116 • PI,CO
Small scale technologies carry the potential for a revolutionary transformation of the discovery and development of new materials and therapeutics. A combination of the state-of-the-art microfluidic and nanofabrication research facilities at the Centre for Microfluidic Systems (CMS) in Chemistry...

Surfactants and microemulsions as flow conditioners for reservoirs

2017/18 • $25,000 • PI
The application seeks to understand the role of surfactants and terpene (orange oils) microemulsions infacilitating the transport of oil and gas through tight formations. This information will be of particular interestto the research partner, Engineered Chemistries Inc. (ECI), for the selection...

Extremely fine water-in-bitumen emulsions in oil sands extraction: Origins and Remedies

2016/17 • $289,576 • PI,CO
Alberta's oil sands reserves represent an extremely valuable natural resource for Canada. A significant factoraffecting operation efficiency and cost adversely is the need to produce bitumen free of emulsified water.Naphthenic froth treatment, a bitumen concentration process followed by the oil...

20/20: NSERC Ophthalmic Materials Network

2010/11-2014/15 • $4,220,600 • PI,CO
Vision, arguably the most critical of the senses, is dependent on healthy ocular tissues. Unfortunately, disease, aging and congenital defects affect the health of these tissues. 20/20: NSERC Network for the Development of Advanced Opthalmic Materials brings together 11 Canadian researchers from...

Interfacial curvature of surface active substances

2010/11-2013/14 • $120,000 • PI
During the current discovery grant a new surfactant characterization parameter, the characteristic curvature was introduced to describe the hydrophilic-lipophilic nature of ionic (Cc) and nonionic (Ccn) surfactants. Furthermore, these parameters were introduced into the Net-Average Curvature...

Microalgal biorefinery:Biofilm photo-reactor and extraction methods

2010/11-2012/13 • $230,000 • PI,CO
Microalgal technologies, used as a method of conversion of (sun)light to liquid fuels, hold several advantages over conventional crops: they can produce up to 100 times more biomass per unit of crop area; the lipid content of this biomass can be up to 70% (dry basis); the doubling time can be in...

Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES)

2011/12 • $127,727 • PI,CO
The requested equipment is an Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES), as the most reliable and sensitive method used for the rapid, simultaneous multi-element determinations at the ultra-trace level. The advanced analytical capabilities of the ICP-OES allow for high...

Acoustic - Electroacoustic Spectrometer (AES) for colloids characterization

2011/12 • $100,757 • PI,CO
The requested acoustic-electroacoustic spectrometer (AES) is an instrument that will be primarily utilized in determining the size and charge of particles and drops in suspensions and emulsions. Charge and size are important at the time of determining the estability of suspensions and emulsions....

Interfacial curvature of surface active substances

2010/11-2011/12 • $80,000 • PI
No summary

Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation for characterization of value-added biomaterials from underutilized biomass and activated sludge

2010/11 • $144,970 • PI,CO
No summary

Integrated process for the production of food and biofuel from mustard seed

2010/11 • $134,225 • PI,CO
Mustard is a major Canadian food crop. It grows in dry areas unsuitable for other cash crops. The Canadian mustard growers initiated the "Mustard 21" program to increase the revenues from mustard from $ 70 million to $ 570 million by 2021. Traditional food uses for mustard are saturated, but...

Integrated platform for delivery of nutraceuticals and micronutrients

2010/11 • $130,225 • PI,CO
It is clear that a healthy diet can significantly reduce the chances of developing devastating chronic or fatal diseases, including cancers,cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoprosis and neurodegenerative diseases. The new Canada Food Guide recommends a diet rich in fresh fruits and...

Development of nanometals for source zone remediation

2010/11 • $120,310 • PI,CO
Environment Canada estimates that 29% of the population consumes groundwater as their domestic water so protection of this resource is essential to the health and well-being of Canadians. Historically, the subsurface was thought to act as a natural filter of wastes injected into the ground. The...

Patents