Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/18/2019 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Presentation: Oil and Mining Solutions at the University of Alaska | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 18, 2019
3:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Chris Birch, Chair
Senator Lora Reinbold
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Scott Kawasaki
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Jesse Kiehl
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: OIL AND MINING SOLUTIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
ALASKA
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DR. WILLIAM SCHNABEL, Dean
College of Engineering and Mines
University of Alaska-Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the examination of the Oil and
Mining Solutions at the University of Alaska.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:30:19 PM
CHAIR CHRIS BIRCH called the Senate Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Present at the call to order were
Senators Kawasaki, Bishop, Reinbold, and Chair Birch.
^PRESENTATION: Oil and Mining Solutions at the University of
Alaska
PRESENTATION: Oil and Mining Solutions at the University of
Alaska
3:30:52 PM
CHAIR BIRCH announced that the committee will hear a
presentation from the University of Alaska on oil and mining
solutions. He read the following statement:
As we all know, Alaska holds tremendous potential for
oil, gas, and minerals development. The U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) estimates the potential for
nearly 40 billion barrels of oil and over 200 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas in Arctic Alaska, and the
Department of Commerce reports that Alaska is ranked
as one of the top 15 locations in the world for known
resources of important minerals like zinc, silver,
gold, copper, and rare earth metals; but, in order to
develop these resources and maximize benefits to the
state and to our economy, we will have to overcome
technical obstacles to development and we will need a
skilled workforce.
Here today to show us how our university system is
working to do both is Dr. William Schnabel, Dean of
the University of Alaska-Fairbanks College of
Engineering and Mines.
3:31:56 PM
DR. WILLIAM SCHNABEL, Dean, College of Engineering and Mines,
University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, provided an
overview of his educational background. He explained that his
duties as dean are to oversee the university's education and
research missions.
He said the University of Alaska (UA) has three primary
missions: teaching, community service, and research. Many
missions at the UA are focused on industrial and resource
development because Alaska is a resource development state.
3:34:18 PM
He addressed student success and detailed graduation rates from
2009-2018 for engineering and engineering related science
degrees. Over 2,700 students have graduated with engineering or
computer science degrees from UA-Anchorage and UA-Fairbanks over
the past decade. He noted that the state will need approximately
600 new engineers or computer scientists, but the UA is
graduating approximately 270 students per year.
DR. SCHNABEL opined that industry in Alaska wants Alaska-trained
engineers. Alaska-trained engineers generally are people who
grew up in the state and UA graduates know that most resource
development is outdoors, out where there is permafrost, cold,
and a remote environment. He pointed out in a photo where UA
students where outdoors in the wilderness with their geological
engineering professors learning their trade.
He said there is a big advantage for industry in having students
that are trained in Alaska. Universities in the Lower 48 do not
know about permafrost and conditions like Alaskans do. Students
that graduate from the UA and go into the engineering workforce
tend to stay in the state. Companies that invests in a new
employee from Alaska will find that the employee will tend to
stay in Alaska, a fact that is important to industry.
3:37:52 PM
SENATOR KAWASAKI noted that Dr. Schnabel said approximately 600
engineers are needed annually and UA was graduating
approximately 270 per year. He asked why UA cannot get to
graduating 600 engineers per year.
DR. SCHNABEL answered that there are only so many students in
Alaska. The UA has a lot of capacity to grow and the university
wants to move in that direction. An area of growth would be to
increase the number of female engineering students; however,
colleges across the nation average only 20-percent-female
students in engineering colleges. A way to get more engineers
into the workforce is to encourage young girls to get into
engineering.
SENATOR REINBOLD asked how many women were in UA's engineering
program.
3:39:41 PM
DR. SCHNABEL replied approximately 15-17 percent of the
engineering student body is female.
He opined that engineering is a profession that people find
fulfilling. Engineers trade in the question of, how you do
things, so the job of an engineer is to see a need and then to
visualize what needs to be built, constructed, or developed from
their vision, and then going through a step-by-step process of
creating the thing they visualized. Engineers that UA trains end
up having high paying jobs and fulfilling careers.
CHAIR BIRCH asked how the proposed budget cuts might affect UA's
engineering programs, noting that a 41-percent cut was proposed.
3:42:01 PM
DR. SCHNABEL answered that a 41-percent-budget cut would be
devasting to UA's engineering college. He said virtually all of
the UA's funding goes towards salaries and programs.
SENATOR REINBOLD asked if research has been done in combining
the UA's three systems into one system. She said she was told by
the previous UA president that the university's union contracts
were driving up costs. She noted that the UA's Eagle River
campus is in the black because local buildings are used like the
local high school's building. She said she did not want to hurt
UA's engineering program but asked for the UA to be innovative
at a high level to find ways to address its budget. She noted
that the UA accounted for $14 billion to $16 billion from the
state's savings over the past 5 years.
DR. SCHNABEL answered that the UA has looked at the option of
combining the Anchorage and Fairbanks engineering colleges and
the numbers did not indicate that much money if any would be
saved by combining into one school. He said he could not speak
for combining the entirety of the UA's colleges, but noted that
having separate presences in Anchorage and Fairbanks makes sense
from the engineering side.
3:45:22 PM
He referenced UAF's "Mining and Geological Engineering" as
follows:
• Vital workforce and professional expertise for developing
Alaska's resources.
• Dates back to the University's founding.
• Job placement rate nearly 100 percent after graduation.
• Over 65 students currently enrolled in mining and
geological engineering.
He noted that UA's research is tied to the goals of the state.
The engineering college is interested in development, so a lot
of research projects are closely tied to the goals of the state,
which helps industry in solving some of their issues, therefore
students benefit by working on the very problems they are going
to face in the working world. Also, students benefit from
working directly with companies that they might work for after
graduation.
CHAIR BIRCH asked what the starting salary is for an engineering
graduate.
DR. SCHNABEL answered that starting salaries are in the $100,000
range for mining and geological engineering graduates. There is
high demand for engineers and the mining industry pays qualified
people well.
CHAIR BIRCH noted that University of Alaska-Southeast (UAS) has
a program that provides technology training for local mines:
Coeur Alaska-Kensington Gold Mine and the Hecla Greens Creek
Mine. He asked if UAF was affiliated with the UAS program.
DR. SCHNABEL answered that the University of Alaska is
affiliated with the two mines.
3:49:20 PM
He noted that both the mining and petroleum industries are
interested in the UA doing research as well as tackling some of
their specific problems. The UA is good at doing experiments
with multiple scenarios in a lab environment because there is a
place for research with respect to optimizing processes. He
reiterated that students benefit from doing research for the
industry that they will ultimately be working in.
He addressed "Artic mine water remediation at Red Dog Mine" and
detailed as follows:
• Goal:
o Use bacteria from the mine site to remedy acid mine
water at Red Dog Mine.
• Benefits:
o Ecologically sound remediation method,
o Supports resource development in the arctic on state
and ANCSA land holdings.
He explained that the biological treatment process is used where
sulfate-reducing bacteria anaerobically takes sulfate in the
water and transforms it into sulfides which allows metals to be
precipitated out. The bacteria used in the process is generally
found on site in a cold weather environment that works in low
pH. The hope is to create a biological treatment process by
helping to improve the mine tailings' water that ultimately
reduces treatment costs for the mine.
3:52:45 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD asked if the anaerobic bacteria process is
dangerous to humans.
DR. SCHNABEL answered that when working with any bacteria it is
important to be careful with respect to human health. He said
his gut answer is no, the bacteria are not dangerous to humans
because it is found on site.
SENATOR REINBOLD opined that larger quantities of anaerobic
bacteria may present a different challenge.
DR. SCHNABEL addressed "Increasing flotation yield" as follows:
• Goal:
o Improving metal recovery in the mineral processing
plant.
• Benefits:
o Directly improves mine economics,
o Helps sustain a key economic driver in the state.
He summarized that flotation is a way to concentrate ores by
separating what you want from what you don't want. Ore is
crushed into a power, a slurry is made, the slurry is placed in
flotation tanks, bubbles and additives are added, agitation
occurs, and the result is some minerals will float and others
will not. Flotation is highly dependent on the chemistry of the
ore. When going through a mine's ore body, the ore's chemistry
changes. The objective is to work with a mine's current ore
chemistry to optimize yields. UA can provide mines with hard
data that allows mines to maximize their yields.
3:55:43 PM
He addressed "Opportunity and demand for skilled workers" as
follows:
• World-class underground surface-mine-training facility.
• Alaska Miners Association identified priority occupations:
o Mill process operators,
o Mechanics,
o Underground miners.
• UA maximizes industry partnerships, federal grants, and
philanthropic giving to train Alaskans for resource jobs.
DR. SCHNABEL addressed "Training mill operators" and detailed
that the UAF created a dynamic mill simulator that allows
students to use a computer simulation. The UAF designed and
developed the nation's only mine-mill simulator. The simulator
is used by the mining industry both domestically and
internationally.
3:58:48 PM
He addressed "Petroleum engineering" as follows:
• Education for oil and gas development in the home of the
largest oil field in North America.
• Ninety-eight percent of UA's graduates placed in oil and
gas industry after graduation.
• Over 65 students currently enrolled at UAF.
He said the UA's petroleum engineering program is important for
several reasons:
• Produces engineers across the state.
• Engineers are serving state government and the legislature
to help advise on current issues for policymaking.
CHAIR BIRCH asked how many engineers remain in the state after
graduation.
DR. SCHNABEL replied that most of the mining graduates stay in
Alaska while a higher percentage of petroleum engineers go out
of state. The petroleum industry generally moves their people
around a lot.
4:00:48 PM
He addressed "Heavy oil enhanced oil recovery" project as
follows:
• First ever field pilot on Alaska's North Slope to validate
use of polymer floods.
• Potentially produce 10 percent more heavy oil than current
technology used on the North Slope.
He said heavy oil is an important resource to the State of
Alaska. There is approximately 25-billion barrels of heavy oil
stranded on the North Slope. Heavy oil is very viscous and hard
to get out of the ground. Using heat to extract heavy oil
impacts permafrost. Injecting or flooding with polymer is a way
to get heavy oil out of the ground. Flooding water laced with
polymer will stick together and push the heavy oil through the
ground. Hilcorp Energy is interested in testing flooding with
polymer in a cold environment and partnered with the UA via a
$9-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The UA
flooding studies are underway with an injection well at Milne
Point on the North Slope.
CHAIR BIRCH noted polymer usage in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
System (TAPS) as a drag reducing lubricant agent to increase
output above the pipeline's design capacity.
4:04:16 PM
DR. SCHNABEL addressed "Energy Research Consortium of Alaska
(ERCA)" as follows:
• Pair industry with university researchers and assets.
• Collaboratively address research needs and gaps.
• Further technology that shapes the future of energy.
• Fully utilize the expertise of UA.
He said the consortium addresses problems that everyone in the
industry really needs to see solved. The consortium commenced in
2017 and three problem themes were identified:
1. Coastal and offshore issues.
2. Changing permafrost with respect to oil production.
3. Subsurface imaging using geophysics to image reservoirs.
4:06:46 PM
He noted that the consortium chose oil and changing permafrost
to focus on and detailed issues as follows:
• Well-casing stability and damage due to soil compaction.
• Permafrost effects on roads, pads, pipelines, and
permafrost ramifications from well heat.
• Research funding consideration by two major companies.
He summarized that the permafrost issue revolves around the
affects from moving hot liquids through wellbores that is
surrounded by soil that needs to be frozen. The oil-and-gas
industry is working with UA because nobody in the U.S. has more
institutional knowledge about building on permafrost.
SENATOR REINBOLD asked if Dr. Schnabel could share the names of
the two companies that are interested in the permafrost project.
DR. SCHNABEL answered that he would rather not at the current
time until a formal agreement is reached.
4:09:46 PM
He addressed "Coal gasification" and noted that Alaska has a lot
of distributed coal resources. Coal gasification conversion into
Syngas has the potential to power diesel generators,
infrastructure that is already in place in many rural Alaska
communities. The challenge is coal gasifiers are proven
technologies on the gigawatt (equal to one billion watts) scale,
but rural Alaska communities operates on the kilowatt (equal to
one thousand watts) scale. The UAF is working on a project
funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to look at a coal
gasifier on the megawatt (equal to one million watts) scale.
He noted that UAF is at the end of a front-end engineering and
design study to look at if a coal gasifier will work at the
university. The U.S. Department of Energy has some potential
funding available if UAF thinks the coal gasifier is going to
work. The potential is to use Usibelli coal for gasification
into Syngas in the campus' large power generator. The project
would prove the potential to use Syngas on the megawatt scale
which is a step closer to the kilowatt scale.
He addressed "Prospective research: Employing Coal-Syngas to
promote renewable energy sources," and detailed potential Syngas
use to reduce air emissions in Fairbanks.
4:15:05 PM
He addressed "Resource industry training programs" as follows:
• The UA has trained over 1,500 workers for oil-and-gas and
mining industries in the past 5 years via the Mining and
Petroleum Training Service (MAPTS) and the Alaska Process
industries Careers Consortium.
• Eighty-five percent of MAPTS graduates are still employed
after graduation.
CHAIR BIRCH asked him to address the role of community colleges
for the oil-and-gas and mining industries.
DR. SCHNABEL answered that the UA offers associate degrees in
programs offered for Occupational Safety and Health via the
community college and university systems.
4:17:02 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD noted Dr. Schnabel's final statement, "A strong
engineering workforce is critical to Alaska's economic future."
She said she has a problem with the state's educational system
that recently aligned its math standards to the Common Core's
New Math. She opined that the Common Core's math standards are
detrimental to creating engineers.
DR. SCHNABEL replied that he is not familiar with the state's
math standards. He opined that math is critical to a successful
engineer. He admitted that some students coming into UA's
engineer program have trouble with math, some don't, but the
ones that end up graduating all get through UA's math program.
SENATOR REINBOLD encouraged Dr. Schnabel to be aware of the
state's Common Core math standards and its potential impact on
future engineers.
CHAIR BIRCH thanked Dr. Schnabel for his presentation. He noted
that the low percentage of female engineer students was the same
when he attended UAF's engineering program.
DR. SCHNABEL shared that he observed a recent math competition
for middle schoolers and half were girls who were really excited
to be good at math.
4:20:43 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Birch adjourned the Senate Resources Standing Committee
meeting at 4:20 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| University of Alaska Oil & Mining Solutions Presentation 2.18.19.pdf |
SRES 2/18/2019 3:30:00 PM |