Fort McMurray firm hopes to be an international diamond in the rough - OTC 2009

In the simplest terms it’s an extremely high-tech version of an ultrasonic jewellery cleaning machine.

Except the massive cleaning vessels built to specification by Fort McMurray-based Tech Sonics Service Ltd. are being used to clean grime from the jewels of the oil and gas industry in an environmentally sensitive way.

“We’ve been able to find a way to defy the science, at least take it to the next level,” said company General Manager Shawn Smith.

As a first-time participant with the Alberta contingent at The Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Smith said his company has been piquing the interest from some of the big international oil and gas players.

The company’s use of ultrasonic technology creates tremendous pressure and heat - up to 5,540 degrees C – to completely clean oil, heavy tar, bitumen and other contaminants from any piece of metal equipment.

Contaminants are removed in a very short period of time as compared to conventional methods such as pressure washing, steam, chemical dip tanks and manual scrubbing.

After being founded 10 years ago and having gone through product development and testing with the Alberta Research Council, the technology has been used with great success in recent years.

It is being used at both Syncrude’s and Suncor’s oil sands plants as well other oil, gas and petro-chemical industries. Vessels at the plants are as large as 20 feet but can be made as small as a jewellery cleaner or as big as a football field.

The company is now at 16 employees and Smith is now turning his attention globally. People are starting to pay attention.

“We’ve met with the Kuwaitis, the Saudis of the world… Nigeria. I’m very upbeat about the opportunities out there.”

Apart from the obvious benefits of extending product life and operational efficiency, Smith said there’s an environmental side benefit that many prospective partners find appealing.

Through engineering, the company has found a way to use much less energy than many thought feasible in ultrasonic tanks of this size.

Water use in minimized and solutions used to clean the parts do not contain harmful chemicals either.

“My real purpose here in working with the Government of Alberta is creating alliances around the world, leveraging relationships that can take our product into areas that I just wouldn’t be able to do on my own.”