Making positive environmental changes.

• Author: Ubriaco, Gianni
• Position: SPECIAL PEPORT: HEALTH & SAFETY

Submersible Consulting and Engineering (SUBCOE), an original equipment Sudbury-based company with offices in Edmonton and Bulgaria, has been known for manufacturing switchgear and process automation systems for electric submersible pumps, but they also specialize in electrical engineering.

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In fact, they conduct industrial studies using ETAP, which is a power-modelling software that enables them to do power system designs and studies, as well as harmonic analysis and relay coordination.

"It gives us the ability to model their complete power system," explains SUBCOE's general manager Brian Burton. "Basically, it enables us to revue the power being used and to see if there are some cost-effective solutions to reduce the power consumption and the relative costs associated."

Currently, they're conducting a power study for Chevron, one of the largest integrated energy companies in the world, in Kazakhstan, which is the largest country of Central Asia. The company, which is headquartered in San Ramon, California and does business in approximately 180 countries, is involved in every aspect of the oil and natural gas industry, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transportation; chemicals manufacturing and sales; as well as geothermal and power generation.

SUBCOE has seven engineers working on the on-going project. They're are also working on a complete power modeling study of the Suncor facility in Fort McMurray, Alberta, which extracts and upgrades oil sands into high-quality refinery-ready crude oil products and diesel fuel. Suncor has grown to become a major North American energy producer and marketer with a team of more than 5,500 employees.

"The first part of the project for Suncor was to model the existing system," explains Burton. "Then, we'll build a model for their upgrades and expansions."

Of course, the environment still remains a priority for SUBCOE as the studies aim for optimum efficiency, safety, and avoidance of unnecessary damage.

"The environment is one of the biggest hurdles that we all need to address...