CiDRA Oilsands has announced a partnership agreement with Expro Meters covering the sales of both passive and active sonar flow systems and services. The agreement will cover all of Western Canada, and focus on the oil sands and heavy oil industries, where the partners say it will “address the wide range of flow line conditions encountered in oilsands applications.” Operating in the oilsands industry for more than 10 years, CiDRA has launched a series of products and services, based on SONARtrac and SMARTring technologies, helping to increase plant and process predictability, reduce process variability and enhance resource sustainability for customers involved in mineable oilsands operations.

CiDRA and Expro Meters have been working with sonar-based technology since 2000, with CiDRA’s deployment of the first down hole, fibre-optic multiphase sonar flow meter in 2000. The passive system, SONARtrac flow meter, was introduced in 2003 as the first-generation clamp-on sonar meter, well-suited for measuring flow in difficult slurry and other liquid flow applications. In 2009, Expro Meters introduced ActiveSONAR, a second generation clamp-on sonar meter. “We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Expro Meters in Western Canada,” said John Viega, President of CiDRA Oilsands, “the addition of the active meter to our ‘solutions’ toolbox will allow us to address a broader range of our customer’s flow and measurement challenges. CiDRA is a recognised provider of innovative, reliable, high-quality products and services to the oilsands industry in Western Canada.”