Characterization of mercury contamination in petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs) is necessary in order to assess the risk of corrosion of the processing infrastructure and to assess the level of human exposure to Hg-containing substances. Here we present an accurate and sensitive method for determination of Hg species in PHs by headspace sampling with a possibility of on-line pre-concentration using in-tube extraction (ITEX) combined with gas chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (GC-ICP-MS) analysis. Mercury species were first extracted from the PHs matrix into an aqueous phase via dithizone chelation and subsequently converted with sodium tetrapropyl borate into volatile derivatives which could be sampled from the headspace prior to GC-ICP-MS analysis. For concentrations in the ng kg–1 range, the on-line ITEX method was applied, whereas the μg kg–1 range was accessible by static headspace. Quantitation of Hg species was carried out by a double isotope dilution method, with quantitative recoveries of methylmercury (MeHg, average 101 ± 5%) and inorganic mercury (InHg, average 97 ± 7%) by direct headspace injection. Average recoveries of Hg spikes after on-line ITEX pre-concentration were 95 ± 3% for MeHg and 98 ± 8% for InHg. The detection limits for MeHg and InHg were 428 and 46 ng kg–1 when measured by static headspace, and 2.4 ng kg–1 and 1.7 ng kg–1 by on-line ITEX pre-concentration. The accuracy of the pre-concentration method was demonstrated by analysis of a crude oil standard reference material (NIST 2722) certified for InHg.
A primary concern of commercial mined oil sands operations is the extent to which one can minimize the content of water and solids contaminants in the solvent-diluted bitumen products resulting from the bitumen production processes. During bitumen production, particles of about 2 µm or less may be responsible for the stabilization of water-in-bitumen emulsions that form during aqueous extraction of bitumen and purification of bitumen froth subsequently during the froth treatment processes, thus leading to the presence of those contaminants in solvent-diluted bitumen products. In this study, we separate and analyze sub-2 µm clay solids isolated from typical bitumen froth fed to a froth treatment plant at a commercial mined oil sands operation. Analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with spatially-resolved energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) demonstrate key differences in morphology and composition between sub-2 µm clay aggregates with two distinct wettability characteristics: hydrophilic vs. biwettable particle surfaces. In particular, clay platelets with <200 nm lateral dimensions and thicknesses of a few atomic layers, which are intermixed within coarser sub-2 µm clay aggregates, are found to confer clear differences in morphological characteristics and wettability behaviors to the sub-2 µm clay aggregates. The <200 nm clay platelets found within sub-2 µm biwettable clays tend to arrange themselves with random orientations, whereas <200 nm clay platelets within sub-2 µm hydrophilic clays typically form well-ordered face-to-face stacks. Moreover, in biwettable sub-2 µm clay aggregates, <200 nm clay platelets often cover the surfaces of ~1–2 µm sized mineral particles, whereas similarly sized mineral particles in hydrophilic sub-2 µm clay aggregates, in contrast, generally have exposed surfaces without clay platelet coverage. These biwettable vs. hydrophilic behaviors are attributed to a difference in the surface characteristics of the <200 nm clay platelets caused by toluene-unextractable organic carbon coatings. Nanometer-scale carbon mapping reveals an inhomogeneous toluene-unextractable organic carbon coating on the surfaces of <200 nm platelets in biwettable clays. In contrast, hydrophilic clays have a significantly lower amount of toluene-unextractable organic carbon, which tends to be concentrated at steps or near metal oxide nanoparticles on clay particle surfaces. Mixing surface-active organic species, such as asphaltene, resin, or carboxylic organic acids of various types with inorganic solids can lead to a dramatically enhanced emulsion stability. Consequently, understanding the origin and characteristics of sub-2 µm clay solids in bitumen froth is important to (i) clarify their potential role in the formation of stable water-in-oil emulsions during bitumen production and (ii) improve froth treatment process performance to further reduce contaminant solids in solvent-diluted bitumen products. We discuss the implications of our results from these two perspectives.
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