The efficiency of rejection of sand from Athabasca oil sands in a cold water process based on mechanical upgrading in rotating contactors was found to depend upon the time of contact, the rate of rotation, the linear velocity of the lifter, the water to oil sands ratio, the depth of charge to lifter height ratio, and the internal diameter of the contactor. The efficiency of the process in rejecting sand may be described in terms of a rate constant. Sand rejection is promoted in general by lifter-oil sands and contactor wall-oil sands impacts and by the action of shear fields within vortices created by the lifter. The depth of charge to lifter height ratio and the linear velocity of the lifter are important parameters.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.