Effects of Polymers on short-and long-term dewatering of oil sands tailings

Salam, Muhammad Asif

doi:10.22215/etd/2020-14075

Cited by 4 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 198 publications

(725 reference statements)

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“…For example, the terrestrial landscape would likely benefit from drying and/or freeze-thaw effects, but these are not considered. Nor are time-dependent effects such as creep and ageing, which may influence the performance of certain types of treated tailings (Salam et al 2018;Salam 2020).…”

Section: Consolidation Modelling Of Hypothetical Reclamation Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of candidate polymers to maximize geotechnical performance of oil sands tailings

et al. 2022

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Oil sands fluid fine tailings deposits are challenging to reclaim due to their inherently high natural water content, low permeability, and low strength. Combinations of polymers and/or coagulants are used by operators to improve the dewatering and strength properties of the tailings. However, considerably more work has been done to evaluate polymer performance with short-term dewatering metrics rather than with long-term metrics such as consolidation properties. This paper evaluates the potential of four novel polymers for use in fluid fine tailings treatment compared to a commercially available polymer and untreated tailings specimen. The performance of the polymers was assessed through initial screening with respect to short-term dewatering, evaluation of the consolidation and strength properties using large strain consolidation tests, shear sensitivity in pipeline transport, and finally, large strain consolidation modelling to appraise the relative potential performance under different strategies, such as terrestrial or aquatic reclamation options. One polymer exhibits remarkably fast dewatering at high void ratios, while another demonstrates dense and shear-resistant flocs. The paper discusses each polymer's distinctive tailings fabrics and how their unique merits and limitations would benefit different reclamation eventualities. Finally, potential improvements of the polymers are suggested for future assessment.

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Section: Consolidation Modelling Of Hypothetical Reclamation Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of candidate polymers to maximize geotechnical performance of oil sands tailings

et al. 2022

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“…Thank you for watching over me and I hope I have made you proud. Table 1 Geotechnical properties of unamended FFT (compared with other FFTs) (Salam, 2020) 6 Pore water chemistry of untreated FFT, Day-7 fFFT, and Day 42 fFFT samples (Salam, 2020) 8 Non-Clay minerals in the FFT samples (from the XRD analysis) (Salam, 2020) 9 Clay minerals in the FFT samples (from the XRD analysis) (Salam, 2020).....…”

Section: Dedicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasing the dewatering rate and improving the strength of the FFT using the polymer-aided flocculation of fine clay particles has been studied extensively by the oil sands industries. By mixing the flocculants with FFT, this reaction will create a bridge formation between the fine particles in the FFT in order to create a large aggregates, presented in Figure 33 (Salam, 2020). As a result, these aggregates will settle more rapidly and significant high solid content can be achieved.…”

Section: Chemical Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Table 1: Geotechnical properties of unamended FFT (compared with other FFTs) (Salam, 2020). How the basic properties were calculated (solids content (Cs), gravimetric water content (GWC), specific gravity (Gs), bitumen content, void ratio, methylene blue index (MBI) test, mineralogy, pore-water chemistry and particle size distribution) are described in Appendix A.…”

Section: The Properties Of Oil Sands Tailingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This procedure is similar to those adopted in a wide range of studies to simulate field flocculated FFT (Mizani et al, 2017). The reader, however, should be aware that multiple techniques are used in industry and academia in the preparation of fFFT such as trialled which was adapted from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) (Salam, 2020). This technique used in this study is only used to facilitate comparison with fFFT samples generated in other studies (Salam, 2020).…”

Section: Preparation Of Flocculated Fft (Ffft)mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Ultrasonic Interrogation of Oil Sands Tailings during Sedimentation

Peruga¹

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The ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) method has been widely used as a nondestructive testing (NDT) in Civil Engineering to evaluate the quality of concrete, soils, and other materials. However, this method has never been used to evaluate the properties of the oil sands tailings. The oil sands tailings have slow consolidation, low density and stiffness, which often lead to the continuous accumulation of the FFT; leading to reclamation problem due to lack of strength to support the FFT . The main objective of this thesis is to assess whether the UPV method can be used as an on-site measurement application in the oil sand tailings in order to detect changes and trends in tailings' properties such as strength, density and structuration as a function of time. The ultrasonic equipment is calibrated, verified, and then used to capture P-waves and S-waves when the waves interact with the column filled with flocculated fluid fine tailings (fFFT). To increase the reliability of the UPV test, special "holders" were designed and fabricated to improve the stabilization of the piezoelectrical transducers. Inferred wave velocities and changes in wave attenuation determined from the p-wave data showed correlations with the expected changes in density in the column; data using s-wave or p-wave-s-wave combinations did not show useful trends.

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Rapid Measurement and Estimation of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Mineral Slurries

Babaoglu¹

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Large strain consolidation (LSC) behaviour of mineral slurries regulates the performance of tailings management and reclamation plans. The hydraulic conductivity-void ratio relationship primarily influences this behaviour, dominating the long-term performance of fine-grained slurries with higher initial water contents. However, the determination of this function can be very challenging and time-consuming, considering the long duration of the conventional tests and significant variation in hydraulic conductivity values with the wide range of void ratios.This study focuses on identifying or creating a rapid method to evaluate the large strain consolidation parameters, especially the k-e relationship, of fine-grained soils by (i) establishing a relationship between the consolidation parameters and more easily measured properties and (ii) designing a self-weight consolidation setup to evaluate the k-e relationship using Instantaneous Profiling Method (IPM). For part (i), a total of 79 k-e data sets of fine-grained soils are examined. Using some of the above innovations, equations are found that require only a single measurement of hydraulic conductivity at a single void ratio. When applying these new equations to the k-e data set, 94% of the predicted k values are within an order of magnitude of the measured data points. This is likely sufficient for this method to be used as a screening tool for tailings treatments. For part ii), the design of a prototype consolidometer is introduced, and the consolidation behaviours of various finegrained soils are evaluated. The prototype is designed as an alternative experimental setup to conventional laboratory tests and aims to rapidly assess the k-e equation for fine-grained soils. The test column was instrumented with tensiometers and capacitance-based sensors c 

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Effects of Polymers on short-and long-term dewatering of oil sands tailings

Cited by 4 publications

References 198 publications

Evaluation of candidate polymers to maximize geotechnical performance of oil sands tailings

Evaluation of candidate polymers to maximize geotechnical performance of oil sands tailings

Ultrasonic Interrogation of Oil Sands Tailings during Sedimentation

Rapid Measurement and Estimation of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Mineral Slurries

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