Fines/Water Interactions and Consequences of the Presence of Degraded Illite on Oil Sands Extractability

Wallace, Dean; Tipman, R.; Komishke, B.; Wallwork, Vince; Perkins, Ernie

doi:10.1002/cjce.5450820405

Cited by 33 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…Former studies (Abend and Lagaly, 2000;Amorós et al, 2002;Mpofu et al, 2003;Rasteiro and Salgueiros, 2005;McFarlane et al, 2006;Faers et al, 2006) showed the effect of solution chemistry on the rheological behaviour of solid dispersions. With reference to the oil sands extraction process, Wallace et al (2004) showed the impact of aqueous phase composition on bitumen recovery in the presence of fine solids. All samples in this study were prepared in supernatant water separated from centrifuged MFT.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of particle size on the rheology of Athabasca clay suspensions

Adeyinka

Samiei

et al. 2009

Can J Chem Eng

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The success of the separation process conventionally used in Alberta for oil sands extraction is highly influenced by the rheology of the oil sands slurry. In the gravity separation vessel, high slurry viscosities can hinder the rise of aerated bitumen and reduce the efficiency of the recovery process. In this study, the effect of particle size on the viscosity of oil sands slurries is investigated. Solids from mature fine tails (MFT) obtained from tailings pond were fractionated into three fractions of different particle size distributions and their rheological properties were studied. The solids in each fraction were characterized by XRD analysis which showed the presence of different types of clays in each fraction. For the rheological measurements, dispersions of the three fractions were prepared in the supernatant water decanted from centrifuged MFT to maintain the solution chemistry of the solids. Suspensions of each fraction showed a non-Newtonian shear thinning behaviour as well as yield stress that is characteristic of structure formation within the suspensions. For all solids fractions, increasing solids concentration led to higher viscosities and higher yield stress values. Viscoelastic properties of the suspensions showed stronger solid-like behaviour at higher particle concentrations. Among the three fractions numbered from 1 to 3, solids in fraction 3 were coated with organic matters, exhibiting the highest suspension viscosities. Also for fraction 3, higher gelling potency was observed at much lower weight fractions of solids as compared to the other fractions.La réussite du processus de séparation normalement utilisé en Alberta pour l'extraction du pétroleà partir de sables bitumineux est fortement influencée par la rhéologie de la boue des sables bitumineux. Dans le récipient de séparation par gravité, les viscositésélevées de la boue peuvent empêcher la remontée du bitume cellulaire et réduire l'efficacité du procédé d'extraction. Dans le cadre de cetteétude, l'effet de la dimension des particules sur la viscosité des boues de sables bitumineux est analysé de près. Les solides provenant des résidus fins mûrs (RFM) obtenus des bassins de résidus ontété fractionnés en trois fractions de granulométrie des particules différentes et leurs propriétés rhéologiques ontétéétudiées. Les solides de chacune des fractions ontété caractérisés au moyen d'une analyse diffractométrique qui a révélé la présence de différents types d'argiles dans chacune des fractions. Pour ce qui est des mesures rhéologiques, des dispersions des trois fractions ontété préparées dans l'eau surnageante décantéeà partir des RFM centrifugés afin de maintenir la chimométrie des solides. Les suspensions de chaque fraction ont montré un comportement de fluidisation par cisaillement non newtonien, de même qu'une contrainte d'écoulement qui est typique de la formation de structureà l'intérieur des suspensions. Pour toutes les fractions de solides, l'augmentation de la concentration de solides a entraîné des viscosités et des valeurs de co...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of particle size on the rheology of Athabasca clay suspensions

Adeyinka

Samiei

et al. 2009

Can J Chem Eng

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“…18,24 Using AFM to study the interaction potential between bitumen and clays (montmorillonite and kaolinite) in the presence of calcium, Liu et al 12 measured a stronger adhesion force (four times greater) between bitumen and montmorillonite than between bitumen and kaolinite. The same technique was applied to study the interactions between bitumen and real mineral fines recovered from good and poor processing ores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Caustic Addition in Bitumen–Clay Interactions

et al. 2015

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Coating of bitumen by clays, known as slime coating is detrimental to bitumen recovery from oil sands using the warm slurry extraction process. Sodium hydroxide (caustic) is added to the extraction process to balance many competing processing challenges which include undesirable slime coating. The current research aims at understanding the role of caustic addition in controlling interactions of bitumen with various types of model clays. The interaction potential was studied by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). After confirming the slime coating potential of montmorillonite clays on bitumen in the presence of calcium ions, interaction of kaolinite and illite with bitumen was studied. To make our study more closely related to industrial applications, tailings water from bitumen extraction tests using Denver flotation cell at different caustic additions was used. At caustic dosage up to 0.5 wt.% of oil sands ore, a negligible coating of kaolinite on the bitumen was determined. However, at lower level of caustic addition illite was shown to attach to the bitumen, with the interaction potential decreasing with increasing caustic dosage. Increasing concentration of humic acids as a result of increasing caustic dosage was identified to limit the interaction potential of illite with bitumen.2 This fundamental study clearly shows that the critical role of caustics in modulating interactions of clays with bitumen depends on the type of clays, guiding the multi-billion dollar oil sands industry to identify clay type as a key operational variable.

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“…[6,[16][17][18] The negative effects of clay minerals on bitumen extraction from the oil sands have been reported by several researchers. [5,6,[17][18][19][20][21][22] In addition, Omotoso and Mikula [5] have also suggested that the presence of Fe (oxyhydr)oxides with high surface area may have negative consequences on bitumen extractability from the oil sands. Hence, the mineral and chemical characterisation of the four petrologic end members are crucial for better understanding of the mineralogical and geochemical factors affecting aqueous or nonaqueous bitumen extraction and solvent recovery from the extraction tailings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation of petrologic end members of oil sands from the athabasca region, Alberta, Canada

Osacký¹,

Geramian

Dyar

et al. 2013

Can J Chem Eng

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The aim of this study was to perform mineral and chemical characterisation of the four petrologic end members of Alberta oil sands in order to better understand the mineralogical and geochemical factors affecting bitumen extraction. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that the petrologic end members contain a variable amount of quartz, clay minerals, carbonates, K‐feldspar, TiO2 minerals and pyrite and the Fe‐containing phases were also observed in Mössbauer spectra. Scanning electron microscopy‐energy dispersive X‐ray (SEM‐EDX) analysis also showed the presence of Fe–Ti oxide minerals. Mössbauer results also indicated the presence of lepidocrocite in the fine fractions in amounts below the detection limit of XRD. Interstratified illite–smectite was found only in clay‐rich petrologic end members. Calcite and dolomite were primarily concentrated in the fine fractions of marine petrologic end members. Conversely, siderite was found mainly in the coarse fraction of estuarine petrologic end members. The relative amount of toluene insoluble organics was higher in the fine fractions of marine petrologic end members.

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Fines/Water Interactions and Consequences of the Presence of Degraded Illite on Oil Sands Extractability

Cited by 33 publications

References 12 publications

Effect of particle size on the rheology of Athabasca clay suspensions

Effect of particle size on the rheology of Athabasca clay suspensions

Role of Caustic Addition in Bitumen–Clay Interactions

Characterisation of petrologic end members of oil sands from the athabasca region, Alberta, Canada

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