Observations on the yielding behaviour of oil sand slurries under vane and slump tests

Gutiérrez, Leopoldo; Pawlik, Marek

doi:10.1002/cjce.22235

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(68 reference statements)

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“…Bitumen on the solids fraction of oil sands slurries has been shown to enhance aggregation of the solids in the suspension, based on a comparison of vane torque measurements in raw and toluene‐washed samples. [ 23 ] Overall, the conclusion of that paper was that bitumen on the surface of solids increased the aggregation behaviour of the suspension. Another study showed that bitumen in a quartz suspension must be present on the surface of quartz particles to cause aggregation; otherwise, it makes a negligible contribution to the aggregation of the particles.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Effect of suspension conductivity and fines concentration on coarse particle settling in oil sands tailings

2021

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Sedimentation of coarse particles in mature fine oil sands tailings (OST) was studied by varying the fines concentration and aqueous phase conductivity to determine under which conditions the coarser particles will settle and when they will not. An OST sample was desalinated, separated into finer and coarser fractions, then recombined for settling tests. The isolated finer fraction was predominately phyllosilicate clays (>87 wt%) while the coarser fraction was mostly quartz (<77 wt%). From optical backscattering (OBS) height scan measurements, complete sedimentation of the coarse particles was observed at low conductivity values and fines concentrations, but a sufficient increase in suspension conductivity or fines concentration caused a reduction in coarse particle settlement. Samples with lower fines concentration, 0.5 wt% and 2.4 wt%, exhibited coarse settlement over a wider range of conductivity values; whereas samples with higher fines concentration, 5.9 wt% and 8.2 wt%, exhibited decreased sedimentation even at low suspension conductivity values. At similar conductivity values and fines concentrations, increased sedimentation of pure quartz was observed compared to the coarse OST particles. This difference in settling behaviour was partially attributed to the presence of residual organics on the surface of the OST coarse particles. In addition to typical metallurgical assay methods (x‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy), a synchrotron‐source computed tomography scan of the untreated OST sample was obtained to visualize the distribution of the fine, coarse, and fluid phases within the sample.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Effect of suspension conductivity and fines concentration on coarse particle settling in oil sands tailings

2021

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“…With the change in the mixed liquid velocity, the pipe flow of the liquid–solid mixture presents the following flow patterns: a homogeneous flow, a heterogeneous flow, a heterogeneous flow with a sliding bed at the bottom, and a heterogeneous flow with a fixed bed at the bottom. It has been found that when the liquid–solid flow is homogeneous, there are two types of constitutive models for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids under different solid volume fractions. − …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wall Slip and Flow Characteristics of Gas–Liquid–Solid Phase Coupling Flowing in Horizontal Pipelines

Hou

Zhang

Yang

et al. 2022

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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To investigate the multiphase coupled flow characteristics and apparent wall slip phenomenon in horizontal pipes, air−hydraulic oil−solid mixtures flowing in 50 mm-diameter and 32 mm-diameter pipes are tested. The results show that the critical liquid velocity corresponding to the transformation of the flow structure is between 0.75 and 1 m/s. Compared to the liquid−solid flow, the injection of gas has a drag reduction effect, to a certain extent. However, with an increase in the superficial gas velocity, the relative slip contribution first increased and then decreased. Moreover, the pressure gradient and wall slip velocity of the gas−liquid−solid coupling flow were sensitive to the superficial velocity of the gas and liquid phase and the phase volume fraction, as well as pipe conditions, including the diameter and roughness. Finally, on the basis of theoretical and experimental data, a wall slip model is proposed to predict the apparent wall slip velocity and pressure gradient in gas−liquid−solid coupled flow.The model shows that the apparent wall slip effect is promoted under the condition of a low volume fraction of the dispersed phase. Compared with the experimental data, the prediction results of the model are acceptable.

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“…Due to the rapidly increasing demand for energy and continuous depletion of conventional oil production, oil sands deposits have been extensively exploited as an unconventional petroleum resource. − Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is an effective technology for recovering heavy crude oil (denoted as bitumen) from deep oil sands deposits. , With the aid of a pair of horizontally parallel wells, a typical SAGD system consists of three processes: (i) steam is continuously injected into the upper well to heat adjacent bitumen reservoir; (ii) the mobilized bitumen flows into the lower well driven by gravity and is subsequently pumped up to the plant. It is noteworthy that a considerable amount of condensed water is produced along with the heated bitumen during the heat-exchange process, forming complex water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions, which is also denoted as SAGD emulsions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Charge Density of Reverse Emulsion Breaker on Demulsification Performance for Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Emulsions under High Temperature and High Pressure

et al. 2020

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Reverse emulsion breakers (REBs) play a crucial role in the demulsification of complex water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/ W) emulsions in steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) production of oil sands. Developing effective REBs remains challenging due to the poor understanding of influencing factors and demulsification mechanisms. In particular, despite the recognition of the vital role of charge density of the REBs in their demulsification performance, the available literature is limited. Herein, we investigated the correlation between the charge density of commercial REBs and their demulsification performance for complex emulsions under simulated SAGD operation conditions (100−200 °C and 0.3−1.4 MPa) by employing an in-house-built bottle test system. It is demonstrated that a high charge density of the REBs not only promotes the qualities of produced water and oil but also significantly accelerates the speed of oil/water phase separation. At the microscale, the REB with a high charge density is capable of reducing the amount and size of residual oil droplets in produced water. The interactions of the species involved during the demulsification process were investigated by employing multiple techniques including optical microscopy imaging, ζ potential measurement, and dynamic light scattering. The results suggest that the cationic REBs are adsorbed at the oil/water interface, neutralize negative surface charge of oil droplets, and replace interface-active species originally present at the oil/water interface. Multilayer adsorption of REBs may be generated after demulsification, and the adsorbed REBs could partially desorb from the surface of oil droplets with increasing temperature. This work has delineated the influence of the charge density of REBs on their demulsification performance and improved the fundamental understanding of the interactions of the constituent species in SAGD emulsions and REBs, which provides useful information on the development and applications of efficient and cost-effective chemicals in oil sands exploitation and emulsion treatment.

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Observations on the yielding behaviour of oil sand slurries under vane and slump tests

Cited by 7 publications

References 30 publications

Effect of suspension conductivity and fines concentration on coarse particle settling in oil sands tailings

Effect of suspension conductivity and fines concentration on coarse particle settling in oil sands tailings

Wall Slip and Flow Characteristics of Gas–Liquid–Solid Phase Coupling Flowing in Horizontal Pipelines

Effect of Charge Density of Reverse Emulsion Breaker on Demulsification Performance for Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Emulsions under High Temperature and High Pressure

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