Thermal properties of oil sands fluid fine tailings: laboratory and in situ testing methods

Dompierre, Kathryn A.; Barbour, S. Lee

doi:10.1139/cgj-2016-0235

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Water samples were collected for both geochemical and microbiological characterization. Bulk water was retrieved in a 6.2 L Van Dorn bottle (Wilco, model Beta ® , Wildco, Yulee, FL, USA), while FFT was sampled using a custom-built fixed interval sampler as described in Mori et al [ 14 ] and Dompierre et al [ 32 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alum Addition Triggers Hypoxia in an Engineered Pit Lake

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Here, we examine the geobiological response to a whole-lake alum (aluminum sulfate) treatment (2016) of Base Mine Lake (BML), the first pilot-scale pit lake established in the Alberta oil sands region. The rationale for trialing this management amendment was based on its successful use to reduce internal phosphorus loading to eutrophying lakes. Modest increases in water cap epilimnetic oxygen concentrations, associated with increased Secchi depths and chlorophyll-a concentrations, were co-incident with anoxic waters immediately above the fluid fine tailings (FFT) layer post alum. Decreased water cap nitrate and detectable sulfide concentrations, as well as increased hypolimnetic phospholipid fatty acid abundances, signaled greater anaerobic heterotrophic activity. Shifts in microbial community to groups associated with greater organic carbon degradation (i.e., SAR11-LD12 subclade) and the SRB group Desulfuromonodales emerged post alum and the loss of specialist groups associated with carbon-limited, ammonia-rich restricted niches (i.e., MBAE14) also occurred. Alum treatment resulted in additional oxygen consumption associated with increased autochthonous carbon production, watercap anoxia and sulfide generation, which further exacerbate oxygen consumption associated with on-going FFT mobilized reductants. The results illustrate the importance of understanding the broader biogeochemical implications of adaptive management interventions to avoid unanticipated outcomes that pose greater risks and improve tailings reclamation for oil sands operations and, more broadly, the global mining sector.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alum Addition Triggers Hypoxia in an Engineered Pit Lake

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1. A detailed description of BML has been provided in previous studies (2,9). Briefly, the original mining pit located on this site (West-In Pit, WIP) was begun in 1978 and converted into a tailings pond in 1994.…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From 1994-2012 it was gradually filled with FFT to a depth of 45-50 m, and in 2012 capped with an additional 5 m of fresh water, forming the present end pit lake, renamed Base Mine Lake. There is no outflow from BML to the local watershed, but the water level is maintained at 308.7 metres above sea level via pump-in of freshwater or pump-out of excess water to the extraction plant (2). Due to gradual FFT settling and dewatering, the depth of the water cap increased to approximately 10-12 m by 2019.…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extraction of marketable oil from surface oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada is achieved via treatment with hot caustic water and naphtha/paraffin solvents. This process produces fluid fine tailings (FFT) comprised of alkaline water (pH =10), silt, clay, residual bitumen, salts, and unrecovered solvents (1)(2)(3)(4). FFT are stored in open tailings ponds, from which water is recycled to the extraction plant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only one full-scale demonstration EPL presently exists in the Alberta oil sands region: Base Mine Lake (BML). BML is an approximately 780-ha lake created from an exhausted mining pit filled with about 45-m-depth of FFT and capped with fresh water in 2012 (2). The water cap at the time of the present study was 10-12 m deep (7).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Seasonal Dynamics of Methanotrophic Bacteria in a Boreal Oil Sands End Pit Lake

Albakistani

Nwosu

Furgason

et al. 2022

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Base Mine Lake (BML) is the first full-scale demonstration end pit lake for the oil sands mining industry in Canada. We examined aerobic methanotrophic bacteria over all seasons for five years in this dimictic lake. Methanotrophs comprised up to 58% of all bacterial reads in 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing analyses (median 2.8%), and up to 2.7 × 10 4 cells mL −1 of water (median 0.5 × 10 3 ) based on qPCR of pmoA genes. Methanotrophic activity and populations in the lake water were highest during fall turnover, and remained high through the winter ice-covered period into spring turnover. They declined during summer stratification, especially in the epilimnion. Three methanotroph genera ( Methylobacter , Methylovulum , and Methyloparacoccus ) cycled seasonally, based on both relative and absolute abundance measurements. Methylobacter and Methylovulum populations peaked in winter/spring, when methane oxidation activity was psychrophilic. Methyloparacoccus populations increased in the water column through summer and fall, when methane oxidation was mesophilic, and also predominated in the underlying tailings sediment. Other, less abundant genera grew primarily during summer, possibly due to distinct CH 4 /O 2 microniches created during thermal stratification. These data are consistent with temporal and spatial niche differentiation based on temperature, CH 4 and O 2 . This pit lake displays methane cycling and methanotroph population dynamics similar to natural boreal lakes. Importance statement: The study examined methanotrophic bacteria in an industrial end pit lake, combining molecular DNA methods (both quantitative and descriptive) with biogeochemical measurements. The lake was sampled over 5 years, in all four seasons, as often as weekly, and included sub-ice samples. The resulting multi-season and multi-year dataset is unique in its size and intensity, and allowed us to document clear and consistent seasonal patterns of growth and decline of three methanotroph genera ( Methylobacter , Methylovulum , and Methyloparacoccus ). Laboratory experiments suggested that one major control of this succession was niche partitioning based on temperature. The study helps to understand microbial dynamics in engineered end-pit lakes, but we propose that the dynamics are typical of boreal stratified lakes, and widely applicable in microbial ecology and limnology. Methane oxidising bacteria are important model organisms in microbial ecology, and have implications for global climate change.

show abstract

Studying Mine Pit Lake Systems Across Multiple Scales

McCullough¹,

Vandenberg²

2020

Mine Water Environ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Thermal properties of oil sands fluid fine tailings: laboratory and in situ testing methods

Cited by 5 publications

References 49 publications

Alum Addition Triggers Hypoxia in an Engineered Pit Lake

Alum Addition Triggers Hypoxia in an Engineered Pit Lake

Seasonal Dynamics of Methanotrophic Bacteria in a Boreal Oil Sands End Pit Lake

Studying Mine Pit Lake Systems Across Multiple Scales

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About