Chemistry of oil recovery from bituminous sands
Recovery of oil from bituminous sands in Northern Alberta is discussed. It is noted that about one tenth of the recoverable reserve, primarily that of the Athabasca deposit surrounding the town of Fort McMurray, is economically recoverable by surface mining techniques, the remainder being too deeply situated (750 m) for economic retrieval in this way. Underground mining for recovery of intermediate depth material and various techniques of in situ extraction of the bitumen from deposits under more than 100 m of overburden are being vigorously investigated, but none permit as complete recovery of bitumen as the 90% range possible by open pit mining in combination with hot water extraction. This factor, together with lower than economically recoverable bitumen content of portions of the deposit, accounts for the relatively low figure for estimated recoverable bitumen. Recently water flooding procedures using 0.1% solutions of sodium hydroxide, which has been found to lower the interfacial tension between the water and bitumen, promises to promote enhanced bitumen recoveries. While it is unlikely that any of the in situ procedures will provide the sole answer to recovery of bitumen from deep deposits, the technology should develop in time to provide economic procedures in the same manner in which conventional petroleum recovery has matured in the last fifty years. (JRD)
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Victoria, British Columbia
- OSTI ID:
- 5032250
- Journal Information:
- J. Chem. Educ.; (United States), Vol. 54:12
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BITUMENS
RECOVERY
OIL SAND DEPOSITS
IN-SITU COMBUSTION
SURFACE MINING
ATHABASCA DEPOSIT
EXTRACTION
GEOCHEMISTRY
OIL SANDS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
COMBUSTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
MINING
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TAR
040401* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- In Situ Methods
True & Modified