Technologies for the development of Trinidad`s tar sands

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:269531

Maharaj, U S; Sukhu, H ^[1]

---

1. Petroleum Co., Pointe-a-Pierre (Trinidad and Tobago)

The Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago possesses a tar sand deposit containing an estimated 950 million barrels of bitumen within its leases. The resource is a sand-stone reservoir, the Lower Morne L`Enfer Formation which is of Pliocene age. It spans 12.84 square kilometres (3,179 acres) and occurs as a surface and near surface deposit, of which a substantial portion may be exploitable by a surface mining/extraction type process. Geologically, the Formation was divided into five stratigraphic units A to E in order of decreasing depth. Electric log data indicated that units C and D were the most extensively developed and were the primary ore targets for a mining project. The sensitivity of potential reserves with depth was determined on moving a horizontal line down the resource. Potential mineable reserves increased gradually down to 120 metres (400 feet) sub-surface (30 metres sub-sea), after which it increased dramatically down to 270 metres (900 feet). Stripping ratios, defined as reject to pay, of probable mining projects ranged from 1.0 within the topography above sea-level to a value of about 1.4 to the base of the deposit. Processing of mined tar sands by solvent, aqueous, and thermal extraction was evaluated from tar sand characterization data and laboratory experimentation. Solvent extraction by several locally available solvents: naphtha, condensate, platformate, and kerosene was evaluated through dissolution studies and rotating disk experiments. Platformate, kerosene, and condensate were shown to have solubilities greater than 95% and dissolution fluxes of 2.3 to 9.0 x 10{sup -4} g/cm{sup 2}{center_dot}s at 500 rpm. These solvents were predicted to yield recoveries of 0.81 barrels/tonne of bitumen from good grade tar sand. The analysis done for a 25-year project producing 30,000 barrels/day yielded undiscounted supply costs for asphalt of $15.50 and for synthetic crude oil of $19.70 U.S./barrel.

• OSTI ID: 269531
• Report Number(s): CONF-9502114--Vol.1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
BITUMENS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
MINES
OIL SAND DEPOSITS
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
PRODUCTION
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO