Importance of bitumen viscosity in the hot water processing of domestic tar sands
The separation efficiency of the hot water digestion-flotation technique used for bitumen recovery from various domestic tar sands was evaluated. Bitumen viscosity was found to be the most important tar sand property in determining the success of the bitumen separation. Bitumen viscosity of the tar sand was controlled by changes in digestion temperature and/or changes in diluent (kerosene) addition. Complete and uniform dilution of the bitumen phase was achieved by providing a sufficient presoaking, or penetration time, for a given tar sand type. For all the tar sand samples tested, an excellent correlation was obtained between the coefficient of separation and the bitumen viscosity. To achieve a satisfactory coefficient of separation, it was found that the bitumen viscosity must be reduced below 1.5 Pa . s (16 P) at the temperature of digestion. This was the case regardless of the tar sand type, grade, or origin.
- Research Organization:
- Dept of Metallurgy and Metallurgical Engineering at the Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
- OSTI ID:
- 7037025
- Journal Information:
- Min. Eng. (Littleton, Colo.); (United States), Journal Name: Min. Eng. (Littleton, Colo.); (United States) Vol. 35:12; ISSN MIENA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
040402* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Surface Methods
BITUMENS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CORRELATIONS
DIGESTION
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY SOURCES
EVALUATION
FLOTATION
FLUID INJECTION PROCESSES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HOT-WATER PROCESSES
MATERIALS
OIL SANDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SAMPLING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TAR
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
VISCOSITY