Water bitumen

Bitumen. There are wide variations both in the bitumen saturation of tar sand (0—18 wt % bitumen), even within a particular deposit, and the viscosity. Of particular note is the variation of density of Athabasca bitumen with temperature, and the maximum density difference between bitumen and water (70—80°C (160—175°F)) hence the choice of the operating temperature of the hot-water bitumen-extraction process. 

The hot-water separation process involves extremely compHcated surface chemistry with interfaces among various combinations of soUds (including both silica sand and alurninosilicate clays), water, bitumen, and air. The control of pH is critical. The preferred range is 8.0—8.5, achievable by use of any of the monovalent bases. Polyvalent cations must be excluded because they tend to flocculate clays and thus raise viscosity of the middlings in the separation cell. 

The oil sands from the Athabasca deposits are a mixture of sand grains, water, and high-viscosity crude hydrocarbon called bitumen. At room temperature, bitumen is a semisolid, but will convert to a viscous liquid at about 300°F (149°C). Sand grains are about 0.075 to 0.25 mm in diameter with small amounts of attached clay. The grains are all in direct contact and wet with a thin continuous sheetlike layer of water. Bitumen fills the void between the wetted sand grains and forms a continuous phase through the pores. Bitumen is about 17% to 18% of the mass. The composition of Athabasca oil sand bitumen is provided in TABLE 12-6. 

Cold-Water Process. The cold-water bitumen separation process has been developed to the point of small-scale continuous pilot plants. The process uses a combination of cold water and solvent. The first step usually involves disintegration of the tar sand charge, which is mixed with water, diluent, and reagents. The diluent may be a petroleum distillate fraction such as kerosene and is added in a ca 1 1 weight ratio to the bitumen in the feed. The pH is maintained at 9-9.5 by addition of wetting agents and ca 0.77 kg of soda ash per ton of tar sand. The effluent is mixed with more water, and in a raked classifier the sand is settled from the bulk of the remaining mixture. The water and oil overflow the classifier and are passed to thickeners, where the oil is concentrated. Clay in the tar sand feed forms emulsions that are hard to break and are wasted with the underflow from the thickeners. 

Technique - Apvplication to Water- Oil-Water Bitumen Emulsion Films. Colloids and Surfaces A-Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 174,183-1%. 

Flotation or froth flotation is a physicochemical property-based separation process. It is widely utilised in the area of mineral processing also known as ore dressing and mineral beneftciation for mineral concentration. In addition to the mining and metallurgical industries, flotation also finds appHcations in sewage treatment, water purification, bitumen recovery from tar sands, and coal desulfurization. Nearly one biUion tons of ore are treated by this process aimuaHy in the world. Phosphate rock, precious metals, lead, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and tin-containing ores as well as coal are treated routinely by this process some flotation plants treat 200,000 tons of ore per day (see Mineral recovery and processing). Various aspects of flotation theory and practice have been treated in books and reviews (1 9). 

Cold Applied Coatings/Adhesives. Cold appUed BUR appHcations do not require heating to fluidize the bitumen on the job. Simple appHcation and economical maintenance ate primary considerations. Bitumens are Hquefied by dissolving in a solvent (cutbacks) or dispersing in water... 

Tar sand, also variously called oil sand (in Canada) or bituminous sand, is the term commonly used to describe a sandstone reservoir that is impregnated with a heavy, viscous black extra heavy cmde oil, referred to as bitumen (or, incorrectly, as native asphalt). Tar sand is a mixture of sand, water, and bitumen, but many of the tar sand deposits in the United States lack the water layer that is beHeved to cover the Athabasca sand in Alberta, Canada, thereby faciHtating the hot-water recovery process from the latter deposit. The heavy asphaltic organic material has a high viscosity under reservoir conditions and caimot be retrieved through a weU by conventional production techniques. 

The data available are generally for the Athabasca materials, although workers at the University of Utah (Salt Lake City) have carried out an intensive program to determine the processibiUty of Utah bitumen and considerable data have become available. Bulk properties of samples from several locations (Table 3) (9) show that there is a wide range of properties. Substantial differences exist between the tar sands in Canada and those in the United States a difference often cited is that the former is water-wet and the latter, oil-wet (10). 

The bitumen in the Athabasca deposit, which has a gravity on the API scale of 8°, is heavier than water and very viscous. Tar sand is a dense, soHd material, but it can be readily dug in the summer months during the winter months when the temperatures plunge to —45° C, tar sand assumes the consistency of concrete. To maintain acceptable digging rates in winter, mining must proceed faster than the rate of frost penetration if not, supplemental measures such as blasting are required. 

Using combustion to stimulate bitumen production is attractive for deep reservoirs and in contrast to steam injection usually involves no loss of heat. The duration of the combustion may be short (days) depending on requirements. In addition, backflow of oil through the hot 2one must be prevented or excessive coking occurs (15,16). Another variation of the combustion process involves use of a heat-up phase, then a blow-down (production) phase, followed by a displacement phase using a fire-water flood (COFCAW process). 

Hot-Water Process. The hot-water process is the only successflil commercial process to be appHed to bitumen recovery from mined tar sands in North America as of 1997 (2). The process utilizes linear and nonlinear variations of bitumen density and water density, respectively, with temperature so that the bitumen that is heavier than water at room temperature becomes lighter than water at 80°C. Surface-active materials in tar sand also contribute to the process (2). The essentials of the hot-water process involve conditioning, separation, and scavenging (Fig. 9). 

Froth from the hot-water process may be mixed with a hydrocarbon diluent, eg, coker naphtha, and centrifuged. The Suncor process employs a two-stage centrifuging operation, and each stage consists of multiple centrifuges of conventional design installed in parallel. The bitumen product contains 1—2 wt % mineral (dry bitumen basis) and 5—15 wt % water (wet diluted basis). Syncmde also utilizes a centrifuge system with naphtha diluent. 

An attempt has been made to develop the hot-water process for the Utah sands (Fig. 10) (20). With od-wet Utah sands, this process differs significantly from that used for the water-wet Canadian sands, necessitating disengagement by hot-water digestion in a high shear force field under appropriate conditions of pulp density and alkalinity. The dispersed bitumen droplets can also be recovered by aeration and froth flotation (21). 

Trinidad asphalt has a relatively uniform composition of 29% water and gas, 39% bitumen soluble in carbon disulfide, 27% mineral matter on ignition, and 5% bitumen that remains adsorbed on the mineral matter. Refining is essentially a process of dehydration by heating the cmde asphalt to ca 165°C. The refined product averages 36% mineral ash with a penetration at 25°C of about 2 (0.2 mm), a softening point (ring and ball method) of 99°C, a flash point (Cleveland open cup) of 254°C, a sulfur content of 3.3%, and a saponification value of 45 mg KOH/g. The mineral matter typically contains... 

Asphalt (bitumen) also occurs in various oil sand (also called tar sand) deposits which occur widely scattered through the world (17) and the bitumen is available by means of various extraction technologies. A review of the properties and character of the bitumen (18) suggests that, when used as an asphaltic binder, the bitumen compares favorably with specification-grade petroleum asphalts and may have superior aging characteristics and produce more water-resistant paving mixtures than the typical petroleum asphalts. 

Tar Sands Canadian tar sands are strip-mined and extracted with hot water to recover heavy oil (bitumen). The oil is processed into naphtha, kerosene, and gasoline fractions (which are hydrotreated), in addition to gas (which is recovered). Tar sands are being developed in Utah also. 

After 1860 in the United States, water mains were only occasionally given coatings of tar. About 18% the activities of Engii.sh undertakings were extended to America, where chiefly bare metal pipelines had previously been laid. Water supply pipes were coated internally with bitumen in America after 1912. Vical (1837) in France and J. Bull (1843) in America introduced the widely known cement mortar as a protective material for water pipes 16]. 

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