CA1085761A - Extraction of bitumen oils (tar) from tar sands - Google Patents
Extraction of bitumen oils (tar) from tar sandsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1085761A CA1085761A CA283,972A CA283972A CA1085761A CA 1085761 A CA1085761 A CA 1085761A CA 283972 A CA283972 A CA 283972A CA 1085761 A CA1085761 A CA 1085761A
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- process according
- contacting zone
- tar sand
- sand
- aqueous fraction
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
A continuous process for the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand comprises contacting tar sand with hot water in a contacting zone comprising a plurality of volumes connected in series providing an upper layer comprising hot water and a lower layer comprising tar sand in each volume, passing tar sand and hot water in countercurrent through the volumes from one to another, repeatedly showering tar sand through the upper layer of hot water in each volume, recovering from a volume at one end of the series of volumes a liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils and from a volume at the other end of the series of volumes a slurry of sand that contains little or no bitumen oils. A froth suppression agent may be used and provision may be made for separating bitumen oils from the liquid fraction and for solvent extraction of the resulting aqueous fraction.
A continuous process for the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand comprises contacting tar sand with hot water in a contacting zone comprising a plurality of volumes connected in series providing an upper layer comprising hot water and a lower layer comprising tar sand in each volume, passing tar sand and hot water in countercurrent through the volumes from one to another, repeatedly showering tar sand through the upper layer of hot water in each volume, recovering from a volume at one end of the series of volumes a liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils and from a volume at the other end of the series of volumes a slurry of sand that contains little or no bitumen oils. A froth suppression agent may be used and provision may be made for separating bitumen oils from the liquid fraction and for solvent extraction of the resulting aqueous fraction.
Description
LV~5761 .
This invention relates to a continuous process for - the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand using hot water.
Deposits of tar sand are to be found in various parts of the world, for example, in Alberta, Canada, in 5. California, United States of America, in the Malagasy Republic, in Venezuela, and in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. In these deposits the tar sand may contain up to about 18% by weight of bitumen oils and occur in the form of particles each Gf which consists of a 10. nucleus of sand and fines which is wetted and surrounded by water, which is in turn ~urrounded by a layer of bitumen oils. In the tar sand found in Alberta, Canada, for example, the bitumen oils consist of approximately 60%
bitumen-like materials, 20% heavy petroleum oils, 18%
15. light~r oils similar to keroserls and naphtha, and 2%
gasoline, all percen-tages being by weight.
There is no great theoretical problem in separating the bitumen oils i~rom the other constituents of tar sand and indeed one process of doing so is in commeroial o;cera-20. tion, using hot water to break down the tar sand particles and separate the bitumen oils.
There have also been many theoretical proposals for extracting the bitumen oils with solvents but none of these has so far been adopted on a commercial scale.
25. A convenient review o~ the prior art proposals is contained in "Chemical Technology Review No. 51" entitled "Oil from Shale and Tar 5ands" by Edward M. Perrini, published in 1975 by Noyes Data Co.
.
~ A disadvantage of the commercial hot wate~ process 30. is that the extraction rate is relatively low and of low .
~ -~ 2. ~
.: . -~ .
.. , . .. .. .
~ 5761 efficiency and involves high capital and operating costs.
In addition, as large quantities of contaminated water are~to be disposed of, the hot water process can be damaging to the environment.
5. The present invention accordingly seeks to provide a continuous process for recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand using hot water which exhibits improved extraction rates and extraction efficiencies and reduces the amount of hot water to be disposed of to the 10. environment.
According to the present invention there is provided a continuous process for the recovery of bitumsn oils ~om tar sand which comprises contacting tar sand with hot water in a contacting zone comprising a 15. plurality of volumes connected in series, providing an upper layer comprising hot water and a lower layer comprising tar sand in each volume, passing tar sand and hot water in countercurrent through the volumes from one to another, rspeatedly showerin~ tar sand through the 20. upper layer of hot water in each volume, recovering from ;` a volume at one end of the series of volumes a liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils and from a volume at the ! other end of the series of volumes a slurry of sand that contains little or no bitumen oils.
25. In the process of the invention hot water and tar sand pass in countercurrent through the contacting zone with the sand gradually giving up its bitumen oil content to the countercurrent flow of hot water, which thereby entrains an increasing amount of bitumen oils, 30. as the sand flows through the contacting zone. Two , .- . ~.
1(~15 5761 streams are removed from the contacting zone, the one being a liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils and usually containing also water with little or no sand, while the other stream comprises a slurry which contains sand and 5. hot water but little or no bitumen oils.
Conveniently the tar sand is introduced to the contacting zone in the form of a slurry in hot water, for example comprising from about 20 parts up to about 100 parts or more by weight of water per 100 parts by 10. weight of tar sand. Conveniently the slurry of tar sand introduced to the contacting zone comprises from about 30 parts up to about 70 parts by welght of water, for example about 50 parts by weight of water, per 100 parts by weight of tar sand. By mixing the tar sand with water 15. in a digester to form this slurry, the tar sand is broken up so that the b tumen oils may be more readily released in the contacting zone. Usually it will be preferred to screen the slurry to remove large particles prior to introduction to the contacting zone.
20. As already mentioned, the amount of water in the slurry can vary within wide limits. Although larger amounts of water than tho.se mentioned can be used, there is little advantage since it increases the volume of slurry to be handled. Similarly smaller amounts of water 25. than those mentioned, that is to say less than 20 parts by weight of water per 100 parts by weight of tar sand, can be used provided that the resulting slurry is handlable.
In a preferred process the contacting zone is ; 30. provided by a closed vessel and the upper and lower ~ .
, -, - : , layers together substantially completely fill the vessel. In such a process portions of tar sand may be continually lifted in each volume from the lower layer and showered through the upper layer. One form of 5. contactor suitable for use in the process of the present invention is the solids/liquid contactor described in British Patent Specification No. 972,0~5. The structure of this British patent specification can, however, be modified by rotating the container as a whole, the 10. receptacles or buckets for ef~ecting the repeated show-ering of the tar sands through the hot water layer, being carried by, and rotated with, the container. The axis of the cylindrical container forming the closed vessel may be disposed horizontally or at a slight angle 15. to the horizontal, for example at an angle of up to abo~t 8 to the horizontal.
The contactor may, if desired, be externally heated.
The size of the contactor is dependent on the ; desired throughput of tar sand. In a large installation 20. there may be a number of the contactors arranged in parallel, In a particularly preferred process the liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils is passed to a separation ~tage for separation of bitumen oils from an aqueous 25. fraction. This aqueous fractlon can then be passed through a further contacting zone in countercurrent to a solvent for bitumen oils, such as diesel oil. Pre~erably i the rate~ of passage of the solvent through the further contacting zone is from about 0.05 to about 5% by weight 30. of the rate of passage of the aqueous-fraction there-10~3576~
through. There may be used for the further contactingzone a contactor of the type described in the afore-mentioned British Patent Specification No. 972,0~5 or the described modification thereof.
5. A~ter passage through the further contacting zone the aqueous fraction can be passed to a fines separation zone for removal of solid fines from the aqueous fraction, whereupon the substantially fines-free aqueous fraction can be recycled to the first-mentioned contact-10. ing zone, for example as the water stream for making the tar sand slurry feed to the first-mentioned contacting zone.
In this way a mixture of solvent and bitumen oils can be recovered from the further contacting zone and 15. this mixture can be combined with the bitumen oils recovered ~rom the separation stage for passage to a refinery.
The slurry of sand from the first-mentioned contacting zone can be passed to a sand/water separation 20. stage for separation of sand from water present in the slurry, the water recovered from the sand/water separation stage conveniently being recycled, together with any necessary make-up water to the first-mentioned co~.tacting zone.
l 25. In the first-mentioned contacting zone the temper-! ature of the water is preferably at least about 50C and may range, for example, from about 70C up to about 98C
or more.
The process can be conducted at sub-atmospheric or ;~ 30. super-atmospheric pressure but is conveniently conducted - - 6.
.. ~ , .
- at ambient pressure.
A problem that is fre~uently encountered in prior art processes using hot water to track down the tar sand particles and separate the bitumen oil i5 the formation 5. of a froth. In order to minimise or eliminate froth formation in the process of the invention any of the reagents heretofore suggested for use in froth suppress-ion may be introduced into the first-mentioned contacting zone. Typical froth suppression agents include caustic 10. soda and polyphosphates. Thus a preferred process includes the steps of introducing an effective amount of a froth suppression agent or of a mixture of froth æuppression agents to the first-mentioned contacting zone.
Convenlently the froth suppression agent or agents is or are 15. introduced in the make-up water to the first mentioned contacting zone. However addition of the froth suppress-ion agent or agents can be effected in any other convenient way, as for example, by addition to the hot water used to slurry the tar sand to form the feed stream 20. to the first mentioned contacting zone.
The amount of froth suppression agent added may vary within wide limits but will usually be added in an amount sufficient to provide a concentration in the hot water phase in the first-mentioned contacting zone of .
25. from about 0.001 percent by water up to about 0.5 percent by weight, preferably in the range of from about 0.01 percent by weight up to about 0.1 percent by weight in the case of the specified froth suppression agents.
Higher concentrations of froth suppression agents 30. 0.5 percent by weight of the hot water phase can be used, 7.
~5761 if desired, but it will usually be uneconomic to do so.
The present invention will be further described by reference to 'he accompanying drawing, in whlch Figure 1 is a schematic flow diagram of a process employing the 5. present invention for the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand; and Figure 2 is a radial section through a solids/liquid contactor used in the process.
It will be apparent to the skilled reader that certain equipment such as valves, pumps, heat exchangers, 10. surge tanks, and the like, which would be used in a commercial embodiment of the invention and in the operation of the plant, is not shown since lt can be of conventional design. Such equlpment is employed in accordance with practices well known in the art.
15. Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated in Figure 1 a plant for the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand . In this plant tar sand is passed at a rate of 100 tons per hour along line 1 to a pretreatment zone
This invention relates to a continuous process for - the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand using hot water.
Deposits of tar sand are to be found in various parts of the world, for example, in Alberta, Canada, in 5. California, United States of America, in the Malagasy Republic, in Venezuela, and in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. In these deposits the tar sand may contain up to about 18% by weight of bitumen oils and occur in the form of particles each Gf which consists of a 10. nucleus of sand and fines which is wetted and surrounded by water, which is in turn ~urrounded by a layer of bitumen oils. In the tar sand found in Alberta, Canada, for example, the bitumen oils consist of approximately 60%
bitumen-like materials, 20% heavy petroleum oils, 18%
15. light~r oils similar to keroserls and naphtha, and 2%
gasoline, all percen-tages being by weight.
There is no great theoretical problem in separating the bitumen oils i~rom the other constituents of tar sand and indeed one process of doing so is in commeroial o;cera-20. tion, using hot water to break down the tar sand particles and separate the bitumen oils.
There have also been many theoretical proposals for extracting the bitumen oils with solvents but none of these has so far been adopted on a commercial scale.
25. A convenient review o~ the prior art proposals is contained in "Chemical Technology Review No. 51" entitled "Oil from Shale and Tar 5ands" by Edward M. Perrini, published in 1975 by Noyes Data Co.
.
~ A disadvantage of the commercial hot wate~ process 30. is that the extraction rate is relatively low and of low .
~ -~ 2. ~
.: . -~ .
.. , . .. .. .
~ 5761 efficiency and involves high capital and operating costs.
In addition, as large quantities of contaminated water are~to be disposed of, the hot water process can be damaging to the environment.
5. The present invention accordingly seeks to provide a continuous process for recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand using hot water which exhibits improved extraction rates and extraction efficiencies and reduces the amount of hot water to be disposed of to the 10. environment.
According to the present invention there is provided a continuous process for the recovery of bitumsn oils ~om tar sand which comprises contacting tar sand with hot water in a contacting zone comprising a 15. plurality of volumes connected in series, providing an upper layer comprising hot water and a lower layer comprising tar sand in each volume, passing tar sand and hot water in countercurrent through the volumes from one to another, rspeatedly showerin~ tar sand through the 20. upper layer of hot water in each volume, recovering from ;` a volume at one end of the series of volumes a liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils and from a volume at the ! other end of the series of volumes a slurry of sand that contains little or no bitumen oils.
25. In the process of the invention hot water and tar sand pass in countercurrent through the contacting zone with the sand gradually giving up its bitumen oil content to the countercurrent flow of hot water, which thereby entrains an increasing amount of bitumen oils, 30. as the sand flows through the contacting zone. Two , .- . ~.
1(~15 5761 streams are removed from the contacting zone, the one being a liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils and usually containing also water with little or no sand, while the other stream comprises a slurry which contains sand and 5. hot water but little or no bitumen oils.
Conveniently the tar sand is introduced to the contacting zone in the form of a slurry in hot water, for example comprising from about 20 parts up to about 100 parts or more by weight of water per 100 parts by 10. weight of tar sand. Conveniently the slurry of tar sand introduced to the contacting zone comprises from about 30 parts up to about 70 parts by welght of water, for example about 50 parts by weight of water, per 100 parts by weight of tar sand. By mixing the tar sand with water 15. in a digester to form this slurry, the tar sand is broken up so that the b tumen oils may be more readily released in the contacting zone. Usually it will be preferred to screen the slurry to remove large particles prior to introduction to the contacting zone.
20. As already mentioned, the amount of water in the slurry can vary within wide limits. Although larger amounts of water than tho.se mentioned can be used, there is little advantage since it increases the volume of slurry to be handled. Similarly smaller amounts of water 25. than those mentioned, that is to say less than 20 parts by weight of water per 100 parts by weight of tar sand, can be used provided that the resulting slurry is handlable.
In a preferred process the contacting zone is ; 30. provided by a closed vessel and the upper and lower ~ .
, -, - : , layers together substantially completely fill the vessel. In such a process portions of tar sand may be continually lifted in each volume from the lower layer and showered through the upper layer. One form of 5. contactor suitable for use in the process of the present invention is the solids/liquid contactor described in British Patent Specification No. 972,0~5. The structure of this British patent specification can, however, be modified by rotating the container as a whole, the 10. receptacles or buckets for ef~ecting the repeated show-ering of the tar sands through the hot water layer, being carried by, and rotated with, the container. The axis of the cylindrical container forming the closed vessel may be disposed horizontally or at a slight angle 15. to the horizontal, for example at an angle of up to abo~t 8 to the horizontal.
The contactor may, if desired, be externally heated.
The size of the contactor is dependent on the ; desired throughput of tar sand. In a large installation 20. there may be a number of the contactors arranged in parallel, In a particularly preferred process the liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils is passed to a separation ~tage for separation of bitumen oils from an aqueous 25. fraction. This aqueous fractlon can then be passed through a further contacting zone in countercurrent to a solvent for bitumen oils, such as diesel oil. Pre~erably i the rate~ of passage of the solvent through the further contacting zone is from about 0.05 to about 5% by weight 30. of the rate of passage of the aqueous-fraction there-10~3576~
through. There may be used for the further contactingzone a contactor of the type described in the afore-mentioned British Patent Specification No. 972,0~5 or the described modification thereof.
5. A~ter passage through the further contacting zone the aqueous fraction can be passed to a fines separation zone for removal of solid fines from the aqueous fraction, whereupon the substantially fines-free aqueous fraction can be recycled to the first-mentioned contact-10. ing zone, for example as the water stream for making the tar sand slurry feed to the first-mentioned contacting zone.
In this way a mixture of solvent and bitumen oils can be recovered from the further contacting zone and 15. this mixture can be combined with the bitumen oils recovered ~rom the separation stage for passage to a refinery.
The slurry of sand from the first-mentioned contacting zone can be passed to a sand/water separation 20. stage for separation of sand from water present in the slurry, the water recovered from the sand/water separation stage conveniently being recycled, together with any necessary make-up water to the first-mentioned co~.tacting zone.
l 25. In the first-mentioned contacting zone the temper-! ature of the water is preferably at least about 50C and may range, for example, from about 70C up to about 98C
or more.
The process can be conducted at sub-atmospheric or ;~ 30. super-atmospheric pressure but is conveniently conducted - - 6.
.. ~ , .
- at ambient pressure.
A problem that is fre~uently encountered in prior art processes using hot water to track down the tar sand particles and separate the bitumen oil i5 the formation 5. of a froth. In order to minimise or eliminate froth formation in the process of the invention any of the reagents heretofore suggested for use in froth suppress-ion may be introduced into the first-mentioned contacting zone. Typical froth suppression agents include caustic 10. soda and polyphosphates. Thus a preferred process includes the steps of introducing an effective amount of a froth suppression agent or of a mixture of froth æuppression agents to the first-mentioned contacting zone.
Convenlently the froth suppression agent or agents is or are 15. introduced in the make-up water to the first mentioned contacting zone. However addition of the froth suppress-ion agent or agents can be effected in any other convenient way, as for example, by addition to the hot water used to slurry the tar sand to form the feed stream 20. to the first mentioned contacting zone.
The amount of froth suppression agent added may vary within wide limits but will usually be added in an amount sufficient to provide a concentration in the hot water phase in the first-mentioned contacting zone of .
25. from about 0.001 percent by water up to about 0.5 percent by weight, preferably in the range of from about 0.01 percent by weight up to about 0.1 percent by weight in the case of the specified froth suppression agents.
Higher concentrations of froth suppression agents 30. 0.5 percent by weight of the hot water phase can be used, 7.
~5761 if desired, but it will usually be uneconomic to do so.
The present invention will be further described by reference to 'he accompanying drawing, in whlch Figure 1 is a schematic flow diagram of a process employing the 5. present invention for the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand; and Figure 2 is a radial section through a solids/liquid contactor used in the process.
It will be apparent to the skilled reader that certain equipment such as valves, pumps, heat exchangers, 10. surge tanks, and the like, which would be used in a commercial embodiment of the invention and in the operation of the plant, is not shown since lt can be of conventional design. Such equlpment is employed in accordance with practices well known in the art.
15. Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated in Figure 1 a plant for the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand . In this plant tar sand is passed at a rate of 100 tons per hour along line 1 to a pretreatment zone
2 where it is admixed with hot water introduced via line 20. 3 at a rate of 50 tons per hour in order to form a tar sand slurry. The resulting slurry, after screening to remove any large stones is passed via line 4 at a feed rate of 150 tons per hour to a contactor 5 providing a first contacting zone. Contactor 5 is generally as 5. described in the aforementioned British Patent Specification No. 72,035 to which reference should be ~ made, but is modified in minor respects to make it `~ suitable as a solids/liquid contactor. That contactor is shown diagrammatically in axial section in the ~ 30. accompanying Figure 1 and in radial section in the ; ' .
- 8.
accompanying Figure 2, and as illustrated consists of a stationary shell 24 in which a rotor is mounted for rotation about its axis. The rotor includes a n~nber of axially-spaced circular discs 25 which separate the 5. interior of the shell 24 into a series of compartments.
The edge of each disc 25 is spaced from the wall of shell 24, so that adjacent compartments are in communication via annular gaps between the discs and shell. In each compartment, there are a series of spaced buckets or 10. receptacles 26 which are carried between the discs o~
that compartme~t. Some or all of the buckets have their leading edges extended across the gap between the discs 25 and the shell 24 -to act as scrapers and to ensure solids at the bottom of the shell are scooped by the 15. buckets; in Figure 2, two of the buckets are shown as so extended at 27. The final compartment, i.e. that at the right hand end of the contactor, are not provided with buckets 26, to facilitate removal of the stripped sand.
Hot water at a temperature of 98C is introduced 20. to the contactor 5 at a rate of 36 tons per hour vla line 6. The hot water and tar sand pass in counter-current through the contactor 5 and a slurry of sand and water which contains little or no bitumen oils is removed from the contactor 5 via line 7 at a rate of 120 tons per 25. hour. A liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils is removed ~rom contactor 5 through line 8 at a rate of 66 tons per hour and is passed to a separation zone ~ where bitumen oils are separated from an aqueous fraction containing a major amount of water, minor amounts of bitumen oils and 30. fines. Bitwnen oils are removed from separation zone 9 - ,. . . 1 . - . .
, - . . . ~ . : . . :
5~ 61 through line 10 at a rate of 9 tons per hour, whilst the aqueous fraction is removed from zone 9 through line 11 at a rate of 57 tons per hour.
Reference numeral 12 indicates a second contactor 5. which may be a liquid/liquid contactor of the type described in British Patent Specification No. 972,035.The aqueous fraction from line 11 i8 passed through second contactor 12 in countercurrent with a stream of diesel oil which is introduced through line 13 at a rate of 10. 0.1 tons per hour. The essentially bitumen oils-free water stream is removed from contactor 12 through line 14 at a rate of 56 tons per hour and passed to a fines separator 15 which may take the form of a hydrocyclone centrifuge or the like. Fines from fines separator 15, 1~. amounting to approximately 6 tons per hour are passed to disposal through line 23, whilst water is recycled at a rate of 50 tons per hour through line 16 to line 3.
A mixture of bitumen oils and solvents is removed from second contactor 12 through lines 17 at a rate of 2~. 1.1 tons per hour and is combined with the bitumen oils in line 10 for passage to a refinery through line 18 at a rate of 10.1 tons per hour.
The water/sand slurry exiting the first contactor 5 through line 7 is passed to a water/sand separator 19 2~. which may take the form of a centrifuge. Sand containing a minor amount by weight of water is passed through line 20 to disposal at a rate of 88 tons per hour, whilst water is recycled at a rate of ~2 tons per hour via line ~, .. .. ~ .
21. ~ake-up water containing any necessary additives, 30. for example sodium hydroxide or polyphosphates or a 10.
~: :
; - - . . . -5q6~
mlxture thereof, is added by means of line 22 at a rate of 4 tons per hour and is combined with t~e water in line 21 for return to the first contactor 5 ~ia line 6.
.
, .
11 .
- 8.
accompanying Figure 2, and as illustrated consists of a stationary shell 24 in which a rotor is mounted for rotation about its axis. The rotor includes a n~nber of axially-spaced circular discs 25 which separate the 5. interior of the shell 24 into a series of compartments.
The edge of each disc 25 is spaced from the wall of shell 24, so that adjacent compartments are in communication via annular gaps between the discs and shell. In each compartment, there are a series of spaced buckets or 10. receptacles 26 which are carried between the discs o~
that compartme~t. Some or all of the buckets have their leading edges extended across the gap between the discs 25 and the shell 24 -to act as scrapers and to ensure solids at the bottom of the shell are scooped by the 15. buckets; in Figure 2, two of the buckets are shown as so extended at 27. The final compartment, i.e. that at the right hand end of the contactor, are not provided with buckets 26, to facilitate removal of the stripped sand.
Hot water at a temperature of 98C is introduced 20. to the contactor 5 at a rate of 36 tons per hour vla line 6. The hot water and tar sand pass in counter-current through the contactor 5 and a slurry of sand and water which contains little or no bitumen oils is removed from the contactor 5 via line 7 at a rate of 120 tons per 25. hour. A liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils is removed ~rom contactor 5 through line 8 at a rate of 66 tons per hour and is passed to a separation zone ~ where bitumen oils are separated from an aqueous fraction containing a major amount of water, minor amounts of bitumen oils and 30. fines. Bitwnen oils are removed from separation zone 9 - ,. . . 1 . - . .
, - . . . ~ . : . . :
5~ 61 through line 10 at a rate of 9 tons per hour, whilst the aqueous fraction is removed from zone 9 through line 11 at a rate of 57 tons per hour.
Reference numeral 12 indicates a second contactor 5. which may be a liquid/liquid contactor of the type described in British Patent Specification No. 972,035.The aqueous fraction from line 11 i8 passed through second contactor 12 in countercurrent with a stream of diesel oil which is introduced through line 13 at a rate of 10. 0.1 tons per hour. The essentially bitumen oils-free water stream is removed from contactor 12 through line 14 at a rate of 56 tons per hour and passed to a fines separator 15 which may take the form of a hydrocyclone centrifuge or the like. Fines from fines separator 15, 1~. amounting to approximately 6 tons per hour are passed to disposal through line 23, whilst water is recycled at a rate of 50 tons per hour through line 16 to line 3.
A mixture of bitumen oils and solvents is removed from second contactor 12 through lines 17 at a rate of 2~. 1.1 tons per hour and is combined with the bitumen oils in line 10 for passage to a refinery through line 18 at a rate of 10.1 tons per hour.
The water/sand slurry exiting the first contactor 5 through line 7 is passed to a water/sand separator 19 2~. which may take the form of a centrifuge. Sand containing a minor amount by weight of water is passed through line 20 to disposal at a rate of 88 tons per hour, whilst water is recycled at a rate of ~2 tons per hour via line ~, .. .. ~ .
21. ~ake-up water containing any necessary additives, 30. for example sodium hydroxide or polyphosphates or a 10.
~: :
; - - . . . -5q6~
mlxture thereof, is added by means of line 22 at a rate of 4 tons per hour and is combined with t~e water in line 21 for return to the first contactor 5 ~ia line 6.
.
, .
11 .
Claims (23)
1. A continuous process for the recovery of bitumen oils from tar sand which comprises contacting tar sand with hot water in a contacting zone comprising a plurality of volumes connected in series providing an upper layer comprising hot water and a lower layer comprising tar sand in each volume, passing tar sand and hot water in counter-current through the volumes from one to another, repeatedly showering tar sand through the upper layer of hot water in each volume, recovering from a volume at one end of the series of volumes a liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils and from a volume at the other end of the series of volumes a slurry of sand that contains little or no bitumen oils.
2. A process according to claim 1, in which the tar sand is introduced to the contacting zone in the form of a slurry in hot water
3. A process according to claim 2, in which the slurry comprises from about 20 parts up to about 100 parts by weight of water per 100 parts by weight of tar sand.
4. A process according to claim 2, in which the slurry comprises from about 30 parts up to about 70 parts by weight of water per 100 parts by weight of tar sand.
5. A process according to claim 1, in which in each volume portions of tar sand are continually lifted from 12.
the lower layer and showered through the upper layer.
the lower layer and showered through the upper layer.
6. A process according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the contacting zone is provided by a closed vessel and the upper and lower layers together substantially completely fill the vessel.
7. A process according to claim 5, in which the closed vessel comprises a cylinder whose axis is disposed horizontally or at a slight angle to the horizontal and is provided with an axial rotary spindle that carries circular discs spaced apart to provide adjacent spaces containing the volumes and carrying lifting buckets for lifting the tar sand and showering it through the upper layer, communication passages being provided between adjacent volumes to permit the countercurrent flow of hot water and tar sand
8. A process according to claim 1, in which the liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils is passed to a separation stage for separation of bitumen oils from an aqueous fraction.
9. A process according to claim 1, in which the liquid fraction rich in bitumen oils is passed to a separation state for separation of bitumen oils from an aqueous fraction and in which the aqueous fraction is passed through a further contacting zone in counter-current to a solvent for bitumen oils.
13.
13.
10. A process according to claim 9, in which the solvent comprises diesel oil.
11. A process according to claim 9 or claim 10, in which the rate of passage of the solvent through the further contacting zone is from about 0.05 to about 5%
by weight of the rate of passage of the aqueous fraction therethrough.
by weight of the rate of passage of the aqueous fraction therethrough.
12. A process according to claim 9 or claim 10, in which the solvent and the aqueous fraction are contacted one with another in a plurality of stages, the aqueous fraction and the solvent passing through the stages from one to another in countercurrent, and in which in each stage the aqueous fraction is repeatedly showered through the solvent.
13. A process according to claim 9 or claim 10, in which, after passage through the further contacting zone, the aqueous fraction is passed to a fines separation zone for removal of solid fines from the aqueous fraction.
. .
. .
14. A process according to claim 9 or claim 10, in which, after passage through the further contacting zone, the aqueous fraction is passed to a fines separation zone for removal of solid fines from the aqueous fraction and in which the substantially fines-free aqueous fraction is recycled to the first-mentioned contacting zone.
14.
14.
15. A process according to claim 9 or claim 10, in which after passage through the further contacting zone the aqueous fraction is passed to a fines separation zone for removal of solid fines from the aqueous fraction and in which the substantially fines-free aqueous fraction is admixed with tar sand to form a slurry for recycle to the first-mentioned contacting zone.
16. A process according to claim 9 or claim 10, in which a mixture of solvent and bitumen oils is recovered from the further contacting zone and is combined with bitumen oils recovered from the separation stage for passage to a refinery.
17. A process according to claim 1, in which the slurry of sand recovered from the contacting zone is passed to a sand/water separation stage for separation of sand from water present in the slurry.
18. A process according to claim 17, in which water recovered from the sand/water separation stage is recycled, together with any necessary make-up water, to the first-mentioned contacting zone.
19. A process according to claim 1, in which an effective amount of froth suppression agent is introduced into the contacting zone.
20. A process according to claim 19, in which the 15.
froth suppression agent is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide and polyphosphates.
froth suppression agent is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide and polyphosphates.
21. A process according to claim 19 or claim 20, in which the froth suppression agent is added in the form of a solution, which solution supplies any necessary make-up water to the contacting zone.
22. A process according to claim 1, in which the temperature of the hot water is in excess of 50°C.
23. A process according to claim 22, in which the temperature of the hot water is in the range of from about 70°C to about 98°C.
16.
16.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB3299076 | 1976-08-07 | ||
| GB32990/76 | 1976-08-07 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1085761A true CA1085761A (en) | 1980-09-16 |
Family
ID=10347024
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA283,972A Expired CA1085761A (en) | 1976-08-07 | 1977-08-03 | Extraction of bitumen oils (tar) from tar sands |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1085761A (en) |
Cited By (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO1992009672A1 (en) * | 1990-11-27 | 1992-06-11 | Bitmin Corporation | Method and apparatus for releasing and separating oil from oil sands |
| US5645714A (en) * | 1994-05-06 | 1997-07-08 | Bitman Resources Inc. | Oil sand extraction process |
| US5723042A (en) * | 1994-05-06 | 1998-03-03 | Bitmin Resources Inc. | Oil sand extraction process |
| US7591929B2 (en) | 2005-07-13 | 2009-09-22 | Bitmin Resources, Inc. | Oil sand processing apparatus and control system |
| US7727384B2 (en) | 2005-10-21 | 2010-06-01 | Bitmin Resources, Inc. | Bitumen recovery process for oil sand |
| US9321967B2 (en) | 2009-08-17 | 2016-04-26 | Brack Capital Energy Technologies Limited | Oil sands extraction |
-
1977
- 1977-08-03 CA CA283,972A patent/CA1085761A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (8)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO1992009672A1 (en) * | 1990-11-27 | 1992-06-11 | Bitmin Corporation | Method and apparatus for releasing and separating oil from oil sands |
| US5480566A (en) * | 1990-11-27 | 1996-01-02 | Bitmin Corporation | Method for releasing and separating oil from oil sands |
| US5645714A (en) * | 1994-05-06 | 1997-07-08 | Bitman Resources Inc. | Oil sand extraction process |
| US5723042A (en) * | 1994-05-06 | 1998-03-03 | Bitmin Resources Inc. | Oil sand extraction process |
| US7591929B2 (en) | 2005-07-13 | 2009-09-22 | Bitmin Resources, Inc. | Oil sand processing apparatus and control system |
| US8110095B2 (en) | 2005-07-13 | 2012-02-07 | Bitmin Resources Inc. | Oil sand processing apparatus control system and method |
| US7727384B2 (en) | 2005-10-21 | 2010-06-01 | Bitmin Resources, Inc. | Bitumen recovery process for oil sand |
| US9321967B2 (en) | 2009-08-17 | 2016-04-26 | Brack Capital Energy Technologies Limited | Oil sands extraction |
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