CA2750402A1 - Elevated temperature treatment of bitumen froth - Google Patents
Elevated temperature treatment of bitumen froth Download PDFInfo
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- CA2750402A1 CA2750402A1 CA 2750402 CA2750402A CA2750402A1 CA 2750402 A1 CA2750402 A1 CA 2750402A1 CA 2750402 CA2750402 CA 2750402 CA 2750402 A CA2750402 A CA 2750402A CA 2750402 A1 CA2750402 A1 CA 2750402A1
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Abstract
A method for separating a bitumen product from an oil sand composition that includes bitumen containing asphpaltenes, includes: contacting the oil sand composition with water to form a water and oil sand slurry; separating the slurry into a froth comprising mineral solids, water and a hydrocarbon phase, and an underflow stream comprising solids, water, and entrained hydrocarbons; contacting, at a temperature above 120 C, the froth with a paraffinic solvent so as to at least partially precipitate asphaltenes; separating the solvent-diluted froth into a hydrocarbon phase containing a majority of the solvent, a majority of the hydrocarbons from the solvent-diluted froth, and a tailings stream containing a majority of solids and a majority of the water present in the froth wherein at least some of the asphaltenes from the oil sand are not in the hydrocarbon phase; and separating the hydrocarbon phase into the bitumen product and a recyclable solvent stream.
Description
Patent Elevated Temperature Treatment of Bitumen Froth By Yicheng Long and Tyler Smith Field of the Invention [0001] The invention relates to a method and apparatus for treatment of bitumen froth to enhance separation of solids and water as well as partial asphaltene rejection.
Background [0001] Oil sand is essentially a matrix of bitumen, mineral material and water, and possibly encapsulated air. The bitumen component of oil sand consists of viscous hydrocarbons which behave much like a solid at normal in situ temperatures and which act as a binder for the other components of the oil sand matrix. Oil sand will typically contain about 10%
to 12% bitumen and about 3% to 6% water, with the remainder of the oil sand being made up of mineral matter.
The mineral matter component in oil sand may contain about 14% to 20% fines, measured by weight of total mineral matter contained in the deposit, but the amount of fines may increase to about 30% or more for poorer quality deposits. Oil sand extracted from the Athabasca area near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, averages about 11% bitumen, 5% water and 84%
mineral matter, with about 15% to 20% of the mineral matter being made up of fines.
Oil sand deposits are mined for the purpose of extracting bitumen from them, which is then upgraded to synthetic crude oil.
Background [0001] Oil sand is essentially a matrix of bitumen, mineral material and water, and possibly encapsulated air. The bitumen component of oil sand consists of viscous hydrocarbons which behave much like a solid at normal in situ temperatures and which act as a binder for the other components of the oil sand matrix. Oil sand will typically contain about 10%
to 12% bitumen and about 3% to 6% water, with the remainder of the oil sand being made up of mineral matter.
The mineral matter component in oil sand may contain about 14% to 20% fines, measured by weight of total mineral matter contained in the deposit, but the amount of fines may increase to about 30% or more for poorer quality deposits. Oil sand extracted from the Athabasca area near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, averages about 11% bitumen, 5% water and 84%
mineral matter, with about 15% to 20% of the mineral matter being made up of fines.
Oil sand deposits are mined for the purpose of extracting bitumen from them, which is then upgraded to synthetic crude oil.
[0002] A widely used process for extracting bitumen from oil sand is the "water process." In this process, both aggressive thermal action and aggressive mechanical action are used to liberate and separate bitumen from the oil sand. An example of the water process is the hot water process.
In the hot water process, oil sand is first conditioned by mixing it with hot water at about 95° Celsius and steam in a conditioning vessel which vigorously agitates the resulting slurry in order to disintegrate the oil sand. Once the disintegration of the oil sand is complete, the slurry is separated by allowing the sand and rock to settle out. Bitumen, with air entrained in the bitumen, floats to the top of the slurry and is withdrawn as a bitumen froth. The remainder of the slurry is then treated further or scavenged by froth flotation techniques to recover bitumen Patent that did not float to the top of the slurry during the separation step. The froth is further treated to separate solids and water from liquid hydrocarbons. Such a process is suggested in US patent no.
5,645,714, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein.
In the hot water process, oil sand is first conditioned by mixing it with hot water at about 95° Celsius and steam in a conditioning vessel which vigorously agitates the resulting slurry in order to disintegrate the oil sand. Once the disintegration of the oil sand is complete, the slurry is separated by allowing the sand and rock to settle out. Bitumen, with air entrained in the bitumen, floats to the top of the slurry and is withdrawn as a bitumen froth. The remainder of the slurry is then treated further or scavenged by froth flotation techniques to recover bitumen Patent that did not float to the top of the slurry during the separation step. The froth is further treated to separate solids and water from liquid hydrocarbons. Such a process is suggested in US patent no.
5,645,714, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein.
[0003] US patent no. 5,236,577 suggests a high temperature process for treating bitumen froth where a froth is contacted with a diluent at a temperature in the range of 80 to 300 C. Examples of diluents are naphtha, Varsol, and natural gas condensate. The higher temperature is indicated to improve the rate of separation, and to improve the ultimate product quality, as measured by decreasing the solids and water content of the treated froth.
[0004] Canadian patent no. 2,232,929, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, discloses an improvement to the hot water process that utilizes a paraffinic solvent to extract bitumen from the bitumen froth.
[0005] US patent no. 6,214,213, suggests a process for treatment of a bitumen froth wherein hydrocarbons solvents are utilized to separate water and solids from the froth to produce bitumen.
The hydrocarbon solvent, when combined with the froth, causes the froth emulsion to invert.
Summary of the Invention
The hydrocarbon solvent, when combined with the froth, causes the froth emulsion to invert.
Summary of the Invention
[0006] A method is provided to separate a bitumen product from an oil sand compositions wherein the oil sand composition comprises bitumen containing asphpaltenes, the method comprising the steps of. contacting an oil sand composition with water to form a water and oil sand slurry; separating the water and oil sand slurry into a froth comprising mineral solids, water and a hydrocarbon phase, and an underflow stream comprising solids, water, and entrained hydrocarbons; contacting, at a temperature above 120 C, the froth with a sufficient amount of a paraffinic solvent to reach at least partial asphaltene precipitation;
separating the solvent-diluted froth into a hydrocarbon phase containing a majority of the paraffinic solvent, a majority of the hydrocarbons from the solvent-diluted froth, and a tailings stream containing a majority of solids and a majority of the water present in the froth wherein at least a portion of the asphaltenes from the oil sand are not in the hydrocarbon phase; and separating the hydrocarbon phase into the bitumen product and a recyclable solvent stream.
separating the solvent-diluted froth into a hydrocarbon phase containing a majority of the paraffinic solvent, a majority of the hydrocarbons from the solvent-diluted froth, and a tailings stream containing a majority of solids and a majority of the water present in the froth wherein at least a portion of the asphaltenes from the oil sand are not in the hydrocarbon phase; and separating the hydrocarbon phase into the bitumen product and a recyclable solvent stream.
[0007] The paraffinic solvent may comprise butane, pentane, hexane, heptanes, or mixtures thereof. A portion of asphaltenes present in the froth are partitioned from the hydrocarbon phase into a separate asphaltene phase resulting in a bitumen product that is more readily transported Patent and processed. Separation of the asphaltene phase from the hydrocarbon phase is considerably more efficient at elevated temperatures. Additionally, solubility of asphaltenes in solvent-diluted bitumen is lower at elevated temperatures of the present process compared to prior art processes.
The lower solubility results in considerably less solvent being needed to produce a similar quality of produced bitumen with asphaltenes partially removed. For example, compared to a typical solvent contacting temperature of about 80 C, operation at 140 to 180 C permits lowering of the solvent to bitumen ratio by about 40% with five and/or six carbon number paraffinic solvent to result in a 50% reduction in asphaltene content of the bitumen product compared to the bitumen present in the oil sand composition. Lowering the amount of solvent required considerably reduces operating costs and because the size of the equipment required is decreased, capital costs are also reduced. Because, in prior art solvent processes, solvent is removed from the bitumen and the tailings streams by heating the respective streams, the present invention does not require significant additional heating for the feeds of the solvent recovery unit.
Due to the reduced solvent to bitumen ratio, total energy required to recover solvent from solvent-diluted bitumen is significantly reduced by reduction of the amount of solvent required.
The lower solubility results in considerably less solvent being needed to produce a similar quality of produced bitumen with asphaltenes partially removed. For example, compared to a typical solvent contacting temperature of about 80 C, operation at 140 to 180 C permits lowering of the solvent to bitumen ratio by about 40% with five and/or six carbon number paraffinic solvent to result in a 50% reduction in asphaltene content of the bitumen product compared to the bitumen present in the oil sand composition. Lowering the amount of solvent required considerably reduces operating costs and because the size of the equipment required is decreased, capital costs are also reduced. Because, in prior art solvent processes, solvent is removed from the bitumen and the tailings streams by heating the respective streams, the present invention does not require significant additional heating for the feeds of the solvent recovery unit.
Due to the reduced solvent to bitumen ratio, total energy required to recover solvent from solvent-diluted bitumen is significantly reduced by reduction of the amount of solvent required.
[0008] Separation of the froth and solvent mixture into a hydrocarbon phase and heavier phases is enhanced at elevated temperatures. Although the present invention is not to be limited by the theory or mechanism, it is believed that at a temperature above 120 C the asphaltenes exceed a softening point and are no longer solids. Separation of solids from a solvent-diluted bitumen liquid phase is dictated by settling, which is very dependent on the size and structure of the asphaltenic particles. When beyond asphaltene softening point, the separation of the hydrocarbon (solvent-diluted bitumen) and heavy phases (water, mineral solids, and precipitated asphaltenes) becomes more like liquid-liquid separation.
[0009] Optionally, amounts of solvent similar to those used in prior art paraffinic solvent processes could be used and the present invention would result in reduced asphaltene content of the bitumen product.
Brief description of the Figure
Brief description of the Figure
[0010] The Figure is a process flow drawing for the process of the present invention.
Patent Detailed Description of the Invention
Patent Detailed Description of the Invention
[0011] Referring now to the Figure, an oil sand ore stream, 101, is contacted with water 102 in a mixer 120, to form a water and oil sand slurry 103. The oil sand ore can be a mined bitumen ore from a formation such as oil sands found in the Athabasca area near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. The ratio of oil sand ore to water may be, for example, in the range of 1 to 6 or 1 to 2.
The oil sands may contain between 75 and 95 percent by weight of mineral solids, and may contain between 10 and 20 percent by weight hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbon portion of the oil sands may have a gravity of between 7 and 10 API and may contain from 10 to 25 percent by weight of asphaltenes. Other components of the hydrocarbon portion of the oil sand ore may be to 40 percent by weight aliphatics, 5 to 20 percent by weight aromatics, and 10 to 50 percent by weight polar compounds. The mixer may agitate the slurry to break up solids and to increase the area of contact between the solids and the water. The mixer may also heat the slurry to a temperature of, for example, between 40 and 90 C to enhance separation of the hydrocarbons from the solids. Air and chemicals such as caustic or surfactants maybe added to the slurry to further enhance separation of the hydrocarbons from the solids. Alternatively, liberation of hydrocarbon from mineral material may be accomplished in a slurry conditioning transportation line. The water and oil sand slurry optionally may be screened in a screener 121 to remove larger solids 104 from a remaining slurry stream 105.
The oil sands may contain between 75 and 95 percent by weight of mineral solids, and may contain between 10 and 20 percent by weight hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbon portion of the oil sands may have a gravity of between 7 and 10 API and may contain from 10 to 25 percent by weight of asphaltenes. Other components of the hydrocarbon portion of the oil sand ore may be to 40 percent by weight aliphatics, 5 to 20 percent by weight aromatics, and 10 to 50 percent by weight polar compounds. The mixer may agitate the slurry to break up solids and to increase the area of contact between the solids and the water. The mixer may also heat the slurry to a temperature of, for example, between 40 and 90 C to enhance separation of the hydrocarbons from the solids. Air and chemicals such as caustic or surfactants maybe added to the slurry to further enhance separation of the hydrocarbons from the solids. Alternatively, liberation of hydrocarbon from mineral material may be accomplished in a slurry conditioning transportation line. The water and oil sand slurry optionally may be screened in a screener 121 to remove larger solids 104 from a remaining slurry stream 105.
[0012] Remaining slurry stream 105 may be further processed to provide an initial solids separation in a first separator 123 producing an underflow stream 114, containing solids and water with some bitumen, and a froth 106. The froth contains a majority of the hydrocarbons from the oil sands stream, along with entrained water and solids. Typically, the froth contains about 60 weight percent bitumen, about 30 weight percent water, and about 10 weight percent mineral solids. The first separator may include additional steps and equipment, such as, for example, flotation cells, to increase the bitumen recovery and de-aerators to remove excessive air.
[0013] Froth, 106, from the first separator may be contacted with a paraffinic solvent, 108 to form a solvent-diluted froth mixture 107. The solvent at elevated temperature may cause demulsification , and also cause at least some of the asphaltenes present in the froth to partition from the hydrocarbon phase into a separate asphaltene phase.
[0014] The paraffinic solvent may contain between about 80 and 100 percent by weight of saturated hydrocarbons that do not contain rings. The paraffinic solvent may contain less than Patent about 2 percent by weight of aromatic hydrocarbons and less than about 8 percent by weight cycloparaffins. The paraffinic solvent may include more than 90 percent by weight hydrocarbons having from four to seven carbon atoms, or optionally five or six carbon atoms. In one embodiment of the present invention, the solvent is more than 90 percent by weight pentane.
[0015] The solvent-diluted froth 107 may be brought to a temperature of between 120 C and 200 C or optionally between about 120 C and 180 C, or between 140 C and 180 C.
These temperatures may be above the softening point of the precipitated asphaltenes under the process conditions. The solvent-diluted froth could be brought to the desired temperature by heating with heat exchangers, direct contact with steam, furnaces, combinations of these, or by other known means. One or more of the solvent and froth streams could be heated sufficiently prior to being mixed so that the combined stream would be in the desired temperature range. The solvent-diluted froth may be held in the desired temperature range for a residence time of between about 1 second and about 30 minutes, or optionally between about 1 second and about five minutes. The froth and solvent may be intimately contacted, for example, by a static mixer or a stirred vessel, either prior to being heated to the desired temperature range, or within the desired temperature range.
These temperatures may be above the softening point of the precipitated asphaltenes under the process conditions. The solvent-diluted froth could be brought to the desired temperature by heating with heat exchangers, direct contact with steam, furnaces, combinations of these, or by other known means. One or more of the solvent and froth streams could be heated sufficiently prior to being mixed so that the combined stream would be in the desired temperature range. The solvent-diluted froth may be held in the desired temperature range for a residence time of between about 1 second and about 30 minutes, or optionally between about 1 second and about five minutes. The froth and solvent may be intimately contacted, for example, by a static mixer or a stirred vessel, either prior to being heated to the desired temperature range, or within the desired temperature range.
[0016] A benefit of increased temperatures for contacting froth with the paraffinic solvent is that similar bitumen product asphaltene contents may be achieved with considerably lower ratios of solvent to bitumen. For solvents that are at least ninety percent by weight of pentane, hexane, or mixtures thereof, a ration of solvent to bitumen in the froth may be between 1.1 and 2.2. When butane is utilized as the paraffinic solvent, for example when more than fifty percent by weight of the paraffinic solvent is butane, or more than ninety percent by weight butane, the ratio of solvent to bitumen in the may be between 0.7 and 1.7. When the paraffinic solvent comprises at least fifty percent paraffins having a carbon number greater then 7, the ration of paraffinic solvent to bitumen in the froth may be between 1.5 and 3Ø
[0017] The solvent-diluted froth stream 107 may be routed to a second separator, 124, the second separator effective to separate the solvent-diluted froth into a hydrocarbon phase 110 and a tailings stream 111. The hydrocarbon phase contains a majority of the solvent present in the solvent-diluted froth feed, optionally at least 60 percent of the solvent in the solvent-diluted froth feed. The hydrocarbon phase also contains a majority of the non-asphaltene hydrocarbons present in the froth. Optionally, the hydrocarbon phase may contain at least 70 percent to the Patent non-asphaltene hydrocarbons present in the froth stream. Separation of the solvent-diluted froth into the hydrocarbon phase and the tailings stream may be done while the streams are in the temperature range of between 120 C and 200 C, optionally between 120 C and 180 C, or between 120 C and 160 C. The tailings stream may contain a majority of the inorganic solids and a majority of the water present in the froth. In some embodiments of the invention, the tailings stream contains more than 95 percent of the solids present in the froth, and optionally at least 99 percent of the solids from the froth.
[00181 Asphaltenes may be partially partitioned from the hydrocarbon phase into a separate asphaltene phase and at least partially rejected into the tailings, or recovered as a separate stream from the second separator. This partitioning may be useful when decreasing the asphaltene content of the bitumen increases options for marketing the bitumen. For example, the asphaltenes removed from the bitumen and not recovered with the bitumen product may be between ten and eighty percent of the asphaltenes present in the oil sand composition.
[0019] For simplicity, a single second separator is shown in the Figure, although it is to be understood that the second separator could be a series of separation stages optionally including counter-current contacting with solvent. The second separator may optionally be a process that produces three or more products. The three or more products could be the hydrocarbon stream essentially as described above, a stream that contains a majority of the inorganic solids in the solvent-diluted froth and water, and the precipitated asphaltenes. The tailings stream of the present invention would be a combination of the stream containing a majority of the inorganic solids and the stream concentrated in asphaltenes. The second separator can be tank separator(s), hydrocyclone(s), inclined plate separator(s), or their combinations. The second separator may have internals to enhance separation.
[0020] Recycle solvent 109 may be recovered from the hydrocarbon stream 110 in a solvent recovery unit 125, leaving a bitumen product 112. The bitumen product may have less than about 15 percent by weight asphaltene content, and less than 1 percent by weight water content.
Some solvent may optionally remain in the bitumen product, for example, to facilitate pipeline transportation of the bitumen product.
[0021] Tailings 111 may be processed in a tailings solvent recovery unit 127 to remove at least a portion of the solvent present in the tailings stream 113 and a solvent free tailings stream 115.
Patent The recovered solvent from the tailings solvent recovery unit 113 may be combined with recycle solvent and make-up solvent 116 to form the solvent stream 108.
[0022] The solvent recovery unit 125 may use known methods to remove more volatile hydrocarbons from less volatile hydrocarbons such as distillation and supercritical solvent separation. The tailings solvent recovery unit may utilized known methods to remove volatile hydrocarbons from solids and/or aqueous streams such as using the heat present in the tailings stream for vaporization of the solvent.
[0023] Water in the tailings may be at least partially separated from the solids and recycled, for example, to the slurry of oil sand slurry 103. Recycling water from the tailings reduces the need to provide additional water 102. Recycling this water as hot water also provides additional heat to the front- end water extraction process and improves energy efficiency of the overall process.
Alternatively, at least a portion of the heat in the tailing stream 115 can be recovered using heat exchangers before the tailings stream 115 is sent to the tailings pond.
[0024] The invention also includes the apparatus capable of performing the method.
[0025] The concentration of asphaltenes in the bitumen product may be below about 15 percent by volume, or below about 10 percent by volume, or between 6 and 12 percent by volume.
[00181 Asphaltenes may be partially partitioned from the hydrocarbon phase into a separate asphaltene phase and at least partially rejected into the tailings, or recovered as a separate stream from the second separator. This partitioning may be useful when decreasing the asphaltene content of the bitumen increases options for marketing the bitumen. For example, the asphaltenes removed from the bitumen and not recovered with the bitumen product may be between ten and eighty percent of the asphaltenes present in the oil sand composition.
[0019] For simplicity, a single second separator is shown in the Figure, although it is to be understood that the second separator could be a series of separation stages optionally including counter-current contacting with solvent. The second separator may optionally be a process that produces three or more products. The three or more products could be the hydrocarbon stream essentially as described above, a stream that contains a majority of the inorganic solids in the solvent-diluted froth and water, and the precipitated asphaltenes. The tailings stream of the present invention would be a combination of the stream containing a majority of the inorganic solids and the stream concentrated in asphaltenes. The second separator can be tank separator(s), hydrocyclone(s), inclined plate separator(s), or their combinations. The second separator may have internals to enhance separation.
[0020] Recycle solvent 109 may be recovered from the hydrocarbon stream 110 in a solvent recovery unit 125, leaving a bitumen product 112. The bitumen product may have less than about 15 percent by weight asphaltene content, and less than 1 percent by weight water content.
Some solvent may optionally remain in the bitumen product, for example, to facilitate pipeline transportation of the bitumen product.
[0021] Tailings 111 may be processed in a tailings solvent recovery unit 127 to remove at least a portion of the solvent present in the tailings stream 113 and a solvent free tailings stream 115.
Patent The recovered solvent from the tailings solvent recovery unit 113 may be combined with recycle solvent and make-up solvent 116 to form the solvent stream 108.
[0022] The solvent recovery unit 125 may use known methods to remove more volatile hydrocarbons from less volatile hydrocarbons such as distillation and supercritical solvent separation. The tailings solvent recovery unit may utilized known methods to remove volatile hydrocarbons from solids and/or aqueous streams such as using the heat present in the tailings stream for vaporization of the solvent.
[0023] Water in the tailings may be at least partially separated from the solids and recycled, for example, to the slurry of oil sand slurry 103. Recycling water from the tailings reduces the need to provide additional water 102. Recycling this water as hot water also provides additional heat to the front- end water extraction process and improves energy efficiency of the overall process.
Alternatively, at least a portion of the heat in the tailing stream 115 can be recovered using heat exchangers before the tailings stream 115 is sent to the tailings pond.
[0024] The invention also includes the apparatus capable of performing the method.
[0025] The concentration of asphaltenes in the bitumen product may be below about 15 percent by volume, or below about 10 percent by volume, or between 6 and 12 percent by volume.
Claims (16)
1. A method to separate a bitumen product from an oil sand compositions wherein the oil sand composition comprises bitumen containing asphpaltenes, the method comprising the steps of:
contacting an oil sand composition with water to form a water and oil sand slurry;
separating the water and oil sand slurry into a froth comprising mineral solids, water and a hydrocarbon phase, and an underflow stream comprising solids, water, and entrained hydrocarbons;
contacting, at a temperature above 120°C, the froth with a sufficient amount of a paraffinic solvent to reach at least partial asphaltene precipitation;
separating the solvent-diluted froth into a hydrocarbon phase containing a majority of the paraffinic solvent, a majority of the hydrocarbons from the solvent-diluted froth, and a tailings stream containing a majority of solids and a majority of the water present in the froth wherein at least a portion of the asphaltenes from the oil sand are not in the hydrocarbon phase; and separating the hydrocarbon phase into the bitumen product and a recyclable solvent stream.
contacting an oil sand composition with water to form a water and oil sand slurry;
separating the water and oil sand slurry into a froth comprising mineral solids, water and a hydrocarbon phase, and an underflow stream comprising solids, water, and entrained hydrocarbons;
contacting, at a temperature above 120°C, the froth with a sufficient amount of a paraffinic solvent to reach at least partial asphaltene precipitation;
separating the solvent-diluted froth into a hydrocarbon phase containing a majority of the paraffinic solvent, a majority of the hydrocarbons from the solvent-diluted froth, and a tailings stream containing a majority of solids and a majority of the water present in the froth wherein at least a portion of the asphaltenes from the oil sand are not in the hydrocarbon phase; and separating the hydrocarbon phase into the bitumen product and a recyclable solvent stream.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the paraffinic solvent comprises between butane, pentane, hexane, heptane or a combination thereof.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the paraffinic solvent comprises at least ninety percent by weight of pentane and hexane, and a ratio of paraffinic solvent to bitumen product is between 1.1 and 2.2.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the paraffinic solvent comprises at least ninety percent by weight of pentane.
5. The method of claim 2 wherein the paraffinic solvent comprises at least ninety percent by weight of hexane.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of removing at least a portion of the precipitated asphaltenes from the solvent-diluted froth.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the precipitated asphaltenes removed from the solvent-diluted froth comprise between ten and eighty percent of the asphaltenes present in the oil sand composition.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the paraffinic solvent comprises at least fifty percent butane, and the ration of paraffinic solvent to bitumen in the froth is between 0.7 and 1.7.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the paraffinic solvent comprises between ninety and one hundred percent butane.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the paraffinic solvent comprises at least fifty percent of paraffins having carbon numbers greater than 7 and the ratio of paraffinic solvent to bitumen in the froth is between 1.5 and 3Ø
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the temperature high enough to result in the separate asphaltene phase being a liquid phase is between 120°C and 200°C.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the temperature high enough to result in the separate asphaltene phase being a liquid phase is between 120°C and 180°C.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein the temperature high enough to result in the separate asphaltene phase being a liquid phase is between 120°C and 160°C.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein the separation of the solvent and water and hydrocarbon mixture into a hydrocarbon phase containing a majority of the solvent, a majority of the hydrocarbons from the water and hydrocarbon mixture, and a tailings steam containing a majority of solids of the water and hydrocarbon mixture and a majority of the water from the water and hydrocarbon mixture is done at a temperature between 120°C
and 180°C.
and 180°C.
15. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of removing solvent from the hydrocarbon phase.
16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the step of recycling at least a portion of the recyclable solvent removed from the hydrocarbon phase.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US37771910P | 2010-08-27 | 2010-08-27 | |
| US61/377,719 | 2010-08-27 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2750402A1 true CA2750402A1 (en) | 2012-02-27 |
Family
ID=45773637
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2750402 Abandoned CA2750402A1 (en) | 2010-08-27 | 2011-08-25 | Elevated temperature treatment of bitumen froth |
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Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2013181363A1 (en) * | 2012-06-01 | 2013-12-05 | Exxonmobil Research And Engineering Company | Upgrading of asphaltene-depleted crudes |
-
2011
- 2011-08-25 CA CA 2750402 patent/CA2750402A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2013181363A1 (en) * | 2012-06-01 | 2013-12-05 | Exxonmobil Research And Engineering Company | Upgrading of asphaltene-depleted crudes |
| US8951405B2 (en) | 2012-06-01 | 2015-02-10 | Exxonmobil Research And Engineering Company | Upgrading of asphaltene-depleted crudes |
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