Fungible bitumen from paraffinic centrifugation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016348010-A1
Application number	US-201615165865-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 26, 2016
Priority date	May 27, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A process for cleaning bitumen froth produced from an oil sands extraction process involves mixing a sufficient amount of paraffinic solvent with the bitumen froth; subjecting the resulting mixture to centrifugal separation in a centrifuge to yield a diluted bitumen product, a water byproduct stream, and a solids byproduct stream; and processing the diluted bitumen product to yield dry fungible bitumen product having a total water/solids content less than about 0.5 wt %, and a recyclable paraffinic diluent stream.

First claim

1 . A process for cleaning bitumen froth produced from an oil sands extraction process, comprising:
a) mixing a sufficient amount of paraffinic solvent with a first portion of the bitumen froth; b) subjecting the resulting first mixture to centrifugal separation in a centrifuge to yield a first diluted bitumen product, a water byproduct stream, and a solids byproduct stream; and c) processing the diluted bitumen product to yield dry fungible bitumen product having a total water/solids content less than about 0.5 wt %, and a recyclable paraffinic diluent stream.

2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the centrifuge is a decanter centrifuge.

3 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising processing the water byproduct stream to recover residual bitumen and paraffinic solvent.

4 . The process of claim 3 , further comprising processing the solids byproduct stream to prepare a dry granulated powder comprising asphaltenes and fine solids.

5 . The process of claim 4 , comprising optionally, mixing a sufficient amount of the asphaltenes with the bitumen froth following addition of the paraffinic solvent in step (a).

6 . The process of claim 5 , comprising optionally, subjecting the resulting mixture to mixing in a contactor prior to centrifugal separation in step (b).

7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein centrifugal separation is conducted using a three-phrase decanter centrifuge.

8 . The process of claim 7 , wherein the diluted bitumen product comprises bitumen, paraffinic solvent, and a water plus solids content that is less than about 0.5 wt %.

9 . The process of claim 8 , wherein the diluted bitumen product is transferred from the decanter centrifuge to a diluent recovery unit for recovery of dry bitumen, light gas oil, and paraffinic solvent.

10 . The process of claim 9 , wherein the dry bitumen has a total water/solids content less than about 0.5 wt % amenable to processing in a fluid coker or ebullating-bed hydrocracker, or to shipping as fungible bitumen.

11 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the water byproduct stream is cleaned in a solvent recovery unit to yield a paraffinic solvent stream for recycling in step (a), and a separate water and fine solids stream for disposal in a tailings pond.

12 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the solids byproduct stream comprises asphaltenes, coarse and fine solids, residual paraffinic solvent, and hydrocarbon.

13 . The process of claim 12 , wherein the solids byproduct stream is mixed with water and transferred to a flotation cell for separation of an overflow hydrocarbon-rich with fine solids stream and an underflow stream of clean coarse solids.

14 . The process of claim 13 , wherein the hydrocarbon-rich with fine solids stream is mixed with paraffinic solvent and spray dried to yield dry granulated powder comprising asphaltenes and fine solids.

15 . The process of claim 14 , wherein the powder is mixed with bitumen, heated, and thermally upgraded in a fluid bed or delayed coker.

16 . The process of claim 14 , wherein the powder is converted into a syngas in a fluidized bed gasifier or fluid bed boiler.

17 . The process of claim 14 , wherein the powder is used as a fuel for a utility boiler or stockpiled as an energy supply.

18 . The process of claim 14 , wherein flashed overhead vapour comprising paraffinic solvent and water is condensed in an OVH condenser and decanter to separate the paraffinic solvent from the water.

19 . The process of claim 18 , wherein the paraffinic solvent is recycled in step (a).

20 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of paraffinic solvent to raw froth by weight percentage ranges from about 0.5 to about 4.5.

21 . The process of claim 2 , wherein the decanter centrifuge is operated to generate a g-force ranging from about 1000 to about 5000.

22 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising:
d) mixing a sufficient amount of naphthenic solvent with a second portion of the bitumen froth; e) subjecting the resulting second mixture to separation to yield a second diluted bitumen product, a water byproduct stream, and a solids byproduct stream; and f) mixing a portion of the second diluted bitumen product with a portion of the dry fungible bitumen product to produce a final fungible bitumen product.

23 . A process for cleaning bitumen froth produced from an oil sands extraction process, comprising:
a) mixing a sufficient amount of naphtha with a first portion of the bitumen froth to produce a first diluted bitumen froth; b) mixing a sufficient amount of paraffinic solvent with the first diluted bitumen froth to form a second diluted bitumen froth; and c) subjecting the second diluted bitumen froth to centrifugal separation in a centrifuge to yield a diluted bitumen product, a water byproduct stream, and a solids byproduct stream.

24 . The process as claimed in claim 23 , wherein the diluted bitumen product has a water content of about 1.0 wt % or less.

Assignees

• Syncrude Canada Ltd

Inventors

• Bulbuc Daniel John
• Mcknight Craig
• Kizior Thaddeus Eugene
• Childs David Harold

Classifications

• C10G31/10 Primary

  with the aid of centrifugal force · CPC title

• C10G33/06

  with mechanical means, e.g. by filtration · CPC title

• C10G29/20

  Organic compounds not containing metal atoms · CPC title

• C10G1/045 Primary

  Separation of insoluble materials · CPC title