Optimized caustic control based on ore grade and fines content for bitumen extraction from mined oil sands

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9458386-B2
Application number	US-201213667966-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2012
Priority date	Nov 2, 2012
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

A process of extracting bitumen from oil sand ores having a fines content up to about 60% and a bitumen content greater than 6% is provided, comprising: determining the fines content and the bitumen content of the oil sand ore; calculating a sufficient amount of caustic to be added in the process using an equation based on the ratio of the fines content to the bitumen content; mixing the oil sand ore with heated water to produce an oil sand slurry; and adding the sufficient amount of caustic before, during or after mixing the oil sand ore with heated water to condition the oil sand slurry and to improve bitumen recovery from the oil sand ore.

First claim

I claim:

1. A process of extracting bitumen from oil sand ores having a fines content up to about 60% and a bitumen content greater than about 6%, comprising:
determining the fines content of the oil sand ore prior to mixing the oil sand ore with heated water;
determining the bitumen content of the oil sand ore prior to mixing the oil sand ore with heated water;
mixing the oil sand ore with heated water to produce an oil sand slurry; and
adding caustic before, during or after mixing the oil sand ore with heated water in an amount responsive to the content of fines and bitumen in the oil sand ore to condition the oil sand slurry and to improve bitumen recovery from the oil sand ore, wherein the amount of caustic to be added is determined using equation (1):
y =0.024 x −0.0088  (1),

where (y) is the caustic dosage (wt % of oil sand ore) and x is the ratio of the fines content (%) over bitumen content (%).

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the bitumen content is about 10%, the fines content ranges from about 10% to about 45%, and the amount of caustic added ranges from about 0.016 wt % to about 0.10 wt %.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the bitumen content ranges from about 6% to about 13%, the fines content is about 20%, and the amount of caustic added ranges from about 0.07 wt % to about 0.03 wt %.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein when the fines content is constant, the amount of caustic added decreases as the bitumen content increases.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein when the bitumen content is constant, the amount of caustic added increases as the fines content increases.

6. A process of extracting bitumen from oil sand ores having a fines content up to about 60% and a bitumen content greater than about 6%, comprising:
determining the fines content and-the bitumen content of the oil sand ore prior to mixing the oil sand ore with heated water;
determining the bitumen content of the oil sand ore prior to mixing the oil sand ore with heated water;
mixing the oil sand ore with heated water to produce an oil sand slurry; and
adding caustic before, during or after mixing the oil sand ore with heated water in an amount responsive to the content of fines and bitumen in the oil sand ore to condition the oil sand slurry and to improve bitumen recovery from the oil sand ore, wherein the amount of caustic to be added is determined using equation (2):
y =0.012 x −0.0044  (2),

where (y) is the caustic dosage (wt % of oil sand ore) and x is the ratio of the fines content (%) over bitumen content (%).

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the bitumen content ranges from about 6% to about 13% and the fines content is about 20%, the amount of caustic added decreases from about 0.036 wt % to about 0.014 wt % as the bitumen grade increases.

8. The process of claim 6 , wherein when the fines content ranges from about 10% to about 45% and the bitumen content is about 10%, the amount of caustic added increases from about 0.008 wt % to about 0.050 wt %.

Assignees

• Syncrude Canada Ltd In Trust For The Owners Of The Syncrude Project
• Syncrude Canada Ltd

Inventors

• Long Jun

Classifications

• C10G1/045 Primary

  Separation of insoluble materials · CPC title