Mid-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy of Oil Sands Minerals Based on Tunable Quantum Cascade Lasers

Abstract

Minerals play an important role in the oil sands extraction efficiency. It is thus important to assess the major mineral abundance in oil sands ores. This paper presents the application of tunable quantum cascade lasers for mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy on oil sands minerals. The investigations and results show a new tool to determine oil sands mineral type and to determine potentially quartz and clay contents.

Mid-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy Based on External Cavity Quantum Cascade Lasers for Mineral Characterization

“…11,12 Recently, mineral measurements were reported for quartz and clays in oil sands. 13 Preliminary results of mineral identification were shown for silicates and carbonates. 14 Mid-infrared spectroscopy is particularly suited for mineral identification by probing the fundamental vibrational bands of crystals, instead of the overtones or the impurities captured in the visible and the near infrared spectral regions, hence providing distinct spectral signatures.…”