Role of colloidal interactions in oil sand tailings treatment

Long, J. V. P.; Li, H.; Xu, Zhenghe; Masliyah, Jacob H.

doi:10.1002/aic.10603

Cited by 57 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Long et al (2006) employed the technique of single molecule force spectroscopy to measure the adhesion forces of single Percol 727 molecules on the surfaces of various oil sand components, such as bitumen, sand, and clay, using an atomic force microscope (AFM). They found that the polymer would preferentially adsorb onto the clay surface than onto the bitumen surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel polymer aids for low‐grade oil sand ore processing

Long

et al. 2008

Can J Chem Eng

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In the present study, a hybrid Al(OH) 3 -polyacrylamide (Al-PAM) was synthesized and used in combination with a partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) to process a low-grade oil sand ore. It was found that Al-PAM was capable to improve bitumen froth quality and tailings settling. But it led to deterioration in bitumen recovery due to the formation of large bitumen lumps during the bitumen extraction process. To resolve this problem, HPAM was added in combination with Al-PAM as a dual system. The use of the dual system at a low dosage achieved a holistic improvement in bitumen recovery, froth quality, and tailings settling. To understand the role of Al-PAM and the dual system in the bitumen extraction process, bitumen-clay, bitumen-bitumen, and clay-sand interaction and adhesion forces were directly measured using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The measured forces indicate that bitumen recovery and tailings settling are controlled by the colloidal interaction and adhesion forces between the oil sand components.Dans la présenteétude, un polyacrylamide-Al(OH) 3 hybride (Al-PAM) aété synthétisé et utilisé conjointementà un polyacrylamide partiellement hydrolysé (HPAM) afin de traiter un minerai de sables bitumineux de faible teneur. On a trouvé que l'Al-PAMétait capable d'améliorer la qualité de l'écume de bitume et la sédimentation des résidus. Mais celui-ci donne une moins bonne récupération du bitume en raison de la formation de larges agrégats de bitume lors du procédé d'extraction. Afin de résoudre ce problème, du HPAM aété ajoutéà de l'Al-PAM comme système dual. L'utilisation de ce systèmeà faible dose a permis l'amélioration générale de la récupération de bitume, de la qualité de l'écume et de la sédimentation des résidus. Pour comprendre le rôle de l'Al-PAM et du système dual dans le procédé d'extraction de bitume, l'interaction bitumeargile, bitume-bitume et argile-sable ainsi que les forces d'adhésion ontété mesurées directementà l'aide d'un microscope de force atomique (AFM). Les forces mesurées indiquent que la récupération de bitume et la sédimentation des résidus sont contrôlées par les forces d'interaction et d'adhésion colloidales entre les composantes des sables bitumineux.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel polymer aids for low‐grade oil sand ore processing

Long

et al. 2008

Can J Chem Eng

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“…It was found by Long et al (2006) that without polymer addition, the adhesion force between clay particles and silica wafers (representing sand grains in oil sands) is nearly zero, and that the measured long-range force is purely repulsive. The combination of a strong long-range repulsion and zero adhesion indicates that the fine solid particles in the tailings slurry would remain in a well-dispersed state.…”

Section: Filtration Test Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The presence of an attractive long-range interaction and a strong adhesion between bitumen surfaces facilitate coalescence of bitumen droplets, whereby aggregating the residual fine bitumen droplets in the tailings into larger blobs. Converting fine bitumen droplets into such large bitumen blobs leads to less opportunity for fine bitumen droplets to block pore passages of the filter cake (Long et al, 2006). [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at www.interscience.wiley.com.]…”

Section: Filtration Test Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer aids for settling and filtration of oil sands tailings

Wang¹,

Feng²,

Xu³

et al. 2010

Can J Chem Eng

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Commercial Magnafloc 1011 (Percol 727) polymer and in-house synthesised Al-PAM polymer were used to flocculate oil sands tailings that were derived from low and high fines oil sands ores. Fines are defined as mineral solids less than 44 m. The performance of polymers was evaluated in terms of tailings settling, filtration rate, and final moisture content of tilter cakes. Both polymers were shown to effectively flocculate the derived oil sands tailings and hence to enhance tailings settling. Al-PAM performed very well as a filtration aid. The final moisture content of the filter cake obtained from tailings derived from the low fines ore was 6.6 ± 1.2 wt.% and that from the high fines ore was 16.9 ± 0.8 wt.%. This class of polymer can provide an alternative approach for oil sands tailings disposal that has the potential to eliminate tailings ponds. However, the commercial Magnafloc 1011 polymer was found ineffective as a filtration aid for the two tailings tested in this study.Le polymère commercial Magnafloc 1011 (Percol 727) et un polymère synthétiséà l'interne Al-PAM ontété utilisés pour floculer des résidus de sables bitumineux dérivés de minerais de sables bitumineuxà hautes et faibles concentrations de matériaux fins. Les matériaux fins sont définis comme des solides minéraux de moins de 44 m. Le rendement des polymères aétéévalué en termes de la décantation des résidus, du taux de filtration et du contenu final en humidité des gâteaux des réservoirsà basculement. Les deux polymères ont démontré leur capacité a floculer efficacement les résidus de sables bitumineux dérivés et doncà améliorer la décantation des résidus. Le polymère Al-PAM a produit de très bons résultats comme aide de filtration. Le contenu final en humidité du gâteau de filtre obtenuà partir des résidus dérivés du mineraì a faible concentration de matériaux finsétait de 6,6 ± 1,2 en % de poids et de 16,9 ± 0,8 pour le mineraià forte concentration de matériaux. Cette catégorie de polymères peut offrir une approche alternative pour la mise au rebut des résidus de sables bitumineux, alternative qui aurait le potentiel d'éliminer les bassins de décantation de résidus. Cependant, le polymère commercial Magnafloc s'est prouvé inefficace comme aide de filtration pour les deux résidus testés dans cetteétude.

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“…The polymer would interact with suspended particles, tieing them together in a larger floc that would sediment at a faster rate, following Stokes' Law. (Li, 2005;Long, 2006) Inorganic coagulants such as gypsum could also be added, which could collapse the electrostatic double layer surrounding particles and allow Van der Waals forces to destabilize suspensions. (Sworska, 2000) While Suncor's Tailings Reduction Operations method has showed promise in treating mature fine tailings (Demoz, 2010), no treatment methods for process tailings have been established that meet the guidelines of the Canadian Energy Resources Conservation Board's Directive 74.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Polymeric Additives to Improve Oil Sands Tailings Consolidation

Watson

Farinato

Fenderson

et al. 2011

SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry

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It is estimated that the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta, Canada, contain 1.7 trillion barrels of oil, but producing one barrel of oil from surface-mined oil sands also produces 1.8 metric tons of solid tailings suspended in 2 m 3 of water. Traditionally, tailings slurries were discharged into settling ponds, where solids slowly settled over periods of decades or longer. Since Canadian ERCB Directive 74 went into effect on 1 July 2010, however, regulatory pressure to quickly and efficiently separate tailings from the water has mounted. Directive 74 mandates that by 1 July 2012, 50% of tailings solids must be removed from waste streams. Furthermore, the captured solids should be trafficable after five years, defined as possessing a shear strength of at least 10 kPa. The flocculation performance of chemical additives ranging from inorganic salts to high molecular weight organic polymers has been previously assessed, but a procedure for meeting Directive 74 is still uncertain because any proposed solution must deal with a wide range of water quality conditions, mineralogical substrates, and particle sizes.Bench-scale evaluations of novel polymeric additives on Athabasca oil sands were performed in both 1-L graduated cylinders and a thickener. The compactness of captured solids was measured by density and solids content, dewatering was assessed by capillary suction times, and the shear strength of flocculated particles was determined rheologically. The additives were observed to greatly improve flocculation, dewatering, and growth of shear strength relative to conventional polymer treatments.

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Role of colloidal interactions in oil sand tailings treatment

Cited by 57 publications

References 46 publications

Novel polymer aids for low‐grade oil sand ore processing

Novel polymer aids for low‐grade oil sand ore processing

Polymer aids for settling and filtration of oil sands tailings

Novel Polymeric Additives to Improve Oil Sands Tailings Consolidation

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