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A Bench‐Scale Study of Conditioning Behaviour in Oil Sands Slurries
Author(s) -
Friesen Waldemar I.,
Dabros Tadeusz,
Kwon Teddy
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450820413
Subject(s) - slurry , conditioning , asphalt , mixing (physics) , oil sands , materials science , extraction (chemistry) , environmental science , geotechnical engineering , geology , composite material , chemistry , chromatography , mathematics , statistics , physics , quantum mechanics
Abstract Proper conditioning of an oil sand/water slurry is essential for the efficient extraction of bitumen. The conditioning process depends on such variables as ore grade, temperature, mixing intensity, mixing time, and water composition. A technique has been developed in which a microscope and video cameras are used to observe a slurry stirred in a glass cell to evaluate, on a comparative basis, the effect of conditioning parameters on bitumen recovery. Several ores and their blends were studied and found to exhibit large differences in their conditioning behaviour. The method offers the capability of diagnosing ore processability problems and optimizing slurry conditioning.