Open AccessEnhanced Flocculation of Oil Sands Mature Fine Tailings Using Hydrophobically Modified Polyacrylamide Copolymers
Author(s) -
Hripko Rhys,
Vajihinejad Vahid,
LopesMotta Fernanda,
Soares João B. P.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
global challenges
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2056-6646
DOI - 10.1002/gch2.201700135
Subject(s) - polyacrylamide , flocculation , tailings , copolymer , chemical engineering , materials science , chemistry , polymer , polymer chemistry , composite material , engineering , metallurgy
Hydrophobically modified acrylamide copolymers dewater oil sands tailings more effectively than anionic polyacrylamide, but the root causes for this enhanced performance have not been investigated systematically. Polyacrylamide‐poly(ethylene oxide methyl ether methacrylate) copolymers with different comonomer compositions, hydrophobic chain lengths, and molecular weights to map out these effects systematically are synthetized. Through a statistical design of experiments, it is found out that all three variables above significantly affected flocculation performance and that certain combinations achieve optimal results. The effect of centrifugation on the flocculation and dewatering performance of these polymers is also investigated.