The role of gas bubbles in bitumen release during oil sand digestion
✍ Scribed by Jaroslaw Drelich; Dariusz Leliński; Jan Hupka; Jan D. Miller
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1995
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 793 KB
- Volume
- 74
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0016-2361
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Improved efficiency in bitumen recovery was observed in laboratory experiments when oil sand pulp was intentionally aerated by air sparging during digestion. The mechanism of gas bubble attachment to bitumen lenses (at the surface of sand grains), the spreading of bitumen on a gas bubble and the release of bitumen-enveloped bubbles from the sand particles, all of which are of practical significance for the effective separation of bitumen from oil sand, are discussed. The bitumen-gas bubble interactions can be controlled by adjustment of the process chemistry to reduce bitumen-water interfacial tension. In this way the extent of bitumen release during digestion can be improved.