Fundamentals of flocculation of oil sand tailings

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The described research program deals with the fundamental aspects of a physicochemical treatment process for fine oil sand tailings obtained after bitumen extraction from oil sand ores. The flocculation of fine tailings is based on the addition of a polymeric flocculant to a tailings slurry to enable aggregation of fine tailing particles, to separate the aggregated particles from water, and to facilitate subsequent tailings disposal and recycling of water. The process relies on interactions of polymeric flocculants with mineral surfaces under varying conditions of tailings mineralogy, dissolved salts, temperature, and the particle size distribution and concentration of tailings minerals. The main objective of the proposed program is to establish correlations between these variables, and thus to help with flocculant selection and flocculant dosage optimization.