Probing bubble-bitumen-mineral interaction mechanisms in bitumen liberation and extraction from oil dands by quantitative force measurements

通过定量力测量探讨沥青释放和从油中提取的气泡-沥青-矿物相互作用机制

• 批准号: 543480-2019
• 负责人: Zeng, Hongbo
• 金额: $ 5.1万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=691557
• 关键词: Probing; bubble; bitumen; mineral; interaction

Hydrotransport is a critical process step in surface mining and bitumen extraction of oil sands. During hydrotransport of surface mined oil sands, several in-pipe conditioning steps occur, including bitumen liberation from mineral solids, bitumen droplet coalescence, air entrainment and air bubble attachment onto bitumen and so on, which are crucial steps for bitumen recovery. Bitumen froth quality and bitumen recovery are largely influenced by these interactions, which are dictated by their interfacial properties and the complex composition of the processing media. Previous studies have mainly focused on model systems or jar tests, with limited quantitative fundamental understanding of these interactions under simulated process water conditions. A holistic fundamental and quantitative characterization of the above interactions, particularly under the influence of caustic and surfactants (naturally occurring or additives), is not present within the oil sands industry.The proposed project aims to quantify the interaction forces among bubbles, bitumen and mineral solids in process water conditions (e.g., influence of caustic, surfactants, ionic species), and correlate these interaction mechanisms to bitumen liberation and flotation performances in oil sands production. The quantitative characterization of these interaction forces in process water conditions is of both fundamental and practical importance in oil sands production. The successful completion of this research will provide useful characterization database to the oil sands industry to optimize the operation conditions in hydrotransport and bitumen extraction to enhance bitumen recovery. It is anticipated that a useful model for the correlation of bitumen-bubble-mineral solid interactions, process water chemistry, and liberation/flotation for bitumen extraction can be established based on the experimental results obtained, which can help the oil sands industry to predict related operability and better modulate the processing conditions for enhanced bitumen recovery.

水运是油砂露天开采和沥青提取的关键工艺步骤。地面开采油砂在水力输送过程中，会发生沥青从矿物固体中析出、沥青液滴聚结、夹带空气和气泡附着在沥青上等几个管道内调理步骤，是沥青回收的关键步骤。沥青泡沫质量和沥青回收率在很大程度上受这些相互作用的影响，而这些相互作用是由它们的界面性质和加工介质的复杂组成决定的。以前的研究主要集中在模型系统或罐子测试上，对模拟工艺水条件下这些相互作用的定量基本理解有限。对上述相互作用，特别是在碱和表面活性剂（天然存在的或添加剂）的影响下，进行全面的基本和定量表征，在油砂工业中是不存在的。拟议的项目旨在量化工艺水条件下气泡、沥青和矿物固体之间的相互作用力（例如，苛性碱、表面活性剂、离子种类的影响），并将这些相互作用机制与油砂生产中沥青的释放和浮选性能联系起来。工艺水条件下这些相互作用力的定量表征在油砂生产中具有基础和实际意义。该研究的成功完成将为油砂行业提供有用的表征数据库，以优化水力输送和沥青提取的操作条件，提高沥青的采收率。期望在实验结果的基础上，建立沥青-气泡-矿物固体相互作用、工艺水化学与沥青提取分离/浮选相关的有用模型，有助于油砂行业预测相关的可操作性，更好地调节提高沥青采收率的工艺条件。