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

水力输送是油砂露天开采和沥青提取的关键工艺步骤。在地面开采油砂的水力输送过程中，沥青的释放、沥青液滴的聚结、空气的夹带和气泡的附着等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到这些相互作用的影响，这些相互作用由它们的界面性质和加工介质的复杂组成决定。以前的研究主要集中在模型系统或罐测试，在模拟工艺用水条件下对这些相互作用的定量基本理解有限。上述相互作用的整体基本和定量表征，特别是在苛性碱和表面活性剂（天然存在的或添加剂）的影响下，在油砂工业中不存在。 拟议项目旨在量化工艺用水条件下气泡、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、离子物质的影响），并将这些相互作用机制与油砂生产中的沥青释放和浮选性能相关联。这些相互作用力在工艺水条件下的定量表征在油砂生产中具有基本和实际的重要性。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，提高沥青回收率。可以预期的是，沥青-气泡-矿物固体相互作用、工艺水化学和用于沥青提取的释放/浮选的相关性的有用模型可以基于所获得的实验结果来建立，这可以帮助油砂工业预测相关的可操作性并且更好地调节用于提高沥青回收率的加工条件。

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.