Currently, 20% of oil sands reserves are accessible via mining techniques. The sunnyside deposit, in east central utah, has 1 to 2 billion barrels of. A system for extracting bitumen from oil sands includes an extractor tank having a reaction chamber. More particularly, this invention relates to a method of removing oil from tar sands by an improved extraction process carried out in a closed cycle system to yield an oil phase containing a reduced amount of contaminants without the need for excessive process. An input port is provided at the upper end of the extractor tank for the purpose of introducing oil sand into the reaction chamber. An ionic liquid il with low viscosity, 1ethyl3methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate emimbf4, was used to enhance bitumen recovery from oil sands by solvent extraction using a composite. Oil sands, crude bitumen, or more technically bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. How tar sands oil is produced high oil prices and technological advances have made it economically viable to ramp up oil production from canadas tar sands. The carbon intensity of oil sands development poses other environmental health questions. Alberta oil sands industry, 2016, remaining oil in place and proved oil reserves. Oil sands are also known as tar sands and bituminous sands. Oil sands extraction in the carbon bubble the university of winnipeg. In the preparation of concrete, for each tonne of cement, the building industry needs about six to seven times more tonnes of sand and gravel usgs, 20b.
Using solvents in the oilsands blog posts pembina institute. Dan joined the pembina institute in 2001 as an environmental policy analyst in the energy watch program. May 16, 2014 bitumen extraction test calculation bituminous macadam mix design percentage test calculation 2018 duration. Abshers setup on saline creek, near fort mcmurray, 1929 source. The largest of those dirty and expensive sources, the bitumen found under the forests of alberta, canada. Karl clarks work for the research council of alberta concentrated on developing the hot water method of separating the oil sands into its component parts.
During the extraction phase of surface mining, water from the river would be used extensively close to 1. Pdf extraction of energy resourcesexploitation of the. Tar sands steam extraction lessens footprint, but environmental costs remain. This is consistent with the results on the same deposit as reported by kuarsingh and maharaj 1991. These sands can be mined, and then processed, to remove the bitumen.
Mehlberg amoco oil company naperville, illinois 60566 abstract a process has been investigated for solvent extraction of bitumen from sunnyside, utah, tar sands. Petroteqs oil sands extraction process has been designed utilizing good engineering practices and confirmed chemical and physical principles. The oil patchs solvent solution to extracting bitumen. New process cleanly extracts oil from tar sands and fouled. Ionic liquid enhanced solvent extraction for bitumen. Oil sands technology sunshine is focused on the application of proven oil sands extraction technology. A liquid extractant is heated and then pumped, under pressure, into the reaction chamber through a plurality of jet inlets to suspend the oil sand in the. Oil sands are geologic formations that contain a mixture of thick, heavy oil, water and sand. Interaction between bitumen and fines in oil sands extraction system. In recent years oil sands have received growing attention as important energy sources. New extraction technique could replace sdse for bitumen. The accelerated solvent extraction technique uses substantially less time and solvent than soxhlet. Pdf interaction between bitumen and fines in oil sands.
But while solventbased technologies appear to have the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of oilsands facilities that use them, there are uncertainties with the. The pembina institute oil sands fever iii oil sands fever dan woynillowicz dan woynillowicz is a senior policy analyst with the pembina institute. Solvent bitumen extraction methods take the steam out of oilsands development. Once the oil sand is crushed, hot water is added so it can be pumped to the extraction plant. Pdf extraction of hydrocarbons from athabasca oil sand. Pdf understanding waterbased bitumen extraction from. Extraction of bitumen from oil sands using deep eutectic. The hot water separation process oil sands albertas. How tar sands oil is produced high oil prices and technological advances have made it economically viable to ramp up oil production from. Mining tar sands produces much more air pollution than we. The oil sands comprise more than 98 percent of canadas 173 billion barrels of proven oil. Extraction of hydrocarbons from athabasca oil sand slurry using supercritical carbon dioxide article pdf available in journal of supercritical fluids the 100 january 2015 with 752 reads. Mining tar sands produces much more air pollution than we thought.
The supporting information is available free of charge on the acs publications website at doi. What are the technologies for extracting oil sands today. Jacob absher attempts in situ extraction of oil from oil sands. Development of a static oil sands mine and extraction. To that end, the institute for oil sands innovation iosi at the university of alberta proposed the project fundamentals of nonaqueous extraction of oilsands for ecoeii funding. But calling them tar pits or tar sands is misleading the thick black substance isnt tar, but rather. The athabasca oil sands represent a form of oil deposit significantly more expensive to collect and refine than traditional oil deposits, with operators of extraction facilities being much more vulnerable to fluctuations in the oil price than those at traditional oil fields with lower costs for startup and continued operation. The oil patchs solvent solution to extracting bitumen the.
It is a complex process of extraction and separation that is often harvested through. Pdf the current state of knowledge on the fundamentals of bitumen recovery from athabasca oil sands using waterbased extraction methods. A typical oil sands deposit in alberta contains on average about 10% bitumen, 5% water and 85% solids, mostly in the form of coarse silica sand. As a result, sand and gravel mining is a major economic activity that is often carried out within river channels and floodplains. Jan 17, 20 the oil patchs solvent solution to extracting bitumen. Environmental consequences of oil production from oil sands. This technology is particularly relevant in canada because it is the primary method of in situ extraction. Some 80 per cent of the 170 billion barrels in oil sands reserves will be extracted using nonmining methods, like the socalled.
Ambient temperature 25 c processing solvent addition at low dosage common solvent. Sand and gravel are crucial resources for economic development activities, such as road building and concrete production. Oil sands are actually found all over the world, and are sometimes referred to as tar sands or bituminous sands. Oil sands are among the most greenhouse gasintensive forms of petroleum to produce. Oil sands production in the province of alberta, canada has grown rapidly over the past. Large shovels scoop the oil sand into trucks which then move it to crushers where the large clumps of earth are processed. A new, more environmentally friendly method of separating oil from tar sands has been developed by a team of researchers at penn state. Oil sands or tar sands or bituminous sands refer to a mixture of sand, water, clay, and bitumen which we have seen refers to the heaviest of hydrocarbon mixtures found in crude petroleum. The extraction and refining of oil sands produces 3070% more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil production, according to estimates by alex farrell and adam brandt published in the october 2007 issue of climatic change. When mixed with hot water, the oil sands separates into layers, with the most densethe sandsinking to the bottom, and the least densethe waterrising to the top.
The extraction of heavy oil from trinidad tar sands using. Steam assisted gravity drainage or sagd is a method that is widely used to extract bitumen from underground oil sands deposits. Karl clark and sidney blair built a model oil sands separation plant in the basement of the university of alberta power plant. Thus, the worlds use of aggregates for concrete can be estimated at 25. Technology petroteqs patented oil sands extraction technology is a breakthrough for the oil sands industry. Robust aqueousnonaqueous hybrid process for bitumen extraction from mineable athabasca oil sands. The oil sands of canadas alberta province hold one of the largest known oil reservoirs in the world, with bitumen deposits estimated at more than 1 trillion barrels. Pdf environmental consequences of oil production from oil sands.
Oil sands are exploited by injecting highpressure steam into the earth or by strip mining to extract the sticky bitumen, which is then washed away from clay and. The patented process uses warm solvents to extract oilsands resources using no water and only a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions compared with traditional technologies. Zero values are used for areas where no extraction is expected to occur. Efforts to lower fossilfuel dependency, however, would lessen the need for energyintensive, lowyield mining and minimize the blights that result from extraction. Field of the invention this invention relates to the extraction of oil from bituminouscontaining sands. But its supply of conventional oil is shrinking, and oil sands extraction has been growing fast in the past decade, from about 700,000 barrels per day in 2000 to 1. Solvent bitumen extraction methods take the steam out of. Oil sands mining uses up almost as much energy as it. It is composed of sand, claw, water, and bitumen, which is an oil that is black and viscous. The heavy oil is called bitumen, which is defined as oil that is too heavy or thick to flow or be pumped without being diluted or heated.
May 25, 2017 wide adoption of these new extraction technologies could allow oilsands production to keep growing while keeping emissions under the legislated 100 megatonne per year limit. Mar 18, 2011 a new, more environmentally friendly method of separating oil from tar sands has been developed by a team of researchers at penn state. Two different methods are used to produce oil from the oil sands surface. Us20256092a1 oil from oil sands extraction process. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen. However, we are also evaluating advancements and considering methods that can result in the lowest cost and most efficient production of our reserves. Oil sands mining uses up almost as much energy as it produces. Actual production and projected production in year 2040 from surface mining and in situ extraction wykes and heywood, 2010. Many innovative chemical and engineering aspects have been incorporated into the process to achieve over 98% of bitumen extraction from the oil sands, and a greater than 99. Dec 10, 2012 oil sands are among the most greenhouse gasintensive forms of petroleum to produce. The difference is that the accelerated solvent extraction technique introduces a pressure component which, when combined with heat, enables the extraction process to occur in about onetenth the time and thus shows potential to replace sdse as the industry standard for bitumen extraction from oil sands.
Sand and gravel are used extensively in construction. In situ extraction oil sands albertas energy heritage. Optimization of cyclohexane extraction of alberta oil sands. Pdf on jan 1, 2014, wei zhang and others published extraction of energy resourcesexploitation of the canadian oil sands find, read. The dirty fight over canadian tar sands oil dredging up oil from under canadas boreal forest and piping it through the united states is a loselose. Oil sands are a mixture of roughly 90 percent clay, sand and water, with 10 percent bitumen source. Things that dont make sense from a planetary perspective are. Oil sands also contain fine solids and clays, typically in the range of 10 to 30% by weight. Fundamentals of nonaqueous extraction of oilsands natural. The technologys benefits are even more important in todays low oil price environment, offering a higher rate of return on investment. Tar sands oil extraction is a dirty, wasteful, and energy. Oil sands extraction an image purportedly showing the environmental differences between a lithium mine and an oil sands extraction facility is misleading.
Tetra tech was contracted by canadas oil sands innovation alliance cosia to develop a static block mass and energy flow for a typical oil sands mine tetra tech file no. Mcgaw et al the extraction of heavy oil from trinidad tar sands using supercritical carbon dioxide. Melting bitumen in place is less unsightly than mining tar sands, but increasing efficiency. Dfe2008 oil sands extraction technique wikiversity. This method involves forcing steam into subsurface oil sands deposits to heat the bitumen locked in the sand, allowing it to flow well enough to be extracted. The dark, sticky sands look similar to topsoil, are viscous when warm and freeze as solid as concrete in cold temperatures. Once processed, then bitumen can be then refined into oil. Oil sands extraction and processing natural resources canada. Feb 19, 20 but its supply of conventional oil is shrinking, and oil sands extraction has been growing fast in the past decade, from about 700,000 barrels per day in 2000 to 1. Things that dont make sense from a planetary perspective are being actively encouraged, hansen notes.
Energy return on investment of canadian oil sands extraction from. Oil sands extraction in canada leaves mercury footprint. Implication to bitumen recovery article pdf available in the canadian journal of chemical engineering 824. Being named a global finalist for upstream transformation. Understanding waterbased bitumen extraction from athabasca oil sands article pdf available in the canadian journal of chemical engineering 824.
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