Method and systems for transporting bitumen in solidified form

1. A solid pellet comprising

a core surrounded by a shell,

the core comprising a mixture of crude oil refinery feedstock and a hydrocarbonaceous polymer, the polymer having a melting point temperature of at least 50° C., wherein the crude oil refinery feedstock before being mixed with the polymer to form the mixture is suitable for use as a feedstock to an oil refinery to separate the crude oil refinery feedstock into constituents that can be used as fuels, lubricants and feedstocks in petrochemical processes,

the mixture having a first and a second non-miscible phases, the first phase being a crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase and the second phase being a polymer rich phase, the polymer having a solubility in the crude oil such that the crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase maintains compatibility with the oil refinery to allow separation of the crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase into said constituents.

2. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the solubility of the polymer in the crude oil refinery feedstock at 150° C. is less than 5 wt. %.

3. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the solubility of the polymer in the crude oil refinery feedstock at 150° C. is less than 1 wt. %.

4. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the solubility of the polymer in the crude oil refinery feedstock at 150° C. is less than 0.5 wt. %.

5. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the solubility of the polymer in the crude oil refinery feedstock at 150° C. is less than 0.05 wt. %.

6. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the solubility of the polymer in the crude oil refinery feedstock at 150° C. is less than 0.01 wt. %.

7. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the solubility of the polymer in the crude oil refinery feedstock is such that the crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase has a boiling point distribution which does not vary by more than about 5% in degree Celsius compared to the boiling point distribution of the crude oil refinery feedstock before being mixed with the polymer.

8. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the solubility of the polymer in the crude oil refinery feedstock is such that the crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase has a pour point which does not vary by more than about 3° C. compared to the pour point of the crude oil refinery feedstock before being mixed with the polymer.

9. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the solubility of the polymer in the crude oil refinery feedstock is such that the crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase has a flash point which is substantially identical to the flash point of the crude oil refinery feedstock before being mixed with the polymer.

10. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbonaceous polymer has a melting point temperature of less than about 180° C.

11. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbonaceous polymer includes a polyethylene.

12. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbonaceous polymer includes high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene-co-vinyl acetate (PEVA), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), or any combinations thereof.

13. The solid pellet according to claim 12 , the hydrocarbonaceous polymer being a crossed-linked polymer.

14. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbonaceous polymer is present in the core in a quantity of from about 1 wt. % to about 20 wt. % relative to a total weight of the pellet.

15. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , the hydrocarbonaceous polymer being a first hydrocarbonaceous polymer, wherein the shell includes a second hydrocarbonaceous polymer.

16. The solid pellet according to claim 15 , the first hydrocarbonaceous polymer and the second hydrocarbonaceous polymer being different.

17. The solid pellet according to claim 15 , wherein the second hydrocarbonaceous polymer includes a polyethylene.

18. The solid pellet according to claim 15 , wherein the second hydrocarbonaceous polymer includes high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene-co-vinyl acetate (PEVA), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), or any combinations thereof.

19. The solid pellet according to claim 15 , the second hydrocarbonaceous polymer being present in the shell in a quantity of from about 0.01 wt. % to about 20 wt. % relative to a total weight of the pellet.

20. The solid pellet according to claim 15 , the second hydrocarbonaceous polymer being present in the shell in a quantity of from about 0.01 wt. % to about 5 wt. % relative to a total weight of the pellet.

21. The solid pellet according to claim 20 , the first hydrocarbonaceous polymer being present in the core in a quantity of from about 1 wt. % to about 20 wt. % relative to a total weight of the pellet.

22. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the shell is substantially free of crude oil refinery feedstock.

23. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the shell has a thickness of less than about 5 mm.

24. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the shell has a thickness within the range of from about 10 μm to about 4.5 mm.

25. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the mixture is an emulsion of the polymer and the crude oil refinery feedstock.

26. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , the shell having a shape selected from spherical, lozenge-like, cylindrical, discoidal, tabular, ellipsoidal, flaky, acicular, ovoid, pillow shaped and any combinations thereof.

27. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the pellet has a maximal extent of less than 12 inches.

28. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the pellet has a maximal extent of less than 5 inches.

29. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the pellet has a maximal extent of less than 3 inches.

30. The solid pellet according to claim 1 , wherein the crude oil refinery feedstock is derived from oil sands.