METHOD FOR PRODUCING PIPELINE SPECIFICATION BITUMEN FROM OIL SANDS MINING AND EXTRACTION FACILITIES
Pipeline quality bitumen containing less than 0.5 wt. % water and solids may be produced by conditioning oil sands ore in a water-based bitumen extraction process by adding a solvent to the ore before or during a step of creating an aqueous slurry; and agitating the slurry; separating the bitumen diluted with the solvent from water and coarse solids; thermally dehydrating the diluted bitumen at a temperature above about 100 C and below the boiling point of the solvent; separating any remaining fine solids and precipitates by gravitational separation; and recovering the solvent by distillation.
1 . A method of producing pipeline quality bitumen containing less than 0.5 wt. % water and solids, comprising the steps of:
(a) conditioning oil sands ore in a water-based bitumen extraction process by adding a solvent to the ore before or during a step of creating an aqueous slurry; and agitating the slurry;
(b) separating the bitumen diluted with the solvent from water and coarse solids;
(c) thermally dehydrating the diluted bitumen at a temperature above about 100 C and below the boiling point of the solvent; and
(d) separating any remaining fine solids and precipitates by gravitational separation.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent comprises a terpene.
3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the solvent comprises limonene or pinene.
4 . The method of claim 2 wherein the thermal dehydration step occurs at a temperature between about 100 C and 150 C.
5 . The method of claim 4 wherein the thermal dehydration step occurs at a temperature between about 120 C and 140 C.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the separation step (d) is performed by a decanting centrifuge.
7 . The method of claim 1 comprising the further step of recovering the solvent by distillation.