Direct contact process and method for producing hot water using mature fine tailings (MFT)

A method for producing water for primary extraction in an oil sands bitumen extraction process using mature fine tailings, wherein the method comprises steps of:

• pumping and spraying mature fine tailings from a tailing pond into a flash concentrator vessel,
• introducing fuel into a first fuel burner,
• combusting the fuel using the first fuel burner to produce a first flue gas,
• introducing the first flue gas into the flash concentrator vessel to heat and evaporate a portion of the mature fine tailings sprayed into the flash concentrator vessel, thereby producing concentrated mature fine tailings and a first flue gas/steam,
• discharging the concentrated mature fine tailings from the flash concentrator vessel for further processing or disposal,
• supplying pond effluent water from the tailing pond to a hot water vessel to form a pond effluent water bath within the hot water vessel,
• heating the pond effluent water bath using a second fuel burner submerged in the pond water effluent bath, and
• bubbling the first flue gas/steam through the pond effluent water bath in the hot water vessel to condense moisture in the first flue gas/steam and recover heat from the first flue gas/steam into the pond effluent water bath.

A method for producing water from primary extraction in an oil sands bitumen extraction process using mature fine tailings, the method comprises steps of:

• pumping mature fine tailings from a tailing pond into a thickener vessel to form a mature fine tailings bath within the thickener vessel,
• introducing fuel into a first fuel burner disposed within in the thickener vessel and submerged in the mature fine tailings bath,
• combusting the fuel using the first fuel burner to produce a first flue gas,
• evaporating water from within the mature fine tailings within the thickener vessel by bubbling the first flue gas through the mature fine tailings bath, thereby producing a first flue gas/steam and a first concentrated mature fine tailings,
• supplying pond effluent water from the tailing pond to a hot water vessel to form a pond effluent water bath within the hot water vessel,
• heating the pond effluent water bath using a second fuel burner submerged in the pond effluent water bath,
• bubbling the first flue gas/steam through the pond effluent water bath in the hot water vessel to condense moisture in the first flue gas/steam and recover heat from the first flue gas/steam into the pond effluent water bath,
• pumping and spraying the resulted first more concentrated mature fine tailings from the thickener vessel into a flash concentrator vessel,
• introducing fuel into a third fuel burner,
• combusting the fuel using the third fuel burner to produce a second flue gas,
• introducing the second flue gas into the flash concentrator vessel to heat and evaporate a portion of the mature fine tailings sprayed into the flash concentrator vessel, thereby producing a second concentrated mature fine tailings and a second flue gas/steam,
• discharging the second concentrated mature fine tailings from the flash concentrator vessel for further processing or disposal, and
• bubbling the second flue gas/steam through the mature fine tailings bath in the thickener vessel.