Mechanical processing of oil sands
AssigneeCryoex Oil Ltd.
InventorThomas Duma
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of extracting bitumen from oil sands having a transition temperature at which the oil sands solidify includes forming formable oil sands into pellets and cooling at least a surface of the pellets sufficiently to prevent the pellets from aggregating; cooling the pellets to below the transition temperature; fracturing the pellets to release the bitumen from the oil sands while maintaining the temperature of the pellets below the transition temperature; and separating the bitumen from the oil sands in a separator.
Claims26
An apparatus for extracting bitumen from oil sands having a transition temperature below which the oil sands fracture under stress, the apparatus comprising:
- a pelletizer comprising a pelletizing section that forms formable oil sands into pellets and a cooling section that receives the pellets from the pelletizing section such that the pellets are separated and the cooling section cooling at least a surface of the pellets sufficiently to prevent the pellets from aggregating;
- a cooling module that cools the pellets below the transition temperature;
- a fracturing section that fractures the cooled pellets into a fractured product containing bitumen particles, the cooled pellets and the fractured product being maintained below the transition temperature in the fracturing section;
- and
- a separator that separates the bitumen particles from the fractured product.
An apparatus for separating non-oil sand substances and oil sands in extracted material, the apparatus comprising:
- a pelletizer comprising a pelletizing section that forms the extracted material into pellets and a cooling section that receives the pellets from the pelletizing section such that the pellets are separated and the cooling section cooling at least a surface of the pellets sufficiently to prevent the pellets from aggregating, the pellets having a specific gravity based on their composition;
- a fluidized bed that receives the pellets from the pelletizer and separates the pellets into layers in the fluidized bed according to the specific gravity of the pellets;
- and
- a plurality of pellet outlets at spaced locations in communication with the fluidized bed for extracting pellets having a desired specific gravity from the fluidized bed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.