Back to results
US 2020/0033316 A1Published application
Controlling bitumen recovery from an oil sands ore body by using a predictive ore processability model in producing a blended ore feedstock
AssigneeSYNCRUDE CANADA LTD. in trust for the owners of the Syncrude Project, as such owners exist now and
InventorsJUN LONG, JONATHAN SPENCE, DEAN WALLACE, SHANE HOSKINS, CHUNG H. TA, DAVID MUELLER, PRIYANKA PAREEK
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method is provided for controlling bitumen recovery from an oil sands ore body in a bitumen extraction process by establishing and using a predictive ore processability model that accounts for multiple ore characteristics in planning ore deliveries from different locations of the ore body to produce a blended ore feedstock.
Claims23
A method for controlling bitumen recovery from an oil sands ore body in a bitumen extraction process, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) obtaining core samples from a plurality of spatially separated locations within the ore body;
- (b) performing characterization tests on the core samples to establish a first database of sets of ore characteristic values comprising a bitumen content, and one or a combination of:
- (i) a water content;
- (ii) a solids content;
- (iii) a percentile solids particle size;
- (iv) a content of solid particles having a diameter less than 1.9 microns;
- (v) a content of ore formed in a marine depositional environment;
- (vi) a metal element content, wherein the metal element comprises one or a combination of:
- aluminium, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, nickel, phosphorus, silicon, strontium, titanium, vanadium, zinc, and zirconium;
- (vii) a solids loss on ignition parameter measured as a percentage of ash remaining after heating of the core samples;
- (viii) a mineral content, wherein the mineral comprises one or a combination of:
- quartz, plagioclase feldspar, potassic feldspar, calcite, dolomite, anhydrite, pyrite, muscovite, barite, siderite, kaolinite, chlorite, illite, mixed-layer clays, smectite, and total clay;
- (ix) a methylene blue index;
- (x) a solids hydrophobicity parameter comprising an average critical surface tension;
- (xi) a connate water chemistry parameter comprising, in respect to the connate water in the core samples, one or a combination of:
- carbonate ion content, hydrogencarbonate ion content, fluoride ion content, chloride ion content, nitrite ion content, nitrate ion content, phosphate ion content, sulfate ion content, bromide ion content, aluminium content, boron content, barium content, calcium content, cadmium content, cobalt content, chromium content, copper content, iron content, potassium content, lithium content, magnesium content, manganese content, molybdenum content, sodium content, nickel content, phosphorus content, lead content, sulphur content, antimony content, selenium content, silicon content, strontium content, titanium content, vanadium content, zinc content, zirconium content, a divalent cation content, a monovalent cation content, a surfactant content, a pH level, and an electrolytic conductivity;
- (xii) a bitumen parameter, comprising in respect to the bitumen in the core samples, one or a combination of:
- sulphur content, nitrogen content, asphaltene content, and microcarbon residue;
- (c) performing processability tests on the core samples to establish a second database of processability values indicative of any one or a combination of bitumen recovery from ore in the core samples in the bitumen extraction process, a bitumen content of bitumen froth in the bitumen extraction process, a solids content of bitumen froth in the bitumen extraction process, and a water content of bitumen froth in the bitumen extraction process, and
- (d) based on the first and second databases, determining a predictive ore processability model for predicting processability values from a specified set of ore characteristic values.
17 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.