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US 4,046,668 AGranted
Double solvent extraction of organic constituents from tar sands
AssigneeMobil Oil Corporation
InventorsMalvina Farcasiu, Darrell Duayne Whitehurst
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Abstract
Extraction of hydrocarbons from tar sands with a light naphtha/methanol solvent system results in rapid decrepitation of the tar-sand aggregate and separation of organic matter into three phases. Distribution of the extracted and non-extracted organic material is among the phases. The most desirable, non-polar organic materials are recovered from the light naphtha phase; more polar soluble constituents are recovered from the methanol phase; and less desirable asphaltenes separate as a precipitate.
Claims7
A process for recovering hydrocarbons from tar sand which comprises:
- A. mixing tar sand with a solvent mixture of light naphtha comprising C.sub.5 to C.sub.9 carbon atoms per molecule and methanol to produce a light naphtha fraction with solublized non-polar components, a methanol fraction with solublized polar components and a solid sand fraction with accumulated asphaltenes on the sand surface;
- B. separating by decanting said light naphtha fraction from said methanol fraction,
- C. separating said methanol fraction from said solid, sand fraction, and
- D. separating and recovering polar and non-polar components from said separated solvent mixture components.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.