Process for recovery of hydrocarbons and rejection of sand

A process for recovering bitumen from tar sands comprising the steps of:

• (a) mixing a chemical additive with a chemical agent and with an aqueous phase and with tar sands containing bitumen and residual solids including clay, at a temperature to form a slurry, wherein said chemical agent is selected from the group consisting of at least one ethoxylated alkylphenol compound, at least one ethoxylated dialkylphenol compound and mixtures thereof;
• (b) pumping the formed slurry of step (a) towards at least one mixer;
• (c) aerating the pumped slurry of step (b) with air at a rate ranging from about 1 to about 20 SCF of air/minute to assist in the production of essentially sludge-free tailings and a mixture of bitumen, aqueous phase and residual solids including clay;
• (d) agitating the aerated slurry of step (c) with said at least one mixer to further assist in the produce of essentially sludge-free tailings and said mixture of bitumen, aqueous phase and residual solids including clay not containing a sodium ion;
• (e) separating with at least one first separator said mixture of said bitumen and said aqueous phase and said residual solids including clay from the agitated slurry of step (d) to produce essentially sludge-free tailings;
• and
• (f) separating said aqueous phase and said residual solids including clay from said step (e) mixture comprising said bitumen, said residual solids including clay, and said aqueous phase to produce said bitumen as being essentially free of residual solids including clay.

A process for the extraction and recovery of a hydrocarbon from water wet tar sands comprising:

• (a) introducing a water wet tar sand and water into a conditioning zone to form a tar sand slurry;
• (b) agitating the formed tar sand slurry of step (a) to form an agitated tar sand slurry;
• (c) aerating the formed agitated tar sand slurry to form an aerated tar sand slurry comprising water, hydrocarbon and solids;
• and
• (d) separating in less than about five seconds essentially all of the solids from the hydrocarbon and water of the aerated tar sand slurry to produce a hydrocarbon and water mixture comprising residual solids;
• and
• (e) separating essentially all of the hydrocarbon and residual solids from the hydrocarbon and water mixture of step (d);
• and
• (f) introducing said produced hydrocarbon and residual solids of step (e) into an upgrading unit.

A process for recovering a hydrocarbon from a hydrocarbon bearing sand comprising the steps of:

• (a) mixing a chemical additive with a chemical composition and with a hydrocarbon bearing sand containing hydrocarbon and residual solids including clay, at a temperature to form a slurry, wherein said chemical composition comprises an aqueous phase and a minor amount of a chemical agent selected from the group consisting of at least one ethoxylated alkylphenol compound, at least one ethoxylated dialkylphenol compound and mixtures thereof;
• (b) aerating the formed slurry of step (a) to produce essentially sludge-free tailings and a mixture of hydrocarbon, aqueous phase and residual solids including clay;
• (c) separating said mixture of said hydrocarbon, said aqueous phase and said residual solids including clay from the essentially sludge-free tailings;
• (d) separating said step (c) mixture to produce hydrocarbon containing minor amounts of clays and aqueous phase;
• and
• (e) upgrading said produced hydrocarbon containing minor amounts of clays and aqueous phase.

A process for recovering bitumen from tar sands comprising the steps of:

• (a) mixing a chemical additive with an aqueous phase sand with tar sands containing bitumen and residual solids including clay, at a temperature to form a slurry;
• (b) pumping the formed slurry of step (a) towards at least one mixer;
• (c) aerating the pumped slurry of step (b) to assist in the production of essentially sludge-free tailings and a mixture of bitumen, aqueous phase and residual solids including clay;
• (d) agitating the aerated slurry of step (c) with said at least one mixer to further assist in the produce of essentially sludge-free tailings and said mixture of bitumen, aqueous phase and residual solids including clay;
• (e) separating with at least one first separator said mixture of said bitumen and said aqueous phase and said residual solids including clay from the agitated slurry of step (d) to produce essentially sludge-free tailings having residual bitumen and water;
• and
• (f) passing said essentially sludge-free tailings having residual bitumen and water into at least one second separator to separate residual bitumen and water from the sludge-free tailings and produce coarse solids;
• (g) admixing said residual bitumen and water of step (f) with said mixture of said bitumen, said aqueous phase and said residual solids including clay to produce an admixture;
• and
• (h) passing said admixture of step (g) into a third separator to separate said admixture and produce bitumen as being essentially free of residual solids including clay, and water and fines.

A process for recovering a hydrocarbon from a hydrocarbon bearing sand comprising the steps of:

• (a) mixing a chemical additive with a chemical composition and with a hydrocarbon bearing sand containing hydrocarbon and residual solids including clay, at a temperature to form a slurry, wherein said chemical composition comprises an aqueous phase and a minor amount of a chemical agent selected from the group consisting of at least one ethoxylated alkylphenol compound, at least one ethoxylated dialkylphenol compound and mixtures thereof;
• (b) aerating the formed slurry of step (a) to produce essentially sludge-free tailings and a mixture of hydrocarbon, aqueous phase and residual solids including clay;
• (c) separating said mixture of said hydrocarbon, said aqueous phase and said residual solids including clay from the essentially sludge-free tailings;
• (d) separating said aqueous phase and said residual solids including clay form said step (c) mixture comprising said hydrocarbon, said residual solids including clay, and said aqueous phase to produce said hydrocarbon as being essentially free of residual solids including clay;
• and
• (e) upgrading said produced hydrocarbon being essentially free of residual solids including clay.