Cycloseparator for removal of coarse solids from conditioned oil sand slurries

A cyclonic separator for desanding a conditioned aqueous oil sand slurry comprising aerated bitumen, water and sand to produce pumpable, pipelineable lean froth and tailings comprising:

• a closed vessel having first and second ends, a side wall and first and second end walls, said vessel forming a separation chamber, said vessel comprising, in sequence from its first end wall, a cylindrical feed section, a first converging section of downwardly diminishing diameter, an elongated cylindrical vortex section, and a second converging section of downwardly diminishing diameter;
• the side wall forming tangential feed inlet means communicating with the separation chamber at the feed section;
• the side wall forming outlet means communicating with the separation chamber and leading from the periphery of the second converging section wherein said peripheral outlet is tangential;
• and
• a vortex finder, centrally positioned in the second end of the separation chamber, extending through the second end wall and communicating with the separation chamber.

A method for desanding a conditioned aqueous oil sand slurry comprising aerated bitumen, water and sand to produce pumpable, pipelineable lean froth and tailings, comprising the steps of:

• providing a cyclonic separator comprising a closed vessel having first and second ends, said vessel having a side wall and first and second end walls and forming a separation chamber, said vessel comprising, in sequence from its first end wall, a cylindrical feed section, a first converging section of diminishing diameter, an elongated cylindrical vortex section, and a second converging section of diminishing diameter, said vessel also comprising a tangential feed inlet means extending through the side wall and communicating with the separation chamber at the feed section, an outlet means communicating with the separation chamber and leading from the periphery of the second converging section, and a vortex finder, centrally positioned in the lower end of the separation chamber, extending through the second end wall and communicating with the separation chamber;
• continually tangentially introducing slurry into the cylindrical feed section of said vessel to form a rotating vortex;
• passing the slurry through the first converging section to accelerate the rotating vortex;
• passing the slurry through the elongated cylindrical vortex section thereby subjecting the rotating slurry to centrifugal force for sufficient retention time for the slurry to separate into an outer layer containing a major portion of the sand, an inner core containing a major portion of the aerated bitumen and an intermediate middlings layer;
• separately removing the core, together with some middlings, through the vortex finder to produce a lean froth stream;
• and
• separately removing the outer layer, together with some middlings, through the outlet means to produce a tailings stream.