System, apparatus and process for extraction of bitumen from oil sands

A concentrator vessel for separating a bitumen froth stream containing bitumen froth, water and fine solids into first and second output streams, the vessel comprising:

• receiving means for receiving a flow of the bitumen froth stream;
• separation promotion means, in communication with the receiving means, for promoting separation of the bitumen froth from the water and fine solids, the bitumen froth accumulating as a froth layer atop a water layer with the fine solids settling within the water layer, the separation promotion means comprising flow slowing means for slowing the flow of the bitumen froth stream, wherein the separation promotion means comprises a diverging channel formed by first and second walls that are:
• (a) spaced apart in a horizontal reference plane by a first width in an upstream portion of the diverging channel;
• and (b) spaced apart in the horizontal reference plane by a second width, wider than the first width, in a downstream portion of the diverging channel, wherein the horizontal reference plane intersects the bitumen froth layer, and the first and second widths are measured in the horizontal reference plane in a direction substantially perpendicular to a centerline of the flow;
• recovery means, in communication with the separation promotion means, for recovering the bitumen froth from the flow;
• bitumen froth layer collection means, in communication with the recovery means, for collecting the bitumen froth layer as a bitumen enriched froth stream, wherein the first output stream of the vessel is the bitumen enriched froth stream;
• and
• water and fine solids collection means for collecting the water and fine solids as a water and fine solids stream, wherein the second output stream of the vessel is the water and fine solids stream.

A concentrator vessel for separating a bitumen froth stream containing bitumen froth, water and fine solids into a final bitumen enriched froth stream and a water and fine solids stream, the concentrator vessel comprising:

• an inlet region to receive the bitumen froth stream;
• a separation region in communication with the inlet region comprising a diverging channel adapted to slow the flow of the bitumen froth stream to promote separation of the bitumen froth from the water and fine solids, the bitumen froth accumulating as a froth layer atop a water layer with the fine solids settling within the water layer, wherein the diverging channel includes at least one turn to increase the length of the channel;
• and
• a froth recovery region in communication with the separation region having an overflow outlet to collect the bitumen froth layer as the bitumen enriched froth stream;
• and
• an underflow outlet configured to collect the water and fine solids as the water and fine solids stream.