# US 9,434,887 B2 · Apparatus and method for extraction of bitumen from oil sands

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- Number: US 9,434,887 B2
- Document ID: US9434887B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 13/943,568
- Filed: 2013-07-16
- Published: 2014-01-23
- Granted: 2016-09-06
- Earliest claimed: 2012-07-17
- Assignees: Shell Oil Company
- Applicants: Shell Canada Energy; Chevron Canada Limited; Marathon Oil Sands L.P.
- Inventors: Julian Robert Kift; Whip Clinton Galen Thompson; Ingmar Hubertus Josephina Ploemen
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9434887B2

## CPC

- C10G 1/04: by extraction
- C10G 1/045: {Separation of insoluble materials}
- C10G: CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION (cracking to hydrogen or synthesis gas C01B; cracking or pyrolysis of hydrocarbon gases to individual hydrocarbons or mixtures thereof of definite or specified constitution C07C; cracking to cokes C10B); RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES

## Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus, at least comprising: a housing containing a first section, a second section and a third section; the first section having a first inlet for oil sand, a second inlet for solvent and an outlet for solvent-diluted oil sand slurry; the second section having an inlet for the solvent-diluted oil sand slurry, a screen allowing undersized material to pass and an outlet for oversized material; and the third section having an inlet for oversized material and an outlet for solvent-depleted oversized material; wherein the first section, the second section and the third section can rotate during use around a common rotation axis (A-A′).

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for extracting bitumen from an oil sand stream the method comprising at least the steps of:
(a) providing an oil sand stream;
(b) contacting the oil sand stream with a solvent in a first section within a rotating housing thereby obtaining a solvent-diluted oil sand slurry;
(c) screening the solvent-diluted oil sand slurry in a second section of the rotating housing, thereby obtaining oversized material retained inside of a screen and undersized material flowing through the screen to an annular pathway between the screen and the housing;
(d) recovering undersized material from the annular pathway;
(e) passing oversized material to a third section of the housing;
(f) removing solvent from the oversized material in the third section within the housing thereby obtaining solvent-depleted oversized material;
(g) filtering the undersized material obtained in step (c), thereby obtaining a solids-depleted stream and a solids-enriched stream; and
(h) removing solvent from the solids-depleted stream obtained in step (g) thereby obtaining a bitumen-enriched stream;
wherein the first section, the second section and the third section rotate around a common rotation axis (A-A′).

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the solvent in step (b) comprises a non-aqueous solvent.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein during the removing of step (f) a purge gas to removes at least some solvent from the oversized material.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein the purge gas is N2.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein the purge gas is steam.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein the purge gas comprises N2.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 wherein the purge gas flows counter current to the flow of oversized material.

### Claim 8 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein the purge gas comprises steam.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 wherein the purge gas flows counter current to the flow of oversized material.