A novel dissolution‐precipitation method for high‐efficiency separation of oil‐wetted oil sands. (10th December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hu, Pengcheng; Chai, Ruimin; Liu, Quanyou; Wang, Junlin; Zhou, Shu‐Feng
• Is Part Of: Canadian journal of chemical engineering. Volume 98:Number 5(2020)
• Page Start: 1157
• Page End: 1163
• Publication Date: 2019-12-10
• Subjects: bitumen -- dissolution‐precipitation -- high‐efficiency separation -- oil sands; Chemical engineering -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals; 660.05
• DOI: 10.1002/cjce.23684
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-4034

Abstract

Abstract: Dissolution‐precipitation is a novel high‐efficiency method for separating oil‐wetted oil sands. Four dissolving agents and three precipitating agents were studied to select the optimal combination. Results showed that N, N ‐dimethylcyclohexylamine (DMCHA) and methanol were the optimal dissolving and precipitating agents, respectively. The chemical group compositions, element content, and H/C atom ratio of bitumen separated by DMCHA‐methanol were analyzed, and the optimal conditions for oil sands separation were determined, under which the bitumen recovery reached 96.4%. After six separation cycles with DMCHA‐methanol, the bitumen recovery remained above 93%.