Mechanical processing of oil sands

摘要

A method of extracting bitumen from oil sands having a transition temperature at which the oil sands solidify includes forming formable oil sands into pellets and cooling at least a surface of the pellets sufficiently to prevent the pellets from aggregating; cooling the pellets to below the transition temperature; fracturing the pellets to release the bitumen from the oil sands while maintaining the temperature of the pellets below the transition temperature; and separating the bitumen from the oil sands in a separator.

主权项

1. A method of extracting bitumen from oil sands, the oil sands having a transition temperature below which the oil sands fracture under stress, the method comprising the steps of:
removing non-moldable material from mined oil sands to obtain moldable oil sands from the mined oil sands; applying a compression force to form the moldable oil sands into pellets and maintaining a separation between the pellets while cooling at least a surface of the pellets sufficiently to prevent the pellets from aggregating; cooling the pellets to below the transition temperature; fracturing the pellets to release the bitumen from the oil sands while maintaining the temperature of the pellets below the transition temperature; and separating the bitumen from the oil sands in a separator.