PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PARTIALLY DEASPHALTING BITUMEN

摘要

The use of parafinnic solvent to treat mined oil sand extraction froths is a known technology. The high temperature version of the process includes a partial deasphalting of the bitumen (partial upgrading) and the production of hard, stable agglomerates of the precipitated asphaltene and mineral. In the present invention, the first stage of the process is replaced with a higher G-Force apparatus, namely a hydrocyclone, improving quality and mitigating the cost associated with large, field fabricated pressure vessels when applied to typical Canadian mined oil sands production volumes.