CONSTANT SPECIFIC GRAVITY HEAT MINIMIZATION

摘要

A process of regulating the water content of water-fluidized oil sand ore during processing of the ore is disclosed. The weight (mo) of a sample charge of oil sand ore having a bulk volume (Vt) is determined. The inter granular voids of the sample charge are then filled with water, and the weight (ma) of the added inter granular water is determined. A target specific gravity value (SGmix) is selected for the fluidized oil sand ore. The volume of additional water, ?V, to add to a sample charge of bulk volume Vt, to achieve the target specific gravity value (SGmix) is calculated by solving the above equation. The determined volume ?V of additional water per bulk volume Vt of oil sand ore to be processed is added to the oil sand ore, producing water-fluidized oil sand ore. The ore is then processed to concentrate the bitumen.