摘要 |
Method and apparatus for treating a mixture of mineral substrate particles and hydrocarbon compounds, especially tar sands and contaminated soils, to recover a hydrocarbon portion and a cleaned substrate portion. In a preferably continuous process, hydrocarbonaceous rock, sand, ore, or soil containing bitumen, petroleum, and/or kerogen is crushed or otherwise comminuted as needed to the particle size of sand or smaller. The comminuted ore is mixed with water to form a slurry, is heated to between 60° C. and 100° C., and is blended with an oxidant in aqueous solution, preferably hydrogen peroxide. Both free interstitial hydrocarbons and those hydrocarbons bound electrostatically to the surfaces of clay-like particles in the ore are released from the mineral substrate.
|