The athabasca oil sands are the largest oil sands deposit in the world. Request pdf robust aqueousnonaqueous hybrid process for bitumen extraction from mineable athabasca oil sands mining and processing of athabasca oil sands in alberta, canada, is a great. The solvent is mixed with tar sands in a dissolution zone, the solvent. The tar sands are being mined and processed to extract bitumen, which is then refined into oil. The extraction process requires moving four tons of earth to. Development of utah oil shale and tar sands resources. However, economic and environmental incentives still exist in the oil sands industry to enhance oil recovery and reduce energy consumption and water use, while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. Dene and cree first nations people live close to and in the midst of the largest tar sand deposit in the athabasca river region and oil extraction is harming their water supply. Solvent extraction of bitumen from oilsands in a rotating contactor is described. Tar sand deposits in the state of utah contain more than 25 billion barrels of inplace bitumen. Seismic refraction survey of tar sands deposits in ijebu.
Plant starts, athabasca now yielding its hydrocarbons. Canadas total oil production and oil sands production is increasing as conventional. Us4347118a solvent extraction process for tar sands. Once processed, then bitumen can be then refined into oil.
Tar sands can be mined and processed to extract the oil rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil. Athabasca tar sands fere documented according to the procedure for evaluating. This mixture is passed to a separation zone in which bitumen and inorganic fines are. These images from landsat satellites show the growth of surface mines over the athabasca oil sands between 1984 and 2016. Water requirements for oil sands production vary depending on the technology used for extraction. The disposal of tailings from the hot water extraction process represents the most imminent environmental constraint to the future expansion of this recovery method.
Us oil sands enters into receivership oil sands magazine. Extraction of the bitumen from the oil sands, where the solids and water are removed upgrading of the heavy bitumen to a lighter, intermediate crude oil product refining of the crude oil into final products such as gasoline, lubricants and diluents traditionally, a majority of the bitumen produced. Bitumen is extracted from mined oil sands using a water intensive process known as hot water extraction clark, 1944. The first step is the extraction of the heavy oil from the rock. Understanding waterbased bitumen extraction from athabasca oil sands article pdf available in the canadian journal of chemical engineering 824. Tar sands 7% bitumen by weight from the tar sands and oil shale contain relatively low concentrations of hydrocarbons. Comparison of mining and insitu areas of the athabasca tar sands.
Gcos generates a substantial amount of petroleum coke fly ash which contains appreciable amounts of valuable metals such as vanadium, nickel and titanium. Dec 16, 2016 bitumen is extracted from mined oil sands using a water intensive process known as hot water extraction clark, 1944. Tar sands or oil sands are a lowgrade petroleum deposit, a very viscous mix of clay, sand, water and oilrich bitumen think asphalt. Oil sands extraction and processing natural resources canada. Mining tar sands produces much more air pollution than we. Oil sands water management natural resources canada. Everything you need to know about the tar sands and how.
The athabasca oil sands represent a form of oil deposit significantly more expensive to collect and refine than traditional oil deposits, with operators of extraction facilities being much more vulnerable to fluctuations in the oil price than those at traditional oil fields with lower costs for startup and continued operation. As the people who live along the athabasca river attest, tar sands extraction is far from clean. The production of refinery grade oil from the alberta tar sands deposits as currently practiced by suncor formally great canadian oil sands ltd. The oil sands give alberta the third largest reserves in the world, but extracting the oil is energyintensive and destructive. Unlike oil sands deposits in the athabasca region, bitumen contained within utahs oil sands do not easily separate from the sand using just hot water. Subsequently, the mechanisms associated with land reclamation and as they pertain to the athabasca oil sands north of ft. The pipeline would cross indigenous land without consent and endanger rivers, streams and drinking water on its way from the tar sands to the ionic. In this process, oil sand is mixed with light hydrocarbon solvents, and the solventbitumen solution is separated from the mineral solids by centrifugal. The athabasca oil sands first came to the attention of european fur traders in 1719 when wapasu, a cree trader, brought a sample of bituminous sands to the hudsons bay company post at york factory on hudson bay where henry kelsey was the manager. Hot water is added to the sand, and the resulting slurry is piped to the extraction plant where it is agitated. It should be noted, however, that the oil shale and tar sands resources of utah are distinctly different, both in nature and extraction methodologies, from the canadian athabasca tar sands. Inplace bitumen resources in the alberta oil sands are estimated at 50 billion barrels. Tar sands production consumes and contaminates enormous amounts of fresh water. Remediation and revegetation of tar sands composite.
As tar sands is stripmined and drilled from beneath the boreal forest of alberta, canada, greater volumes of tar sands derived crude oil will be transported through north americas communities. Alberta environment as a result of potential oil sands development in the athabasca tar sands fere documented according to the procedure for evaluating environmental impact geological survey circular 645. Gas and oil held an interest, certain royalties started to flow back to the origi. Tar sands are a combination of clay, water, and bitumen, a heavy black toxic oil. This makes the lease one of the choice spots in the athabasca region for the openpit method of extraction of the tar 70 the oil and gas journal october 23, 1967. Processing athabasca tar sands tailings disposal camp, frederick w. Recovery of that oil from the tar sands, however, is putting another precious resource at risk. In the present study, a process for solvent extraction of bitumen from athabasca oil sands was investigated. The athabasca tar sands first came to the attention of european fur traders in 1719 when wapasu, a cree trader, brought a sample of bituminous sands to the hudsons bay company post at york factory on hudson bay where henry kelsey was the manager. The text of this impact report \vas based on the sum of magnitude and importance vectors being. It is taken to an extraction plant, where a hot water process can. The bitumen in tar sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its natural state. Process animation athabasca oil sands project youtube.
The athabasca oil sands represent a form of oil deposit significantly more expensive to collect and refine than traditional oil deposits, with operators of extraction facilities being much more vulnerable to fluctuations in the oil price than those at traditional oil fields. Effect of clays and calcium ions on bitumen extraction from athabasca oil sands using flotation article pdf available in the canadian journal of chemical engineering 784. Environmental consequences of oil production from oil sands. Although thirty times smaller than the wellknown athabasca tar sands, utah tar sands do represent a significant domestic energy resource comparable to the national crude oil reserves 31. Waterbased bitumen extraction technology from mineable oil sands faces major challenges of high water usage and tailings disposal. Albertas athabasca tar sands lie under about 142,000 square kilometers of land, much of which is locked deep underground, making it hard to extract capp, 2017. These sands can be mined, and then processed, to remove the bitumen. Abstract process economics program report 266 heavy oil from. Water is used in oil sands extraction to help separate extraheavy crude oil, also known as bitumen, from the sand, clay and water that make up the oil sands. The athabasca oil sands, also known as the athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of bitumen or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern alberta, canada roughly centred on the boomtown of fort mcmurray. The process developed involves a high temperature 875 to 950 c roasting of the fly ash in the presence of sodium chloride and water vapor carried out in a. Currently, the only commercial production of bitumen from tar sand deposits occurs in northeastern alberta canada where mining operations are currently used to recover the tar sand. Process for solvent extraction of bitumen from oil sand. Available research suggests that indigenous communities feel resigned to further loss of their subsistence landbase.
Extraction of vanadium from athabasca tar sands fly ash. A new study that examined the impacts of tar sands operations on the athabasca river and two aboriginal. Historical overview of the oil sands industry in northeast alberta an historical overview of the discovery and development of the athabasca oil sands is given in carrigy and kramers 1973, with updates presented in strom 1986, houlihan and evans 1988, wightman et al. Currently, 80% of oil sands reserves are accessible via insitu techniques. Chris seversonbaker, down to the last drop the athabasca river and oil. This is consistent with the results on the same deposit as reported by kuarsingh and maharaj 1991. We draw on a range of recent published and unpublished sources.
Refining of the crude oil into final products such as gasoline, lubricants and diluents. It is composed of sand, claw, water, and bitumen, which is an oil that is black and viscous. Athabasca oil sands project, canada mining technology. Tar sands also called oil sands are a mixture of sand, clay, water, and bitumen. Petroleum products are produced from the oil sands through 3 basic steps. Historical overview of the fort mcmurray area and oil sands. This corporate video and animation demonstrates the process utilized to extract this valuable petroleum resource. These oil sands, hosted primarily in the mcmurray formation, consist of a mixture of crude bitumen a semisolid rocklike form of crude oil, silica sand, clay minerals, and water. The company uses a proprietary citrusbased biosolvent to extract the bitumen, eliminating the need for large volumes of water or tailings ponds. Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world, behind only saudi arabia and venezuela. A hot water extraction process for extracting bitumen from tar sands is taught wherein the tar sand is conditioned using an alkali metal bicarbonate, an alkali metal carbonate and a liquid hydrocarbon. Tar sands are known as one of the dirtiest forms of fossil fuel because of the vast economic and environmental costs that are associated with its extraction. Mining and processing of athabasca oil sands in alberta, canada, is a great success story of governmentindustry collaboration, fulfilling increased domestic and worldwide demands for oil. The tar sand fields of alberta, canada is the third largest bitumen deposit in the world.
Tar sands bitumen extraction by a hot water digestion. The process emits three times the amount of greenhouse gases as conventional oil extraction, and uses an average of three barrels of water per barrel of oil. Extraction of the bitumen from the oil sands, where the solids and water are removed. The carbon intensity of oil sands development poses other environmental health questions. Today, one of the most urgent tar sands fights is the one against the trans mountain expansion pipeline, which the canadian government decided to purchase from texas oil giant kinder morgan in 2018. Environmental impacts of oil sands development in alberta. Processing athabasca tar sands tailings disposal, the. This paper describes why the hot water extraction process can lead to an accumulation of tailings sludge.
The extraction of heavy oil from trinidad tar sands using. Oil sands mining complex along the athabasca river in alberta, canada. Pdf effect of clays and calcium ions on bitumen extraction. The extraction of heavy oil from trinidad tar sands using supercritical carbon dioxide. Water is used in oil sands extraction to help separate extraheavy crude oil, also known as. This invention relates to a process for the extraction of bitumen from tar sands which comprises contacting the tar sand in an extraction zone with a paraffinic hydrocarbon solvent having from 5 to 9 carbon atoms at a ratio of from 2 to 10 parts solvent per part of bitumen present in the tar sand, maintaining the asphaltene fraction of said tar sands in suspension, separating a major portion. Mining tar sands produces much more air pollution than we thought. Operators are required to store tailings waste on site in large containment dykes because the water is too toxic to be returned to the athabasca river. A look at estimated domestic reserves figure 1 for coal, oil shale, and tar sands shows why. After mining, the tar sands are transported to an extraction plant, where a hot water process separates the bitumen from sand, water, and minerals. Pdf understanding waterbased bitumen extraction from. The liquid tailings, a by product of the oil sands mining process, contain naphthenic acids, unrecovered hydrocarbons and trace metals, making it toxic to aquatic organisms 21 and mammals 22. Historical overview of the fort mcmurray area and oil.
The technology that the tar sands industry relies on has evolved over time. The syncrude oil sands plant is seen north of fort mcmurray, alberta. How tar sands oil is produced high oil prices and technological advances have made it economically viable to ramp up oil production from canadas tar sands. The remediation and revegetation of tailings sands produced during the extraction of bitumen from the athabasca tar sands present numerous challenges, from the sheer volume of tailings produced to the quality of the tailings toxicity, high salt, low nutrients to support growth. The very nature of extracting oil from the tar sands and making it profitable means that industry is. The term tar sand refers to a consolidated mixture of bitumen and sand. These oil sands, hosted primarily in the mcmurray formation, consist of a mixture of crude bitumen a semisolid rocklike form. Tar sands also referred to as oil sands are a combination of clay, sand water and bitumen, a heavy black viscous oil. For example, a 1973 alberta environment report an environmental study of the athabasca tar sands states. Bitumont, alberta, located on the athabasca river near fort mcmurray.
Openpit mining and hot water extraction methods, which involve the handling of huge tonnages of earth materials, are being employed in the two commercial plants now operating. The athabasca tar sands also known as oil sands are a very large source of heavy, viscous oil, known as bitumen, located in alberta, canada. Assessment of the canadian tar sands development experience provides insight regarding economic possibilities and planning, as well as impact mitigation. A source of calcium andor magnesium ions can also be added. Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or more technically bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. The first process to extract bitumen from oil sands on a commercial scale, developed in the 1920s by dr karl clark, a scientist involved in hot water extraction, working for the alberta research council. The athabasca oil sands are the largest segment of the economy in alberta, making up just over 30 percent of the gross domestic product. The extraction and refining of oil sands produces 3070% more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil production, according to estimates by alex farrell and adam brandt published in the october 2007 issue of climatic change. An edge between the old industrial paradigm and the new sustainability paradigm by tom martin a paper prepared between 2008 2011 in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the certificate in process work, the process work institute, portland, oregon, usa. In situ recovery methods will be required to tap the 90 percent of reserves that are too deeply buried to be surface mined. In order to achieve a greater understanding of the complexities of reclaiming oil sands mine sites, the primary challenges associated with the reclamation process will be identified. To extract the oil at these locations, oil producers remove the sand in big, openpit mines, which are tan and irregularly shaped. The athabasca river runs through the center of the scene, separating two major operations.
It is a complex process of extraction and separation that is often harvested through. Robust aqueousnonaqueous hybrid process for bitumen. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen. We find that social science research on oil sands extraction has been inadequate, even as the region has undergone transformation. Oil sands, a mixture of sand, bitumen a heavy crude that does not flow. Upgrading of the heavy bitumen to a lighter, intermediate crude oil product. First, at the slurry preparation plant water is added to the mined oil sands ore to obtain a slurry with a density of 1500 kg m. Introduction tar sands have received worldwide attention since the commercial development of the giant athabasca deposit in canada, but relatively little has been said about u. Pdf the current state of knowledge on the fundamentals of bitumen recovery from athabasca oil sands using waterbased extraction methods. Insitu extraction methods are used to recover bitumen that lies too deep. Although the overall upgrading process flow diagram varies from.
Mcgaw et al the extraction of heavy oil from trinidad tar sands using supercritical carbon dioxide. It is the secondlargest accumulation of oil in the world after saudi arabia. The objective of this work is to characterize alderfrankia. Solvent extraction of athabasca oilsand in a rotating. The extraction of bitumenderived crude oil follows several steps.
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