Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
University of British Columbia
$65,600.00
Fundamentals of flocculation of oil sand tailings
FY 2007-08
Summary
The described research program deals with the fundamental aspects of a physicochemical treatment process for fine oil sand tailings obtained after bitumen extraction from oil sand ores. The flocculation of fine tailings is based on the addition of a polymeric flocculant to a tailings slurry to enable aggregation of fine tailing particles, to separate the aggregated particles from water, and to facilitate subsequent tailings disposal and recycling of water. The process relies on interactions of polymeric flocculants with mineral surfaces under varying conditions of tailings mineralogy, dissolved salts, temperature, and the particle size distribution and concentration of tailings minerals. The main objective of the proposed program is to establish correlations between these variables, and thus to help with flocculant selection and flocculant dosage optimization.The experimental program involves bench-scale tests to determine optimum physicochemical conditions for efficient flocculation. The experiments will be carried out on model tailing minerals and on actual oil sand tailings. The parameters of interest to the program are the settling rate of flocculated solids, the concentration of solids in the resulting sediment, and the residual solids content in the clarified water. The study will also compare the performance of different types of flocculants in treating oil sand tailings of different mineralogy. The flocculation tests will be supplemented by x-ray diffraction mineralogy studies, mineral surface charge measurements, flocculant adsorption measurements, and viscosity measurements on dilute flocculant solutions.The results of this program will be of great value to the oil sands industry where the flocculation of fine tailings has become an attractive tailings treatment option. The results will also be applicable to other mineral processing systems, primarily froth flotation operations, that face similar environmental pressures associated with sustainable tailings disposal strategies.
Program
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Recipient
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
350041-2006
Name nom
Pawlik, Marek
Department département
Mining Engineering
Organization id
2
Institution établissement
University of British Columbia
Province en
British Columbia
Province fr
Colombie-Britannique
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2007
Competition year année de concours
2006
Award amount
65600
Program id
CRDPJ
Program name en
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Program name fr
Subventions de recherche et développement coopérative
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
301
Area of application group en
Energy resources
Area of application group fr
Ressources d'énergie
Area of application en
Oil, gas and coal
Area of application fr
Pétrole, gaz et charbon
Research subject code
1402
Research subject group en
Mining and mineral processing
Research subject group fr
Génie minier et minéral
Research subject en
Mineral processing
Research subject fr
Traitement des minéraux
Partie
1
Nb partie
2
Application title
Fundamentals of flocculation of oil sand tailings
Keyword
NA
Application summary
The described research program deals with the fundamental aspects of a physicochemical treatment process for fine oil sand tailings obtained after bitumen extraction from oil sand ores. The flocculation of fine tailings is based on the addition of a polymeric flocculant to a tailings slurry to enable aggregation of fine tailing particles, to separate the aggregated particles from water, and to facilitate subsequent tailings disposal and recycling of water. The process relies on interactions of polymeric flocculants with mineral surfaces under varying conditions of tailings mineralogy, dissolved salts, temperature, and the particle size distribution and concentration of tailings minerals. The main objective of the proposed program is to establish correlations between these variables, and thus to help with flocculant selection and flocculant dosage optimization.The experimental program involves bench-scale tests to determine optimum physicochemical conditions for efficient flocculation. The experiments will be carried out on model tailing minerals and on actual oil sand tailings. The parameters of interest to the program are the settling rate of flocculated solids, the concentration of solids in the resulting sediment, and the residual solids content in the clarified water. The study will also compare the performance of different types of flocculants in treating oil sand tailings of different mineralogy. The flocculation tests will be supplemented by x-ray diffraction mineralogy studies, mineral surface charge measurements, flocculant adsorption measurements, and viscosity measurements on dilute flocculant solutions.The results of this program will be of great value to the oil sands industry where the flocculation of fine tailings has become an attractive tailings treatment option. The results will also be applicable to other mineral processing systems, primarily froth flotation operations, that face similar environmental pressures associated with sustainable tailings disposal strategies.
