In the oil sands industry, high temperature with the addition of a caustic dispersing agent has formed the basis of the Clark hot water extraction process used successfully on a commercial scale to recover bitumen fro...In the oil sands industry, high temperature with the addition of a caustic dispersing agent has formed the basis of the Clark hot water extraction process used successfully on a commercial scale to recover bitumen from surface mined oil sands ore since 1967. Processes different from the established Clark process (high temperature and caustic) have been developed to work at a range of temperatures with or without the use of sodium hydroxide. Large scale bitumen extraction pilot tests were performed with two different extraction processes and large strain consolidation tests were performed on the resulting different railings. These consolidation tests determined the compressibility and hydraulic conductivity relationships with void ratio which are engineering properties that influence the long-term disposal of the fine tailings. They were used in large strain consolidation numerical analyses of storage ponds to predict water release rates and changes to surface elevations that impact storage volumes and elevation of reclamation surfaces.展开更多
文摘In the oil sands industry, high temperature with the addition of a caustic dispersing agent has formed the basis of the Clark hot water extraction process used successfully on a commercial scale to recover bitumen from surface mined oil sands ore since 1967. Processes different from the established Clark process (high temperature and caustic) have been developed to work at a range of temperatures with or without the use of sodium hydroxide. Large scale bitumen extraction pilot tests were performed with two different extraction processes and large strain consolidation tests were performed on the resulting different railings. These consolidation tests determined the compressibility and hydraulic conductivity relationships with void ratio which are engineering properties that influence the long-term disposal of the fine tailings. They were used in large strain consolidation numerical analyses of storage ponds to predict water release rates and changes to surface elevations that impact storage volumes and elevation of reclamation surfaces.