화학공학소재연구정보센터
Energy & Fuels, Vol.31, No.5, 4626-4636, 2017
Batch Solvent Extraction of Bitumen from Oil Sand. Part 2: Experimental Development and Modeling
A new experimental technique is developed for the determination of saturated and unsaturated hydraulic properties of solvent-diluted bitumen flow through oil sands cake. This technique is based on continuous measurement of the pressure and temperature during centrifugal extraction of solvent-diluted bitumen. Time evolutions of the extracted diluted bitumen volume and flow rate are obtained from pressure and temperature measurements. A criterion for the determination of the transition time from filtration to desaturation is applied. Experimental filtration data are fitted with an analytical model to obtain saturated hydraulic conductivity of the oil sand cake, and experimental desaturation data are fitted to obtain unsaturated hydraulic properties. The model is used to predict the evolution of bituinen extraction efficiency at different centrifugal forces. The feasibility of continuous commercial extraction of bitumen from oil sands by centrifugal filtration is discussed.