US3607720A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Hot water process improvement
Assignee: Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd
•
Filing: 1968-07-17
•
Granted: 1971-09-21
•
Expires: 1988-07-17
Abstract
Abstract The specification discloses an improvement to the hot water process for treating bituminous tar sands. By the invention water discharged from the hot water process is contacted with a gaseous effluent from the upgrading of bitumen to synthetic crude, the gaseous effluent containing sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, or mixtures of these gases. The contacting between the water and the effluent followed by settling produces clarified water which can be reused in the hot water process.
Inventors
- 👤 Joseph F Paulson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 12:48
CPC Classifications
C; C10; C10G; C10G1/00; C10G1/04; C10G1/047; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S208/00; Y10S208/951
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
93 words
The process of claim 1 wherein said tar sands treating process comprises forming a mixture of tar sand and water; passing said mixture into a separation zone to form an upper bitumen froth layer, a middlings layer comprising water, finely divided mineral, and bitumen, and a sand tailings layer; removing said bitumen froth layer, middlings layer, and sand tailings layer from said separation zone; resolving said bitumen froth layer to a separated bitumen product; and wherein said portion of pond water contacted with gaseous effluent comprises at least a portion of said middlings.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
42 words
The process of claim 2 in which said clarified water substantially reduced in mineral content is recycled into the bituminous tar sands treating process as at least a portion of the water utilized to form said mixture of tar sands and water.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
52 words
The process of claim 2 in which said bitumen product is coked to produce coke and a coker distillate; said coke is combusted to produce a hot flue gas containing carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide; and said hot flue gas is utilized as the gaseous effluent for contact with said middlings portion.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
42 words
The process of claim 4 in which said clarified water substantially reduced in mineral content is recycled into the bituminous tar sands treating process as at least a portion of the water utilized to form said mixture of tar sands and water.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
52 words
The process of claim 2 in which said bitumen product is coked to produce coke and a coker distillate, said coker distillate is fractionated to produce a liquid product and a sour gas containing hydrogen sulfide; and said sour gas is utilized as the gaseous effluent for contact with said middlings portion.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
42 words
The process of claim 6 in which said clarified water substantially reduced in mineral content is recycled into the bituminous tar sands treating process as at least a portion of the water utilized to form said mixture of tar sands and water.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
270 words
In a process for separating bitumen from bituminous tar sands which comprises forming a pulp of said bituminous sands with a minor amount of water in a pulping zone; removing pulp therefrom, and mixing the same with hot water and a hereinafter specified recycle stream in a dilution zone; flushing the mixture from the dilution zone to a separation zone; settling the mixture in the separation zone to form an upper bitumen froth layer, a middlings layer comprising water, mineral, bitumen and a sand tailings layer; separately removing the upper bitumen froth layer and the sand tailings layer; removing a stream of middlings layer from the separation zone and passing it to the dilution zone as the aforesaid recycLe steam; passing a second stream of middlings layer to a separate recovery zone and therein subjecting it to a flotation to recover additional amount of bitumen froth; removing from said separate recovery zone middlings material of depleted bitumen content comprising mineral dispersed in water; centrifuging said upper bitumen froth layer and said additional amount of bitumen froth to produce a bitumen product substantially reduced in water and mineral content; coking said bitumen product to produce coke and a coker distillate; combusting said coke to produce a flue gas comprising carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide; the improvement which comprises passing said hot flue gas into intimate contact with at least a portion of said middlings material of depleted bitumen content to dissolve carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide in said portion thereby flocculating said mineral in said portion; and settling said middlings portion to produce a clarified water substantially reduced in mineral content.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
41 words
The process of claim 8 in which said clarified water substantially reduced in mineral content is recycled into the bituminous tar sands treating process as at least a portion of the water utilized to dilute said pulp and said dilution zone.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-09-20 | 1975-03-22 | 1975-09-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-09-20 | 1979-03-22 | 1979-09-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-09-20 | 1983-03-22 | 1983-09-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |