Recovery of bituminous products from tar sands

Claim 1

An improved acidic solvent composition for separation of bituminous products from tar sands, said acidic solvent composition comprising from about 15 to about 30 volume percent of an aqueous amine modified acidic constituent having a pH value of less than about 1, from about 1 to about 20 volume percent hydrofluoric acid, from about 4 to about 20 volume percent of a friction reducing compound and from about 30 to about 80 volume percent of a hydrocarbon solvent, the aqueous amine modified acidic constituent being prepared by the steps of: mixing from about 45 to about 80 weight percent hydrochloric acid with from about 20 to about 55 weight percent phosphoric acid to produce a substantially homogeneous acidic mixture; admixing the acidic mixture with an effective amount of water to provide an aqueous acidic mixture; admixing from about 2 to about 20 weight percent of a hydroxy carboxylic acid and from about 0 to about 20 weight percent of a dicarboxylic acid into the aqueous acidic mixture to produce a hydroxy carboxylic acid containing aqueous acidic mixture; and admixing a minor effective amount of a polyamine with the hydroxy carboxylic acid containing aqueous acidic mixture to produce the aqueous amine modified acidic constituent.

Claim 20

A method for separating bituminous products from tar sands comprising the steps of: (a) charging a predetermined amount of an acidic solvent composition into a vessel, the acidic solvent consisting essentially of from about 15 to about 30 volume percent of an aqueous amine modified acidic constituent having a pH value of less than about 1, from about 1 to about 20 volume percent hydrofluoric acid, from about 4 to about 20 volume percent of a friction reducing compound, and from about 30 to about 80 volume percent of a hydrocarbon solvent, said aqueous amine modified acidic constituent prepared by the steps of: (i) mixing from about 45 to about 80 weight percent hydrochloric acid with from about 20 to about 55 weight percent phosphoric acid to produce a substantially homogeneous acidic mixture; (ii) admixing the acidic mixture with an effective amount of water to provide an aqueous acidic mixture; (iii) admixing from about 2 to about 20 weight percent of a hydroxy carboxylic acid and from about 0 to about 20 weight percent of a dicarboxylic acid into the aqueous acidic mixture to produce a hydroxy carboxylic acid containing aqueous acidic mixture; and (iv) admixing a minor effective amount of a polyamine with the hydroxy carboxylic acid containing aqueous acidic mixture to produce the aqueous amine modified acidic constituent. (b) agitating the acidic solvent composition to form a substantially uniform dispersion between the acid components, the friction reducing compound and the hydrocarbon solvent; (c) charging a predetermined amount of chunks of tar sand into the vessel, the predetermined amount of chunks of tar sand enabling the acidic solvent composition to substantially cover and suspend the chunks of tar sand as the acidic solvent composition and chunks of tar sand are brought into contact via agitation; and (d) maintaining agitation on the acidic solvent composition and the chunks of tar sand in the vessel for an effective period of time to enable the acidic solvent composition to remove the bituminous products from the sand particles of the tar sand.

Claim 21

A method for separating bituminous products from tar sands comprising the steps of: (a) charging a predetermined amount of an acidic solvent composition into a vessel, the acidic solvent consisting essentially of from about 15 to about 30 volume percent of an aqueous amine modified acidic constituent having a pH value of less than about 1, from about 1 to about 20 volume percent hydrofluoric acid, from about 4 to about 20 volume percent of a friction reducing compound, and from about 30 to about 80 volume percent of a hydrocarbon solvent, said aqueous amine modified acidic constituent prepared by the steps of: (i) mixing from about 45 to about 80 weight percent hydrochloric acid with from about 20 to about 55 weight percent phosphoric acid to produce a substantially homogeneous acidic mixture; (ii) admixing the acidic mixture with an effective amount of water to provide an aqueous acidic mixture; (iii) admixing from about 2 to about 20 weight percent of a hydroxy carboxylic acid and from about 0 to about 20 weight percent of a dicarboxylic acid into the aqueous acidic mixture to produce a hydroxy carboxylic acid containing aqueous acidic mixture; and (iv) admixing a minor effective amount of a polyamine with the hydroxy carboxylic acid containing aqueous acidic mixture to produce the aqueous amine modified acidic constituent. (b) agitating the acidic solvent composition to form a substantially uniform dispersion between the acid components, the friction reducing compound and the hydrocarbon solvent; (c) charging a predetermined amount of chunks of tar sand into the vessel, the predetermined amount of chunks of tar sand enabling the acidic solvent composition to substantially cover and suspend the chunks of tar sand as the acidic solvent composition and chunks of tar sand are brought into contact via agitation; and (d) maintaining agitation on the acidic solvent composition and the chunks of tar sand in the vessel for an effective period of time to enable the acidic solvent composition to remove the bituminous products from the sand particles of the tar sand.