Effect of Hydrodynamic Conditions on Flocculation of Syncrude Oil Sand Tailings
With a demand for increasing energy efficiency and a need for improving bitumen recovery,a highly integrated solution for sustainable lease development of Aurora North of Syncrude has been proposed and implementation plans are underway.Fiocculation and thickening technology as an important component of the integrated solution provides Syncrude an opportunity of rapid heat recovery from tailings and more flexible tailings closure and reclamation options.Flocculation of fine-particle suspensions by polymers is a non-equilibrium process whose performance is strongly influenced by physical and chemical variables.While polymeric flocculants are frequently used to establish the chemical conditions favorable for flocculation,the actual performance of a flocculation process generally depends more on the physical variables,such as the hydrodynamic conditions in mixing the flocculants and slurry.In order to study the effect of hydrodynamic conditions on flocculation of Syncrude fine tailings,a standardized laboratory test procedure called power flocculation has been developed in comparison with the conventional manual mixing methods.It is shown that the agitation speed and time in conditioning the flocculant solution and the slurry have a profound effect on the flocculation performances measured by initial settling rates,supernatant clarity and sediment density.It was found that the optimum bench test conditions for power flocculation of Aurora fine tailings with a sand-to-fine ratio (SFR) of about 1:1 are conditioning of the flocculant solution and the tailings slurry at 250 rev/min to 300 rev/min in 20 s to 40 s.The test results are interpreted with a flocculant adsorption/redistribution kinetic model that helps understanding of the effect of hydrodynamic conditions on flocculant adsorption,floc formation and floc growth.
Hydrodynamic conditions Manual mixing and power flocculation Flocculation kinetics Continuous and instantaneous flocculant addition Oil sand tailings
X.S.Yuan W.Shaw
Bitumen Production Development,Syncrude Canada Ltd.,Fort McMurray,Canada Research Centre,Syncrude Canada Ltd.,Edmonton,Canada
国际会议
XXIV International Mineral Processing Congress(第24届国际矿物加工大会)
北京
英文
4033-4041
2008-09-24（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）