This invention relates to systems and methods for extracting hydrocarbons from a mixture that includes solids and water. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for extracting bitumen from a hydro-transport slurry created to facilitate movement of bitumen contained in oil sands from a mining site to a processing site.
Oil sands, also referred to as tar sands or bituminous sands, are a combination of solids (generally mineral components such as clay, silt and sand), water, and bitumen. Although the term “sand” is commonly used to refer to the mineral components of the mixture, it is well known that this term is meant to include various other components such as clay and silts. Technically speaking, the bitumen is neither oil nor tar, but a semisolid form of oil which will not flow toward producing wells under normal conditions, making it difficult and expensive to produce. Oil sands are mined to extract the oil-like bitumen which is processed further at specialized refineries. Conventional oil is extracted by drilling traditional wells into the ground whereas oil sand deposits are mined using strip mining techniques or persuaded to flow into producing wells by techniques such as steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) or cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) which reduce the bitumen's viscosity with steam and/or solvents.
Various methods and equipment have been developed over many years for mining oil sands and for extracting desired hydrocarbon content from the mined solids.
Conventional oil sand extraction processes involve the following steps:
The above separation and froth concentration steps constitute initial primary extraction of the oil sands to separate the bitumen from the mineral component. The bitumen froth that results after application of the above steps is then delivered to secondary treatment steps that further concentrate and upgrade the bitumen to produce a suitable feed for upgrading to synthetic crude oil or for refining into petroleum products.
Various other intervening steps are also known in the primary extraction process such as withdrawal of a middlings layer from the PSV to further increase the yield of bitumen from the ore material.
As will be known to persons skilled in the art, the large-scale nature of oil sands mining requires processing facilities of an immense size. As such, these facilities are generally fixed in position. For this reason, transport of the ore material between the various above-mentioned steps generally involves the use of trucks, conveyors, or pipelines or various other known equipment. However, as operations continue, it will be appreciated that the mine face normally recedes further away from the permanent facilities. This, therefore, increases the transport distances and time resulting in increased operating and maintenance costs and environmental impact.
There exists therefore a need to increase the efficiency of at least the transport and primary extraction processes to reduce operating costs. One suggestion that has been proposed is for having one or more of the excavating equipment to be mobile so as to follow the receding mine face. An example of this method is taught in Canadian application number 2,453,697, wherein the excavating and crushing equipment is made mobile so as to advance along with the mine face. The crushed ore is then deposited onto a conveyor, which then transports the ore to a separation facility. This reference also teaches that the conveyor and separation facility can periodically be relocated to a different site once the mine face advances a sufficient distance. However, such relocation would involve considerable time, expense and lost production.
Another problem faced with respect to oil sand mining involves the fact that sand constitutes the primary weight fraction of the mineral component of the mined ore material. Thus, it is desirable to separate the minerals as soon as possible “upstream” so as to minimize transport costs. In addition, the transport of mineral components results in considerable wear on the transport mechanisms, which further increases operating and maintenance costs. At the same time, separation of the bitumen and mineral components must be done in such a way as to maximize bitumen yield from the ore material.
Thus, there exists a need for an efficient primary extraction process to separate bitumen from the mineral components, preferably in proximity to the mine face to reduce transport costs. The present invention seeks to alleviate at least some of the problems associated with the prior art by providing a novel system and method for extracting the bitumen from a hydro-transport slurry to create an intermediate bitumen froth suitable for further processing. The system of the present invention is preferably mobile so that the primary extraction process can move with the mine face, however, it is also contemplated that the system can be retrofitted to existing fixed primary treatment facilities to improve the operational efficiency of such fixed facilities.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an extraction system for extracting bitumen from a slurry containing bitumen, solids and water comprising:
a cyclone separation facility for separating the slurry into a solids component stream and a bitumen froth stream, the bitumen froth stream including bitumen, water and fine solids; and
a froth concentration facility for separating the bitumen froth stream into a final bitumen enriched froth stream, and a water and fine solids stream.
The present invention also provides a process for extracting bitumen from a slurry containing bitumen, solids and water comprising:
separating the slurry into a solids component stream and a bitumen froth stream; and
separating the bitumen froth stream into a final bitumen froth stream and a water and fine solids stream.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a concentrator vessel for separating a bitumen froth stream containing bitumen froth, water and fine solids into a final bitumen enriched froth stream and a water and fine solids stream, the concentrator vessel comprising:
an inlet region to receive the bitumen froth stream;
a separation region in communication with the inlet region comprising a diverging channel adapted to slow the flow of the bitumen froth stream to promote separation of the bitumen froth from the water and fine solids, the bitumen froth accumulating as a froth layer atop a water layer with the fine solids settling within the water layer; and
a froth recovery region in communication with the separation region having an overflow outlet to collect the bitumen froth layer as the bitumen enriched froth stream, and an underflow outlet to collect the water and fine solids as the water and fine solids stream.
Aspects of the present invention are illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to
Initially, the system of
The solids or mineral component of the incoming slurry 100 is a significant portion, by weight, of the excavated ore from the mine site. By way of example, incoming slurry 100 can have a composition within the following ranges: about 5-15% bitumen by weight, about 40-70% solids (minerals) by weight and about 30-75% water by weight. In a typical slurry, the composition will be in the range of about 7-10% bitumen by weight, about 55-60% minerals by weight, and about 35% water by weight. Thus, in order to increase the efficiency of the oil sands strip mining system, removal of much of the solids component (minerals excluding bitumen) is preferentially conducted as close to the mine face as possible. This avoids unnecessary transport of the solids component thereby avoiding the operation and equipment maintenance costs associated with such transport.
In one embodiment, cyclone separation facility 102 includes three cyclone separation stages 106, 108 and 110 that are connected in series and, more preferably, in a counter-current arrangement (as discussed below). The cyclone separation stages of each comprise one or more hydrocyclones that are generally vertical units, which have a minimal footprint, thereby occupying a minimal area. This can be particularly desirable in relation to those embodiments of the present invention which are directed to a mobile cyclone separation facility. Suitable hydrocyclones for the cyclone separation stages include those manufactured by Krebs Engineers under the trademark gMAX®, although any hydrocyclone capable of separating a significant amount of the solids component from a bitumen based slurry will do. The slurry 100 (including the bitumen and solid components of the ore) is fed to the first cyclone separation stage 106 wherein a first separation of the bitumen froth and solids is conducted in a conventional manner. Optionally, the slurry 100 is processed by a screening and/or comminuting unit 105 before entering the first cyclone separation stage 106 to ensure that solid particles in the slurry can be handled by the cyclone. Rejected solid particles can either be discarded after screening or made smaller by crushing or other suitable techniques. An exemplary sizing roller screen for carrying out the screening and re-sizing process is disclosed in commonly owned co-pending Canadian Patent application no. 2,476,194 filed Jul. 30, 2004 and entitled SIZING ROLLER SCREEN ORE PROCESSING APPARATUS. In the first cyclone separation stage 106, slurry 100 is processed in a conventional manner to produce a first bitumen froth 112, and a first solid tailings stream 116 which comprises significantly less bitumen and substantially more solids than found in the first bitumen froth 112. Bitumen froth 112 is delivered to the bitumich rich froth collection stream 114, while first solid tailing stream 116 is pumped to a feed stream 118 of the second cyclone separation stage 108 where a further cyclone separation process is conducted. The bitumen froth 120 from the second cyclone separation stage 108 is reintroduced to the feed stream 100 supplying the first separation stage 106. The tailings stream 122 from the second cyclone separation stage 106 is combined with the water feed 104 to form a feed 124 to the third cyclone separation stage 110. The bitumen froth 126 from the third stage 110 is combined into the feed 118 to the second separation stage 108. The tailings from the third stage 110 form a first tailings stream 128, which may be pumped to a disposal site such as a tailings pond 149.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In addition, it will be understood that the cyclone separation facility is more efficient when operated in a water wash manner. The term “water wash” refers to the manner in which the slurry and water streams are supplied at opposite ends of a multi-stage process as discussed above. Thus, for example, water entering the process (either make-up or recycled) is first contacted with a bitumen-lean feed and vice versa.
A further advantage of the multi-stage cyclone separation facility illustrated in
In view of the comments above, the cyclone separation facility 102 illustrated in
By way of example,
Each cyclone separation facility and associated froth concentration facility in combination define the smallest effective working unit 200 of the extraction system according to the illustrated embodiment. This modular arrangement of the extraction system provides for both mobility of the system and flexibility in efficiently handling of different volumes of ore slurry. For example, mobile modules comprising skids or other movable platforms with appropriate cyclone stage or froth concentration equipment on board may be assembled as needed to create additional mobile extraction systems 200′, 200″ to 200n to deal with increasing ore slurry flows provided by hydro-transport line 101. Ore slurry from the transport line 101 is fed to a manifold 103 which distributes the slurry to a series of master control valves 165. Control valves 165 control the flow of ore slurry to each mobile extraction system 200 to 200n. This arrangement also permits extraction systems to be readily taken off-line for maintenance by switching flow temporarily to other systems.
The separation efficiency of the multi-stage counter-current cyclone separation facility allows the extraction system to be used with a variety of ores having different bitumen contents and solids contents. In the case of solids contents, both the mineral components and the fines components including silts and clays can vary. In one variation, it is possible for the cyclone separation facility to operate with a single cyclone separation stage or a pair of cyclone separation stages depending on the ore content, however, the three stage counter-current arrangement is the preferred arrangement for efficient separation over the widest range of ore grades.
The bitumen froth stream 114 obtained from the de-mineralizing cyclone separation facility 102 is unique in that it contains a higher water concentration than normally results in other separation facilities, that is, the present system creates a bitumen froth stream 114 (a bitumen-lean froth stream) that is more dilute than heretofore known. In known separation facilities, the resulting bitumen enriched stream typically has a bitumen content of about 60%, a solids content of approximately 10%, and a water content of approximately 30%. With the system and process according to an aspect of the present invention, however, sufficient water is added as wash water 104 to create a bitumen froth stream 114 having a bitumen content in the range of about 5-12% by weight, a solids content in the range of about 10-15% by weight and a water content of about 60-95% by weight. It will be understood that when the water content is in the higher concentrations (above about 85%) the bitumen content and solids content may be below about 5% and 10%, respectively. It will also be understood that the above concentrations are provided solely for illustrative purposes in one aspect of the present invention, and that in other variations various other concentrations will or can be achieved depending on various process parameters.
The present system and process create a highly diluted bitumen froth stream as a result of washing the froth stream in a counter-current manner with water stream 104 in order to improve bitumen recovery. The washing assists in the removal of solids in slurry 100. However, the increased water content of bitumen froth stream 114 necessitates that the bitumen froth stream be further processed in an additional step through a froth concentration facility 130 in order to remove the wash water. This ensures that the final bitumen enriched froth stream 136 of the present system is of a composition that can be delivered to a conventional froth treatment facility (not shown) which operates to increase the bitumen concentration of the product to make it ready for further processing in an upgrade or refinery facility.
Returning to
The froth concentrator vessels 132 described above tend to be suited to a froth concentration facility 130 according to an aspect of the invention that is intended to be fixed in place. This equipment does not tend to lend itself to being mobile when in operation due to its large size.
Within concentrator vessels 132, the froth is concentrated resulting in a final bitumen enriched froth or product stream 136 that may optionally be transported to a conventional froth treatment facility (not shown) to increase the bitumen concentration of the product to make it ready for further processing in an upgrader or refinery facility. The froth concentration facility 130 produces a fine solids stream 138 that comprises water and the fine solids (silt and clay) that were not separated at the cyclone separation facility 102. In one embodiment, chemical additives may also by used in the froth concentration facility 130 to enhance the separation of fine solids from the water.
The bitumen froth stream 114 that leaves the cyclone separation facility 102 contains bitumen at a concentration of about 5-12% by weight. As described above, this is a lean bitumen froth stream with a high water content. The froth concentration facility 130 is employed to increase the bitumen concentration in the final bitumen enriched froth stream 136 to about 55% to 60% by weight. When this final product of the extraction system is transported to a froth treatment facility (as mentioned above), the hydrocarbon concentration may be further increased to range from about 95% to 98% by weight. It should be noted that these concentrations are recited to exemplify the concentration process and are not meant to limit in any way the scope of any aspects of the present invention. It will be appreciated, for example, that the specific concentrations that can be achieved will depend on various factors such as the grade of the ore, the initial bitumen concentration, process conditions (i.e. temperature, flow rate etc.) and others.
In one aspect of the present invention, the froth concentration facility 130 is a mobile facility that is used in combination with the mobile cyclone separation facility 102 described above. As shown in
In order to meet the mobility arrangement for the froth concentration facility 130, a concentrator vessel specially designed for compactness may be used with the current extraction system. The preferred concentrator vessel for operation in a mobile facility is a modified version of a horizontal decanter. The modified design functions to efficiently process the lean bitumen froth stream exiting from the cyclone separation facility 102. The use of cyclone separation stages in the above described cyclone separation facility 102 allows the majority of the solids material (i.e. the mineral component) in the slurry to be removed. Such material is known to result in plugging of a device such as a horizontal decanter. However, since such material is removed by the cyclone separation facility, use of a horizontal decanter design is possible in the current system. As well, the horizontal decanter design lends itself well to modification to minimize the footprint of the concentrator vessel. This results in a preferred concentrator vessel having a configuration that is compact and readily movable, and therefore suited for incorporation into mobile embodiments of the present invention as described above and as illustrated schematically in
Referring to
Overflow outlet 182 preferably comprises at least one weir formed at a perimeter wall 181 of the froth recovery region 179. The weir can be a conventional crested weir or a J-weir 188 (as best shown in
As best shown in
In the concentrator vessel embodiment of
The concentrator vessel 132 of
The concentrator vessel 132 of
Adjacent perimeter walls 230 is the froth recovery region of the concentrator vessels. Perimeter walls 230 are formed with overflow outlets in the form of crested weirs or J weirs to allow the bitumen enriched froth layer collecting atop the water layer to overflow from the concentrator vessel into froth launder 189. As best shown in
At the opposite end of the concentrator vessel, the water and fine solids stream exits the concentrator vessel through underflow outlets 184 formed in end walls 185 of the discharge channels. End walls 185 are preferably formed with a J weir 187 to collect bitumen froth at the end of the discharge channel. The rejected water and fine solids stream is collected in a discharge section 258 and discharged through outflow nozzle 198. As best shown
As shown in the embodiment of
The concentrator vessel embodiment of
In some situations, bitumen froth may become entrained in the rejected water and fine solids flow that exits the concentrator vessel through underflow outlets 184. To address this issue, a weir may be provided in the discharge section 258, the weir being adapted to permit any bitumen froth that exits the underflow outlet and collects atop the water layer in the discharge section to overflow back into the froth launder. An example of such an arrangement is best shown in
Referring back to
The slurry 100 that is fed to cyclone separation facility 102 is generally formed using heated water. In conventional bitumen extraction equipment such as primary separation vessels (PSV), where bubble attachment and flotation are used for bitumen extraction, temperature can affect the efficiency of the extraction process. In embodiments of the present invention, the extraction process is not as temperature sensitive since the cyclone equipment provides solid/liquid separation based on rotational effects and gravity. Extraction efficiency tends to be maintained even as temperature drops making the cyclone extraction process more amendable to lower temperature extraction. This has energy saving implications at the cyclone separation facility 102 where wash water feed 104 or recycled water stream 140 do not have to be heated to the same extent as would otherwise be necessary to maintain a higher process temperature.
In a further aspect of the present invention, as shown in
In a further optional embodiment, the ore slurry 100 may be provided with any number of known additives such as frothing agents and the like prior to being fed to the cyclone separation stage 102. An example of such additives is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,664. As mentioned above, the solids components stream 128 shown in
Throughout the above discussion, various references have been made to pumping, transporting, conveying etc. various materials such as slurries, froth and tailings and others. It will be understood that the various equipment and infrastructure such as pumps, conveyor belts, pipelines etc. required by these processes will be known to persons skilled in the art and, therefore, the presence of such elements will be implied if not otherwise explicitly recited.
Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of example for purposes of clarity and understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practised within the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2526336 | Nov 2005 | CA | national |
The present application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/595,817, filed Nov. 9, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,096,425.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1431367 | Buchi | Oct 1922 | A |
2726729 | Williams | Dec 1955 | A |
2910424 | Tek et al. | Oct 1959 | A |
3419145 | De Celis | Dec 1968 | A |
3607720 | Paulson | Sep 1971 | A |
3808120 | Smith | Apr 1974 | A |
3956417 | Franz et al. | May 1976 | A |
3962070 | Stotler | Jun 1976 | A |
3971718 | Reid | Jul 1976 | A |
3972861 | Gardner, Jr. et al. | Aug 1976 | A |
4017263 | Holmes et al. | Apr 1977 | A |
4035282 | Stuchberry et al. | Jul 1977 | A |
4036664 | Priebe | Jul 1977 | A |
4072609 | Kizior | Feb 1978 | A |
4090943 | Moll et al. | May 1978 | A |
4139646 | Gastrock | Feb 1979 | A |
4146534 | Armstrong | Mar 1979 | A |
4216085 | Chittenden | Aug 1980 | A |
4216796 | Gastrock | Aug 1980 | A |
4279743 | Miller | Jul 1981 | A |
4337143 | Hanson et al. | Jun 1982 | A |
4383914 | Kizior | May 1983 | A |
4397741 | Miller | Aug 1983 | A |
4399027 | Miller | Aug 1983 | A |
4514305 | Filby | Apr 1985 | A |
4545892 | Cymbalisty et al. | Oct 1985 | A |
4556422 | Reynolds et al. | Dec 1985 | A |
4581142 | Fladby et al. | Apr 1986 | A |
4604988 | Rao | Aug 1986 | A |
4744890 | Miller et al. | May 1988 | A |
4838434 | Miller et al. | Jun 1989 | A |
4851123 | Mishra | Jul 1989 | A |
4859317 | Shelfantook et al. | Aug 1989 | A |
4914017 | Mifune | Apr 1990 | A |
4994097 | Brouwers | Feb 1991 | A |
5032275 | Thew | Jul 1991 | A |
5035910 | Jones | Jul 1991 | A |
5037558 | Kalnins | Aug 1991 | A |
5055202 | Carroll et al. | Oct 1991 | A |
5062955 | Sciamanna | Nov 1991 | A |
5066407 | Furlow | Nov 1991 | A |
5071556 | Kalnins et al. | Dec 1991 | A |
5071557 | Schubert et al. | Dec 1991 | A |
5073177 | Brouwers | Dec 1991 | A |
5090498 | Hamill | Feb 1992 | A |
5110471 | Kalnins | May 1992 | A |
5118408 | Jansen et al. | Jun 1992 | A |
5143598 | Graham et al. | Sep 1992 | A |
5207805 | Kalen et al. | May 1993 | A |
5223148 | Tipman et al. | Jun 1993 | A |
5242580 | Sury | Sep 1993 | A |
5242604 | Young et al. | Sep 1993 | A |
5264118 | Cymerman et al. | Nov 1993 | A |
5302294 | Schubert et al. | Apr 1994 | A |
5316664 | Gregoli et al. | May 1994 | A |
5340467 | Gregoli et al. | Aug 1994 | A |
5350525 | Shaw et al. | Sep 1994 | A |
5458770 | Fentz | Oct 1995 | A |
5538631 | Yeh | Jul 1996 | A |
5554301 | Rippetoe et al. | Sep 1996 | A |
5556545 | Volchek et al. | Sep 1996 | A |
5620594 | Smith et al. | Apr 1997 | A |
5667543 | Brouwers | Sep 1997 | A |
5667686 | Schubert | Sep 1997 | A |
5711374 | Kjos | Jan 1998 | A |
5740834 | Sherowski | Apr 1998 | A |
5766484 | Petit et al. | Jun 1998 | A |
5840198 | Clarke | Nov 1998 | A |
5879541 | Parkinson | Mar 1999 | A |
5958256 | Ocel, Jr. et al. | Sep 1999 | A |
5965023 | Schaller | Oct 1999 | A |
5996690 | Shaw et al. | Dec 1999 | A |
6077433 | Brun Henriksen et al. | Jun 2000 | A |
6119870 | Maciejewski et al. | Sep 2000 | A |
6189613 | Chachula et al. | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6197095 | Ditria et al. | Mar 2001 | B1 |
6213208 | Skilbeck | Apr 2001 | B1 |
6322845 | Dunlow | Nov 2001 | B1 |
6346069 | Collier | Feb 2002 | B1 |
6378608 | Nilsen et al. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
6398973 | Saunders et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6468330 | Irving et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6543537 | Kjos | Apr 2003 | B1 |
6596170 | Tuszko et al. | Jul 2003 | B2 |
6607437 | Casey et al. | Aug 2003 | B2 |
6702877 | Swanborn | Mar 2004 | B1 |
6719681 | Collier | Apr 2004 | B2 |
6730236 | Kouba | May 2004 | B2 |
6800116 | Stevens et al. | Oct 2004 | B2 |
6800208 | Bolman | Oct 2004 | B2 |
7011219 | Knox-Holmes et al. | Mar 2006 | B2 |
7060017 | Collier | Jun 2006 | B2 |
8096425 | Bjornson et al. | Jan 2012 | B2 |
8168071 | Hann | May 2012 | B2 |
8225944 | Bjornson et al. | Jul 2012 | B2 |
20010005986 | Matsubara et al. | Jul 2001 | A1 |
20010042713 | Conrad et al. | Nov 2001 | A1 |
20020018842 | Dunlow | Feb 2002 | A1 |
20020068673 | Collier | Jun 2002 | A1 |
20020068676 | Collier | Jun 2002 | A1 |
20020148777 | Tuszko | Oct 2002 | A1 |
20030085185 | Kouba | May 2003 | A1 |
20030168391 | Tveiten | Sep 2003 | A1 |
20040055972 | Garner et al. | Mar 2004 | A1 |
20040069705 | Tuszko et al. | Apr 2004 | A1 |
20040094456 | Dries | May 2004 | A1 |
20040140099 | Hauge et al. | Jul 2004 | A1 |
20040182754 | Lange | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20040192533 | Collier | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20040262980 | Watson | Dec 2004 | A1 |
20050016904 | Knox-Holmes et al. | Jan 2005 | A1 |
20060112724 | Chang et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20060122449 | van Egmond | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20060138036 | Garner et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20060138055 | Garner et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20080149542 | Bjornson et al. | Jun 2008 | A1 |
20130098805 | Bjornson et al. | Apr 2013 | A1 |
20130098846 | Hann | Apr 2013 | A9 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
518320 | Nov 1955 | CA |
970308 | Jul 1975 | CA |
1026252 | Feb 1978 | CA |
1059052 | Jul 1979 | CA |
1066644 | Nov 1979 | CA |
1072473 | Feb 1980 | CA |
1097574 | Mar 1981 | CA |
1126187 | Jun 1982 | CA |
1138822 | Apr 1983 | CA |
1194622 | Jan 1985 | CA |
1201412 | Mar 1986 | CA |
1254171 | May 1989 | CA |
1267860 | Apr 1990 | CA |
2000984 | Apr 1991 | CA |
2037856 | Sep 1991 | CA |
1283465 | Dec 1991 | CA |
2024756 | May 1992 | CA |
1305390 | Jul 1992 | CA |
2058221 | Jul 1992 | CA |
1318273 | May 1993 | CA |
1322177 | Sep 1993 | CA |
1325180 | Dec 1993 | CA |
2088227 | Apr 1994 | CA |
2108521 | Apr 1994 | CA |
2086073 | Jun 1994 | CA |
2155198 | Aug 1994 | CA |
2184613 | Nov 1995 | CA |
2180686 | Feb 1997 | CA |
2231543 | Mar 1997 | CA |
2263691 | Mar 1998 | CA |
2249679 | Apr 1999 | CA |
2308410 | May 1999 | CA |
2236183 | Oct 1999 | CA |
2246841 | Mar 2000 | CA |
2365008 | Aug 2000 | CA |
2298122 | Jul 2001 | CA |
2090618 | Oct 2001 | CA |
2358805 | Oct 2001 | CA |
2311738 | Nov 2001 | CA |
2409129 | Nov 2001 | CA |
2315596 | Feb 2002 | CA |
2332207 | Feb 2002 | CA |
857306 | Mar 2002 | CA |
873854 | Mar 2002 | CA |
882667 | Mar 2002 | CA |
910271 | Mar 2002 | CA |
2217300 | Aug 2002 | CA |
2419325 | Aug 2003 | CA |
2435113 | Jan 2005 | CA |
2436158 | Jan 2005 | CA |
2439436 | Mar 2005 | CA |
2532737 | Mar 2005 | CA |
2535702 | Mar 2005 | CA |
2537603 | Mar 2005 | CA |
2483896 | Apr 2005 | CA |
2493677 | Jun 2005 | CA |
2549895 | Jun 2005 | CA |
2554725 | Jun 2005 | CA |
2454942 | Jul 2005 | CA |
2455623 | Jul 2005 | CA |
2462359 | Sep 2005 | CA |
2558424 | Oct 2005 | CA |
2467372 | Nov 2005 | CA |
2565980 | Dec 2005 | CA |
2510099 | Jan 2006 | CA |
2517811 | Feb 2006 | CA |
2538464 | Feb 2006 | CA |
2563922 | Mar 2006 | CA |
2520943 | Apr 2006 | CA |
2522031 | Apr 2006 | CA |
2580836 | Apr 2006 | CA |
2582078 | Apr 2006 | CA |
2506398 | May 2006 | CA |
2587866 | Jun 2006 | CA |
2494391 | Jul 2006 | CA |
1112033 | Nov 1995 | CN |
2263552 | Oct 1997 | CN |
2520942 | Nov 2002 | CN |
1701856 | Nov 2005 | CN |
262916 | Jun 1988 | EP |
355127 | Jun 1989 | EP |
332641 | Mar 1994 | EP |
605746 | Jul 1994 | EP |
1600215 | Nov 2005 | EP |
1501636 | Aug 2006 | EP |
195055 | Jan 1924 | GB |
726841 | Mar 1955 | GB |
814610 | Jun 1959 | GB |
1302064 | Jan 1973 | GB |
2047735 | Jan 1980 | GB |
2075543 | Nov 1981 | GB |
2088234 | Jun 1982 | GB |
2116447 | Sep 1983 | GB |
61082856 | Apr 1986 | JP |
WO 9423823 | Oct 1994 | WO |
WO 0074815 | Dec 2000 | WO |
WO 03068407 | Aug 2003 | WO |
WO 03092901 | Nov 2003 | WO |
WO 2004005673 | Jan 2004 | WO |
WO 2005044871 | May 2005 | WO |
WO 2006085759 | Aug 2006 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Restriction Requirement dated Dec. 12, 2008 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/595,817. |
Office Action dated Mar. 2, 2009 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/595,817. |
Office Action dated Jul. 21, 2009 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/595,817. |
Office Action dated Jan. 21, 2010 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/595,817. |
Office Action dated Aug. 6, 2010 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/595,817. |
Office Action dated Mar. 17, 2011 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/595,817. |
Notice of Allowance dated Sep. 16, 2011 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/595,817. |
Restriction Requirement dated Oct. 4, 2011 for U.S. Appl. No. 12/277,261. |
Related pending U.S. Appl. No. 11/360,597, filed Feb. 24, 2006. Title: Bituminous Froth Hydrocarbon Cyclone. Inventors: Garner et al. |
Related pending U.S. Appl. No. 11/360,489, filed Feb. 24, 2006. Title: Bituminous Froth Inclined Plate Separator and Hydrocarbon Cyclone Treatment Process. Inventors: Garner et al. |
Related pending U.S. Appl. No. 11/486,302, filed Jul. 13, 2006. Title: Bituminous Froth Inclined Plate Separator and Hydrocarbon Cyclone Treatment Process. Inventors: Garner et al. |
Related pending U.S. Appl. No. 11/759,151, filed Jun. 6, 2007. Title: System and Process for Concentrating Hydrocarbons in a Bitumen Feed. Inventors: Garner et al. |
Rimmer, et al. “Hydrocyclone-Based Process for Rejecting Solids from Oil Sands at the Mine Site while Retaining Bitumen Transportation to a Processing Plant”; paper delivered on Monday Apr. 5, 1993 at a conference in Alberta, Canada entitled “Oil Sands—Our Petroleum Future.” |
National Energy Board, Canada's Oil Sands: A Supply and Market Outlook to 2015, An Energy Market Assessment Oct. 2000. |
Krebs' Engineers, Krebs D-Series gMAX DeSanders for Oil and Gas, Bulletin 11-203WEL. |
Eva Mondt “Compact Centrifugal Separator of Dispersed Phases” Proefschrift. |
Natural Resources Canada, Treatment of Bitumen Froth and Slop Oil Tailings. |
Restriction Requirement dated Feb. 24, 2011 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/938,226. |
Office Action dated Jul. 28, 2011 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/938,226. |
Definition of “lateral”, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Accessed Mar. 10, 2011, pp. 1-3. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20120085699 A1 | Apr 2012 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 11595817 | Nov 2006 | US |
Child | 13329177 | US |