A solvent extraction process for tar sand

A process has been investigated for solvent extraction of bitumen from Sunnyside, Utah, tar sands. The Sunnyside deposit, in east central Utah, has 1 to 2 billion barrels of geological reserves with a richness of 6 to 10 wt% bitumen. In this process, the ore is crushed and the bitumen is dissolved from the mineral in mix tanks. The bitumen and oil is separated from the coarse mineral by hydrocyclones and from the fines by pentane-deasphaltening. The solvent is recovered from the mineral by centrifuges, filters, and rotary kiln steam strippers, and from the bitumen by multi-effect evaporators. Hydrocyclone tests with one- and four-inch hydrocyclones demonstrated that 97% of the mineral matter could be removed from the bitumen. The experimental data were used to develop mathematical models for predicting feed rate and cut size. Since the accuracy of the model was quite good, it was used to design the hydrocyclones for the process.