Thermal recovery of a synthetic crude from the bituminous sands of the Sunnyside (Utah) deposit

The bituminous sand deposits of Utah are estimated to contain 25 billion barrels of oil in place and are the largest known petroleum resource of this type in the United States. The Sunnyside deposit, amenable to surface mining techniques, is estimated to contain 3.5-4.0 billion barrels of bitumen in place with an average bitumen content of approximately eight to nine percent by weight. An aboveground, fluidized bed thermal recovery process, specific to the Sunnyside sand, for the production of a synthetic crude has been investigated and bench-scale unit, operating at atmospheric pressure with a design throughput capacity of 2.25 kg/hr, developed. The experimental data were obtained in the temperature range 700 K to 800 K at solids retention times of 20.4, 27.2 and 31.4 minutes. The light gas and the synthetic crude yields were quite dependent upon the temperature and the solids retention time. The amount of bitumen converted to coke was relatively insensitive to the process operating conditions and to the sand particle size. The maximum liquid yield, 70 percent (wt) of the bitumen fed, was obtained at 773 K with a solids retention time of 20.4 minutes for a feed particle size of 358.5 microns. The effects of feed particle size and of the particle size distribution on liquid yield were also determined.