Characterization of Insoluble Organic Matter Associated with Clay Minerals from Syncrude Sludge Pond Tailings

Hot water extraction of bitumen from Alberta oil sands generates large quantities of tailings sluny. The fine grained sludge component of this waste is the most troublesome because of its stability and poor compaction potential. Dispersed bitumen, and organic matter that is insoluble in common solvents (IOM), are associated with the fines contained in these. clay slimes. This organic matter is believed to be partly responsible for the intractability of the sludge, and it could therefore play an important role in determining the behavioural characteristics of oil sand slimes. In previous investigations we had attempted to enrich the insoluble organic maner by dissolving the minerals in concenaated H C W . As a result of this treatment the inorganic material is decomposed, but the organic constituents are also likely to undergo significant changes. In the present work we have attempted a milder HCl/HF treatment for mineral dissolution. The results from the current investigation are compared with the results of the previous study to assess the chemical alterations of the organic matter resulting from the two treatments.