Froth is the basis to the extraction of bitumen from oil sand. Its components include sand, bitumen, water, and air. The technology of extraction and processing is evolving toward lower temperature of operation where the volumetric content of air and viscosity of bitumen challenge pumping. To improve the efficiency of froth handling pumps it is important to adapt the technology from other indus...

We study chemical aging in "Cooee bitumen" using molecular dynamic simulations. This model bitumen is composed of four realistic molecule types: saturated hydrocarbon, resinous oil, resin, and asphaltene. The aging reaction is modelled by the chemical reaction: "2 resins → 1 asphaltene." Molecular dynamic simulations of four bitumen compositions, obtained by a repeated application of the aging ...

Nonionic surfactant-stabilised oil-in-water emulsions offer a potentially useful vehicle for transporting heavy crude oils from oilfields to refineries or distribution terminals. Prior to refining, separation of the oil from the emulsion is necessary. Previous studies have suggested that heating the emulsion is sufficient for destabilisation and recovery of the oil. The present work examines th...

Thin-layer chromatography/flame ionization detection (TLC/FID) allows for the fractionation of bitumen into four fractions, namely, the saturates, the aromatics, the resins A and the resins B (SARAB). The technique is rapid and economical, but it lack reproducibility. The effect of chromarod aging on reproducibility was investigated along with that of the time between bitumen dissolution and it...

BACKGROUND Worker's exposure to bitumen fumes, via inhalation and skin contamination, is related to adverse effects including an increased risk of lung, stomach and non-melanoma skin cancers and leukaemia. The two major mechanisms regulating apoptosis include the mitochondria-mediated intrinsic pathway and the extrinsic pathway induced by death signalling ligands. In a previous study, we showed...

Some substances are familiar only to those who work in certain industries. Bitumen is something that we have all seen applied in road repair, and we may be aware of less obvious uses. Studies on it are frequently reported in this journal, often with emphasis on polyaromatic hydrocarbon exposure (e.g. Burstyn et al., 2002; McClean et al., 2004a,b; Väänänen et al., 2005). In June 2006, bitumen is...

Several countries, including Canada, contain sizeable bitumen resources in highly fractured carbonate rocks. Any possible recovery of bitumen from these reservoirs will be highly dependent on proper understanding of the rock and fluid properties and how they vary in the reservoir. These carbonates are extremely heterogeneous, and as a result proper reservoir characterization is challenging. In ...

   Nowadays, in addition to materials and components of asphalt mixtures that are bitumen, aggregates and mineral fillers, other materials known as additives or modifiers are also used. These compounds include wide range of organic, inorganic, industrial, and natural materials used in order to reduce deficiencies, to improve the physical properties and to modify some mechanical properties o...

During the hot application of bitumen-containing materials, e.g. in road paving or roofing, fumes are emitted that contain traces of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs). Although worker's exposure to these fumes is low, it might lead to health problems. For studying DNA adduct formation as a consequence of inhalation of bitumen fumes we developed and validated an inhalation system (a dynamic f...

This study investigates removing ash and pyrite sulphur from bitumen by column flotation process. Central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM) was applied for modeling and optimization of the percentage of ash and pyrite sulphur removal from bitumen. The effects of five parameters namely the amounts of collector and frother agents, particle size, wash water rate and feed...