2006 Volume 12 Issue Supplement2 Pages 183-187
The reserve of conventional light crude oil in Canada has diminished in recent years and initiatives have been taken by the oil industry to use alternatives such as heavy oil and bitumen from oilsands. One of the problems encountered during oilsands processing is the presence of intractable organic matter strongly bound to certain minerals, usually clays. These solids provide sites for sorption and chemical fixation of heavy oil and bitumen during the extraction process and are also associated with loss of these materials during recovery.
From a process optimization standpoint, it is therefore of considerable interest to develop a better understanding of the interaction between clays and the organic matter types present in bitumen. The prime consideration in the present work is to probe and investigate the adsorption behaviour of SARA fractions from bitumen and heavy oil on kaolinite. Differences and similarities in adsorption of these heavy oil and bitumen fractions are discussed.
