Yuan, XS 2011, 'Ore types impact on flocculation and the treatment strategies for different types of oil sand tailings', in R Jewell & AB Fourie (eds), Paste 2011: Proceedings of the 14th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 143-153, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1104_14_Yuan
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1104_14_Yuan/)
Abstract: Alberta oil sand ore is generically classified by depositional environment: fluvial, estuarine, transition and marine. It is well known that the ores associated with the four types of depositional environments behave differently in the bitumen extraction process. Also, the different ore types have a significant impact on flocculation and thickening of the oil sand tailings. This paper will discuss the fundamental research on the ore type effect on flocculation and the related treatment strategies for different types of oil sand tailings. These treatments include the uses of a single flocculant, a single coagulant and a combination of flocculant and coagulant injected in different sequences of the process. It was found that the sequences of flocculant and coagulant injections have profound impact on flocculation performance. The test data are discussed in association with the flocculation principles. Based on these findings, the engineering control strategies to handle various types of feeds of oil sand tailings to a thickener are also proposed.