Electrokinetic sedimentation of mature oil sand mine tailings

Raquibul Alam, Julie Q. Shang, Shriful Islam

In the proceedings of: GeoRegina 2014: 67th Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: Geoenvironmental Engineering

ABSTRACT: Oil sands mines generate tailings during the extraction process, which are a mixture of water, clay, sand and residual bitumen. When the tailings are released to tailings ponds, the coarse solids settle quickly, whereas fine solids containing clay minerals, namely Mature Fine Tailings (MFT), remain suspended for years, even decades. A study is carried out to assess the suitability of Electrokinetic (EK) sedimentation to accelerate sedimentation of MFT. A series of laboratory-scale column experiments are carried out to examine the effects of electrophoresis during settling processes. The investigation focuses on the effects of EK sedimentation as related to the initial solid concentration of the tailings suspension, applied electric field intensity, water pH, and the use of an optimized coagulant FeCl3. The research has shown that EK is a viable technology for accelerating sedimentation of suspended solids in fine oil sand tailings in terms of reducing the overall sedimentation time and increasing the final solid concentration.

RÉSUMÉ: Les mines de sables bitumineux génèrent des résidus au cours du processus d'extraction, qui sont un mélange d' eau, d'argile, de sable, et de bitume résiduel. Quand les résidus sont laissés dans les basin de decantation, les particules larges se déposent rapidement mais les particules fines contenant des minéraux argileux; appelé les résidus fins mûrs (RFM), restent suspendues pendant des années, mêmes des décennies. Une série d'expériences pour examiner les effets de l'électrophorèse pendant le processus de décan3. Les résultats de la recherche montré que la sedimentation électrocinétique réduit le temps global de sedimentation et augment la concentration de solides finale. Par consequent, la sedimentation électrocinétique est une technologie viable pour accélérer la sédimentation des particules fines dans les résidus de sables bitumineux.

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