Language selection

Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Search

The comparison of bitumens from oil sands with different recovery profiles

From National Research Council Canada

DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10916466.2010.495960
AuthorSearch for: 1; Search for: 1; Search for: 1; Search for: 1; Search for: 1; Search for: ; Search for: 1; Search for: ; Search for:
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology
FormatText, Article
SubjectAnalytical techniques; Athabasca oil sands; Bitumen recovery; Individual components; Mineral matters; Recovery profiles; Resin content; SARA; Asphaltenes; Centrifugation; Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Oil sands; Resins; Sulfur; Viscosity; Bituminous materials
Abstract
It has been proposed that, regardless of origin, the recovery of bitumen from oil sands is related to its viscosity. Asphaltene and resin contents are known to affect the viscosity of bitumen. In this article we compare the composition of solvent-extracted bitumens from several Athabasca oil sands with very different recovery profiles. After careful removal of any associated mineral matter by ultra-centrifugation, each bitumen sample was separated into saturate, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene (SARA) fractions by an enhanced SARA technique. The individual components were then characterized by several complementary analytical techniques, including carbon, nitrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, size exclusion chromatography molecular weight (MW n) plus proton and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Based on this comparison, we see no correlation between the recovery of bitumen and its composition. © Crown Copyright.
Publication date
In
  • Petroleum Science and Technology 30, no. 22 (2012): 2285–2293.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NPARC number21269266
Export citationExport as RIS
Report a correctionReport a correction (opens in a new tab)
Record identifierb3df75fa-523b-41e8-9591-7eb7c8e4df1b
Record created2013-12-12
Record modified2020-04-21
Date modified: