Method for Extracting Oil from an Oil/Water/Solid Mixture, Associated Device, and Use of the Method

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This patent describes a process and apparatus for extracting oil from mixtures containing oil, water, and solid particles (such as oil sands or oil shales) by introducing an assistant, such as propane or a mixture of alkanes, under subcritical conditions (moderate pressure and temperature). The assistant causes spontaneous separation of the emulsion into three distinct phases: an oil-rich phase, a water-rich phase, and a solids-rich phase (mainly sand and water). This separation is facilitated in a pressure cell, and the system can be further improved by using a second assistant like toluene. The assistants are recovered and reused, making the process efficient and environmentally friendly.

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• Extraction of bitumen or ultra-heavy oil from naturally occurring oil sands or oil shales during mining operations.
• Processing and cleaning of oil-contaminated water, such as that produced during oil sand mining or industrial wastewater treatment.
• Efficient recovery of valuable oil components from industrial sludges, tailings, or waste emulsions in petroleum refineries.
• Improvement of oil recovery in steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) or cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) processes by treating water-bitumen emulsions.
• Application in environmental remediation to remove hydrocarbons from soils or sediments.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Accelerates phase separation and oil recovery, reducing processing times compared to conventional methods.
• Operates under moderate conditions (subcritical temperature and pressure), which lowers energy consumption and equipment wear.
• Significantly improves oil extraction yield, especially when using a secondary assistant like toluene.
• Reduces viscosity of mixtures, facilitating easier phase separation and further processing or transport of extracted oil.
• Enables recycling of assistant compounds (like propane), enhancing sustainability and reducing operating costs.
• Can be used for both primary extraction and for treating contaminated wastewater or tailings, thus reducing environmental impact.

Technical Classifications (CPCs)

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Patent Abstract

In the customary process for mining oil sand comprising open cast excavation, the oil sand, after being excavated and transported to the processing plant by means of trucks, is comminuted in a mill and then slurried with water for transport of the hydrated material to the extraction plant. The hydration transport already leads in each case to a reduction in surface tension of the bitumen around the individual grains. In the prior art, flotation or separation tanks are used, with use of steam. According to the invention, spontaneous emulsion breaking of the oil-water-sand mixture is forced, forming three different material phases, of which the first phase essentially comprises the oil. In the corresponding apparatus, a pressure cell is present for this purpose.