BIOLOGICALLY-MEDIATED FLOCCULATION FOR DENSIFICATION OF OIL SANDS TAILINGS

摘要

Reclaiming oil sand tailings and fluids from the oil sand refining process remains a major challenge. After the hydrocarbons are extracted, a large volume of water and sand and gravel remain. The recovered water recovered includes a mixture of clay particles, sand, and residual oils. While the sand settles quickly to the bottom, the fine solids such as the clays and silts create a floating layer below the surface of the water called fluid tailings. Natural settling of the fine particles from the fluid tailings can take decades, and prevents the timely reclamation of many oil sands tailings facilities. The current invention employs various microorganisms that are added to the liquid in tailing ponds. The microorganisms are selected to synthesize and secrete flocculant materials into the tailing ponds. This results in rapid settling of the tailings leaving a supernatant that can be recycled or released into the environment.