Ikelic - Alliance Digital Repository

- ASPHALT FROM TAR SANDS James
STATUS OF OIL SANDS PROJECTS
COMMERCIAL PROJECTS (Underline denotes changes since June 1994)
W. Bunger and Associates, Inc. (T-5)
J. W. Bunger and Associates, Inc. (JWBA) is developing a project for commercialization of Utah Tar Sands. The product of
the venture will be asphalts and high value commodity products. The project contemplates a surface mine and water extraction
of bitumen followed by clean-up and treatment of bitumen to manufacture specification asphaltic products. JWBA has secured
rights to patented technology developed at the University of Utah for extraction and recovery of bitumen from mined ore.
In 1990, JWBA completed a $550,000 R&D program for development of technology and assessment of markets, resources and
economics for asphalt production. Later in 1990 JWBA initiated a program for value-added research to extract high value
commodity and specialty products from tar sand bitumen. This program was initiated with an additional $50,000 in funding
from DOE.
Under this program funded by the U.S. DOE SBIR program, a 300 pound per hour PDU was designed and constructed. The
unit has been operated to determine the effect of process variables and kinetic parameters. Recoveries of greater than
97 percent have been experienced. The unit has been operated to produce gallon quantities of asphalt for testing and inspec
tion. A field demonstration unit of 200 barrels per day has been designed and costed.
Conceptual design and project economics for a 5.000 barrel/day commercial facility has been examined. Results show a strong
potential for profitability at 1994 prices and costs.
The commercialization plan calls for completion of research in 1995, construction and operation of a field demonstration plant
by 1997 and commercial operations by 1999. The schedule is both technically realistic and financially feasible, says JWBA.
Project Cost: Research and Development: $1.5 million
Demonstration project: $10 million
Commercial Facility: $135 million
- BITUMOUNT PROJECT Solv-Ex Corp. (T-20)
The Solv-Ex Bitumount Project will be a phased development of an open pit mine and an extraction plant using Solv-Ex's
process for recovery of bitumen and metals.
Solv-Ex will use a naphtha solvent to boost the power of hot water to separate oil from sand. The increased efficiency of the
process increases oil yield and also allows metals such as gold, silver and titanium to be extracted from the very clean sand.
Analyses of the pilot plant tailings (after bitumen extraction) showed that these minerals are readily recoverable.
A Solv-Ex pilot plant, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, can process up to 72 tons of oil sands per day. It can also produce
up to 25 barrels of bitumen per day, depending on the grade of oil sands processed. The quantity of bitumen recoverable from
tar sands depends on its bitumen content, which typically ranges from 4 to 12 percent.
In an 8-month test program, Solv-Ex processed approximately 1,000 tons of Athabasca tar sands material in process runs of low
(6 percent of bitumen), average (8 to 10 percent), and high (12 to 14 percent) grade oil sands through the pilot plant. The test
material was procured from a pit centrally located in the oil sands deposit on which the Bitumount Lease is located. Average
percentage of bitumen recovered for the low, average and high grade sands were 75, 90 and 95 percent, respectively.
In February, 1989, a viable processing flowsheet was finalized which not only recovers the originally targeted gold, silver and
titanium values but also the alumina values contained in the resource. Synthetic crude oil would represent about 25 percent of
the potential mineral values recoverable from the Bitumount Lease.
The results of this work indicate that the first module could be a single-train plant, much smaller than the 10,000 barrels per
calendar day plant originally envisaged. The optimum size will be determined in the preconstruction feasibility study and this
module is estimated to cost not more than C$200 million.
The Bitumount lease covers 5,874 acres north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. Bitumen reserves on the lease are estimated at
1.4 billion barrels.
Solv-Ex is looking for potential financial partners to expand the project. The company plans to construct a modular Lease
Evaluation Unit in Alberta at an estimated cost of $12 million.
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SYNTHETIC FUELS REPORT, JANUARY 1995