Horizontal-Flow Oil Sands Separator for an Aqueous Extraction Process

Abstract

The disclosure includes techniques for recovering hydrocarbons from a bituminous feed in an aqueous extraction process, comprising a vessel that comprises a feed inlet on a proximate end of the vessel, a feed outlet on a distal end of the vessel, a bitumen outlet, and a plurality of hoppers, wherein each hopper comprises a tailing outlet.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for recovering hydrocarbons from a bituminous feed in an aqueous extraction process, comprising:
 a vessel comprising:   a feed inlet on a proximate end of the vessel;   a feed outlet on a distal end of the vessel;   a bitumen outlet; and   a plurality of hoppers, wherein each hopper comprises a tailing outlet.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the vessel further comprises at least one perforated baffle. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one hopper is of a different size or shape than another hopper. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the vessel further comprises a solvent injection inlet. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a second separator operatively coupled to the feed outlet or a tailing outlet of a hopper. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the secondary separator is operatively coupled to the tailing outlet of a hopper, wherein the secondary separator comprises a plurality of secondary separator vessels, and wherein each secondary separator vessel comprises at least one secondary hopper. 
     
     
         7 . A method for recovering hydrocarbons feed in an aqueous extraction process, comprising:
 passing a bituminous feed through an inlet of a vessel;   passing the bituminous feed across a plurality of hoppers disposed on a lower end of the vessel;   separating the bituminous feed into a stream comprising bitumen, a stream comprising tailings, and a stream comprising middlings;   passing the stream comprising bitumen from the vessel;   passing the stream comprising tailings from the vessel; and   passing the stream comprising middlings through an outlet of the vessel.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising adjusting the speed of the bituminous feed flow based at least in part on the residence time required to obtain a predetermined separation. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising passing the tailings to a secondary separator structure, wherein the secondary separator structure comprises a second vessel having a second plurality of hoppers. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising injecting water or a solvent into the secondary separator structure, the vessel, or both. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the secondary separator structure comprises a plurality of second vessels each comprising at least one hopper. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 passing the stream comprising middlings to an inlet of a second vessel;   passing the stream comprising middlings across a second plurality of hoppers disposed on a lower end of the second vessel;   separating stream comprising middlings to obtain additional bitumen, additional tailings, and additional middlings;   passing the additional bitumen from the second vessel;   passing the additional tailings from the second vessel; and   passing the additional middlings through an outlet of the second vessel.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising passing at least a portion of the additional bitumen to the inlet of first vessel. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein passing the stream comprising tailings from the vessel and passing the stream comprising middlings through an outlet of the vessel occur via a unitary outlet. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the bituminous feed comprises a bituminous froth. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 precipitating a portion of asphaltenes from the bituminous feed;   separating the stream comprising solvent, bitumen, asphaltenes, and tailings into:
 a solvent containing bitumen stream, and 
 a tailings stream containing asphaltenes. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the bituminous feed comprises a solvent-extracted bitumen, further comprising:
 passing the stream comprising bitumen to a solvent recovery unit; and   separating the stream comprising bitumen into a stream comprising a solvent-extracted bitumen and a stream comprising solvent.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein separating the bituminous feed occurs substantially in a mine, further comprising transporting at least a portion of the stream comprising bitumen to a geographically remote location. 
     
     
         19 . A system for separating a bituminous feed in an aqueous extraction process, comprising:
 a vessel;   an inlet device coupled to a vessel and configured to receive the bituminous feed;   an outlet device coupled the vessel and configured to discharge a middlings feed;   a plurality of bitumen outlets disposed on the vessel;   a plurality of hoppers disposed on a lower end of the vessel, wherein each hopper comprises a tailing outlet; and   a secondary extraction vessel operatively coupled to the outlet device so as to pass bitumen extracted in the secondary extraction vessel to the inlet device in a counter-current extraction.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising a secondary separator structure, wherein the secondary separator structure comprises a plurality of vessels having a second plurality of hoppers, wherein the secondary separator structure comprises an injection inlet for injecting water or a solvent, and wherein the injection inlet is coupled to an injection header extending to at least two of the plurality of vessels. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising a solvent recovery unit operatively coupled to at least one bitumen outlet.