Enhanced accumulation of bitumen residue in a highly concentrated tailings flow by microbubbles from in-situ catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Zhou, Kaiyu, Sontti, Somasekhara Goud, Zhou, Joe, Zhang, Xuehua
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866915560900526080
author Zhou, Kaiyu
Sontti, Somasekhara Goud
Zhou, Joe
Zhang, Xuehua
author_facet Zhou, Kaiyu
Sontti, Somasekhara Goud
Zhou, Joe
Zhang, Xuehua
contents The massive volume of oil sands tailings has been one of the most challenging environmental issues. In this work, we experimentally explore a simple and effective approach to bitumen residue separation from a highly concentrated slurry flow of the artificial oil sands tailings. By utilizing microbubbles from in-situ catalytic decomposition of H2O2 at low concentrations, bitumen aggregation is enhanced on the top part of the hydrotransport pipeline. The microscopic image analysis revealed the in-situ formation of microbubbles and confirmed that magnetic particles present in the slurries contributed to the fast release of the gas products and bubble formation from hydrogen peroxide decomposition. A high-speed camera was applied to capture images of the tailings flow in the pipeline through a transparent view window. A large number of tiny bubbles were identified post to the injection of H2O2 to the slurry flow. More than 70 % bitumen could be recovered from a lab-scale pipeline loop within 30 mins after injection. The bitumen recovery efficiency from the collected froth was quantitatively compared under seven conditions with varied dosages, the concentration of H2O2, and the amount of magnetic solids in the slurries. Our results confirmed that the total dosage of H2O2 is the dominant factor in in-situ microbubble formation for enhanced bitumen aggregation in the flow. Importantly, microbubbles were generated rapidly in the real mature fine tailings. The results from our study provide insights into the preferential distribution of oil residue in the flow during hydrotransport without the requirement for an additional device. Removal of oily residues from concentrated slurries may bring economical and environmental advantages.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_15958
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Enhanced accumulation of bitumen residue in a highly concentrated tailings flow by microbubbles from in-situ catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide
Zhou, Kaiyu
Sontti, Somasekhara Goud
Zhou, Joe
Zhang, Xuehua
Fluid Dynamics
Chemical Physics
The massive volume of oil sands tailings has been one of the most challenging environmental issues. In this work, we experimentally explore a simple and effective approach to bitumen residue separation from a highly concentrated slurry flow of the artificial oil sands tailings. By utilizing microbubbles from in-situ catalytic decomposition of H2O2 at low concentrations, bitumen aggregation is enhanced on the top part of the hydrotransport pipeline. The microscopic image analysis revealed the in-situ formation of microbubbles and confirmed that magnetic particles present in the slurries contributed to the fast release of the gas products and bubble formation from hydrogen peroxide decomposition. A high-speed camera was applied to capture images of the tailings flow in the pipeline through a transparent view window. A large number of tiny bubbles were identified post to the injection of H2O2 to the slurry flow. More than 70 % bitumen could be recovered from a lab-scale pipeline loop within 30 mins after injection. The bitumen recovery efficiency from the collected froth was quantitatively compared under seven conditions with varied dosages, the concentration of H2O2, and the amount of magnetic solids in the slurries. Our results confirmed that the total dosage of H2O2 is the dominant factor in in-situ microbubble formation for enhanced bitumen aggregation in the flow. Importantly, microbubbles were generated rapidly in the real mature fine tailings. The results from our study provide insights into the preferential distribution of oil residue in the flow during hydrotransport without the requirement for an additional device. Removal of oily residues from concentrated slurries may bring economical and environmental advantages.
title Enhanced accumulation of bitumen residue in a highly concentrated tailings flow by microbubbles from in-situ catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide
topic Fluid Dynamics
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15958