| abstract |
A novel thermal process for recovering hydrocarbon and other products from tar sand. The process includes blending tar sand with a bitumen-rich concentrate while heating the same with a hot, burnt sand. The products are recovered by passing the combined feed through a fluidized bed and selectively controlling the temperature and residence times to obtain predetermined ratios of products. Coked sand residue from the fluidized bed is burned to produce the hot, burnt sand, a portion of which may be recycled to provide heat to the fluidized bed. Coked sand may also be recycled into a known, hot-water, caustic separation process where it synergistically improves the separation efficiency of the hot-water, caustic separation process. |