Method of extracting bitumen from oil sands with a propylene oxide capped glycol
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A bitumen recovery process comprising a step of treating oil sands with a propylene oxide capped glycol ether, wherein:
- the oil sands are recovered by surface mining and transported to a treatment area for the step of treating the oil sands with the propylene oxide capped glycol ether or the oil sands are recovered by in situ production and in situ treatment occurs during the step of treating the oil sands with the propylene oxide capped glycol ether, andthe propylene oxide capped glycol ether is described by the following structure;
RO—
(C2H4O)n—
CH2CH(CH3)OHwherein R is a linear, branched, cyclic alkyl, phenyl, or alkyl phenyl group and n is 1 to 10.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Oil sands may be surface mined and transported to a treatment area or may be treated directly by means of an in situ process of oil sand deposits that are located too deep for strip mining. A bitumen recovery process may be used to extract bitumen from oil sands. Specifically, the bitumen recover process involves a step of treating oil sands with a propylene oxide capped glycol ether described by the structure:
RO—(C2H4O)n—CH2CH(CH3)OH
wherein R is a linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl, phenyl, alkyl phenyl group and n is 1 to 10.
-
Citations
7 Claims
-
1. A bitumen recovery process comprising a step of treating oil sands with a propylene oxide capped glycol ether, wherein:
-
the oil sands are recovered by surface mining and transported to a treatment area for the step of treating the oil sands with the propylene oxide capped glycol ether or the oil sands are recovered by in situ production and in situ treatment occurs during the step of treating the oil sands with the propylene oxide capped glycol ether, and the propylene oxide capped glycol ether is described by the following structure;
RO—
(C2H4O)n—
CH2CH(CH3)OHwherein R is a linear, branched, cyclic alkyl, phenyl, or alkyl phenyl group and n is 1 to 10. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
Specification