Demulsifier injection system for froth treatment product quality enhancement

Abstract

A method of improving the quality of diluted bitumen product in a bitumen froth treatment process is provided comprising: adding a demulsifier to bitumen froth to produce a mixture of bitumen froth and demulsifier, wherein the demulsifier is added at a dosage sufficient to reduce bitumen water content in the diluted bitumen product; subjecting the mixture of bitumen froth and demulsifier to a mixing energy input of greater than about 100 J/kg; adding a hydrocarbon diluent to the mixed mixture of bitumen froth and demulsifier to produce a diluent diluted bitumen froth; and subjecting the diluent diluted bitumen froth to a separation process to produce the diluted bitumen product. In one embodiment, demulsifier is first added to naphtha to form a demulsifier-diluent mixture which is then added to bitumen froth to form a diluted bitumen froth prior to subjecting the diluted bitumen froth to a mixing energy input of greater than about 100 J/kg.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method of improving the quality of diluted bitumen product in a bitumen froth treatment process comprising:
 adding a demulsifier to bitumen froth to produce a mixture of bitumen froth and demulsifier, wherein the demulsifier is added at a dosage sufficient to reduce water content in the diluted bitumen product;   subjecting the mixture of bitumen froth and demulsifier to a mixing energy input of greater than about 100 J/kg;   adding a hydrocarbon diluent to the mixed mixture of bitumen froth and demulsifier to produce a diluent diluted bitumen froth; and   subjecting the diluent diluted bitumen froth to a separation process to produce the diluted bitumen product.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the active chemical concentration of the demulsifier is about 35%. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the dosage of the demulsifier ranges from about 1 ppm to about 50 ppm. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the demulsifier comprises a polyglycol, a polyglycol ester, an ethoxylated alcohol or amine, an ethoxylated resin, an ethoxylated phenol formaldehyde resin, an ethoxylated nonylphenol, a polyhydric alcohol, ethylene oxide, a propylene oxide block copolymer fatty acid, a fatty alcohol, a fatty amine, a quaternary, or a sulfonic acid salt. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein mixing energy input is provided by adding the demulsifier to the bitumen froth at a suction side of a pump. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein mixing energy input is about 300 J/kg. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the diluted bitumen water content is less than about 5 wt %. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon diluent is naphtha. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein naphtha is added in an amount such that the naphtha to bitumen ratio of the diluent diluted bitumen froth is in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.0. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein naphtha is added in an amount such that the naphtha to bitumen ratio of the diluent diluted bitumen froth is about 0.7. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the separation process involves the use of at least one gravity settler, at least one centrifuge, at least one filtration system or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the separation process involves the use of a series of centrifuges. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein at least one centrifuge in series is a scroll centrifuge and at least one centrifuge in series is a disc centrifuge. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the separation process involves the use of at least one gravity separator. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one gravity separator is an inclined plate settler. 
     
     
         16 . A method of improving the quality of diluted bitumen product in a bitumen froth treatment process, comprising:
 adding a demulsifier to a hydrocarbon diluent to form a demulsifier-diluent mixture;   adding the demulsifier-diluent mixture to bitumen froth to produce a diluted bitumen froth and subjecting the diluted bitumen froth to a mixing energy input of greater than about 100 J/kg; and   subjecting the mixed diluted bitumen froth to a separation process to produce the diluted bitumen product.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the active chemical concentration of the demulsifier is about 35%. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the dosage of the demulsifier ranges from about 1 ppm to about 50 ppm. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the demulsifier comprises a polyglycol, a polyglycol ester, an ethoxylated alcohol or amine, an ethoxylated resin, an ethoxylated phenol formaldehyde resin, an ethoxylated nonylphenol, a polyhydric alcohol, ethylene oxide, a propylene oxide block copolymer fatty acid, a fatty alcohol, a fatty amine, a quaternary, or a sulfonic acid salt. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein mixing energy input is provided by adding the demulsifier-diluent mixture to the bitumen froth at a suction side of a pump. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein mixing energy input is about 300 J/kg. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the diluted bitumen water content is less than about 5 wt %. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the hydrocarbon diluent is naphtha. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the naphtha concentration in the demulsifier-diluent mixture is such that the naphtha to bitumen ratio of the diluted bitumen froth is in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.0. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein naphtha concentration in the demulsifier-diluent mixture is such that the naphtha to bitumen ratio of the diluted bitumen froth is about 0.7. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the separation process involves the use of at least one gravity settler, at least one centrifuge, at least one filter or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the separation process involves the use of a series of centrifuges. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein at least one centrifuge in series is a scroll centrifuge and at least one centrifuge in series is a disc centrifuge. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the separation process involves the use of at least one gravity separator. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the at least one gravity separator is an inclined plate settler.