| Canada's oilsands is one of the world's largest potential petroleum resources. Different from traditional oil, the bitumen from oilsands has unique problems. The viscosity and concentration of contaminants such as nitrogen, sulfur and heavy metals (especially nickel and vanadium) in the extracted bitumen are much higher than in traditional oil. The industry-dominating water extraction process consumes a huge amount of fresh water for bitumen production. The polluted tailings also create environment issues.;Natural zeolites have been found to have the ability to break down heavy oils into much lighter fractions, and to reduce the viscosity and contaminant levels of the sands. Light hydrocarbon extraction can reduce water consumption and all solvents can be recycled and reused. This study investigated natural zeolite cracking assisted light hydrocarbon extraction of bitumen from Athabasca oilsands. It has been found that natural zeolite cracking significantly improves the bitumen properties. An average of 80% of liquid hydrocarbon samples recovered from natural zeolite cracked products showed a dramatic decrease in the residuum content, indicating the presence of much lighter fractions. About 24% of total nitrogen, 27% of total sulfur and 59% of vanadium content were removed as gas phase products or left in the exhausted sands. |
