| Title | Assessment of a wet landscape option for disposal of fine tails from oil sands processing |
| Publication Type | Conference Paper |
| Year of Publication | 1991 |
| Authors | MacKinnon, M., & Boerger H. |
| Pagination | 15 pages |
| Date Published | 04/1991 |
| Publisher | Petroleum Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining and AOSTRA |
| Place Published | Banff, AB |
| Publication Language | eng |
| Keywords | aquatic environment, aquatic vegetation, chemistry, end pit lake, field, pit lake, Syncrude, tailings, toxicity |
| Abstract | In the extraction of bitumen from oil sand using the Clark Hot Water Process, large volumes of a poorly consolidating fine tails are produced. This material will remain in suspension indefinitely and poses a problem for ultimate reclamation. Syncrude is examining various options for the disposal of this material. As part of an integrated approach, one method under evaluation is the storage of the fine tails sludge in the mined out pits and capping it with a layer of clean water. The capping layer will effectively isolate the fine tails from mixing and will sustain a viable aquatic ecosystem. Laboratory and field experimental results are presented to show the feasibility of this wei landscape option as an environmentally acceptable reclamation method for fine tails. Chemical and biological developments of the capping water are summarized and projections for the evolution of the resulting water body are given. |
| Notes | IN: Our Energy Future April 21-24, 1991 Banff, Alberta. Petroleum Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining and AOSTRA. Preprint Paper No. CIM/AOSTRA 91-124. 15 pp. |
| Locational Keywords | Alberta oil sands |
| Group | OSEMB |
| Citation Key | 51602 |
