In the present study, the impact of solvent (kerosene and naphtha) addition to oil sand ores on bitumen recovery and bitumen froth quality was investigated. Bitumen recovery tests for various oil sand ores were carried out using a Denver flotation cell at two operating temperatures of 25°C and 50°C. The addition of solvent (kerosene or naphtha) was carried out either by soaking the solvent in the ore prior to its processing or by spraying the solvent on the bitumen froth during flotation in the Denver cell.

It was found that when the extraction was carried out at 50°C, the solids-to-bitumen ratio in the produced bitumen froth was reduced with the addition of kerosene and bitumen recovery was improved with the addition of 2-4 ml of kerosene to 300 g of ore. Similar results were observed for naphtha addition at 50°C. At the extraction temperature of 25°C, the bitumen recovery was improved with the addition of kerosene, while the solids-to-bitumen ratio initially increased with the addition of kerosene and then decreased with more kerosene addition. The improvement in froth quality due to the solvent addition would be beneficial to the downstream bitumen froth treatment processes.