Rapid- and step-scan photoacoustic (PA) infrared spectra of three fractions of a Syncrude post-extraction oil sand were analyzed in detail in this work. The rapid-scan spectra showed that the samples were comprised primarily of kaolinite, quartz, silica, siderite, and residual hydrocarbons, and that the proportions of these constituents were different for each fraction.

Depth profiling of the three post-extraction oil sands was accomplished using both rapid- and step-scan PA infrared spectroscopy. The results confirmed that kaolinite is more abundant in the near-surface region, whereas quartz and hydrocarbons are concentrated at greater depths. The modulation frequency dependence of the PA intensities for all three fractions was consistent with a model in which the samples are thermally thick; in other words, the thermal diffusion length (roughly equal to the sampling depth) was less than the particle sizes of all three samples. The results of this study are consistent with published reports on the PA infrared spectra of fine tailings generated during bitumen extraction and the spectroscopic and thermophysical characterization of clay soils and an appropriate model clay.