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Zugl.: Braunschweig, Univ., Diss., 2003.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on June 30, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Civil Engineering))--Peninsula Technikon, 2001 / Of the most essential objectives of a good mix design procedure is to be able to assess the compactibility of a mix in the laboratory, i.e. to relate laboratory compaction to compaction on site and to give insight into the prediction of the expected performance of the mix. Foamed bitumen treated material has been used with success in many countries around the world. Regardless of the success story, it is also true that there is a dearth of knowledge concerning the understanding of the effect of the current used compaction methods on the mechanical and volumetric properties of foamed bitumen treated material. The use of a variety of mix design and evaluation procedures around the world has led to difficulties in correlating and assessing results obtained in different environments. Experience and research have also revealed the tendency of current mix design methods to underrate the engineering properties of foamed bitumen treated material. This project entails an investigation into the volumetric and mechanical properties of mixes with three types of granular materials. Test specimens were prepared using four of the most commonly used laboratory compaction methods and one field simulating compaction method. The main objectives of the project were to: • Determine and compare the influence of the different compaction methods on the volumetric and mechanical properties of foam bitumen mixes • To make recommendations regarding the suitability of the different compaction methods for use in the mix design of foamed bitumen mixes. Marshall, Hugo, Gyratory and Refusal Density with Kango Hammer compaction were employed as laboratory compaction methods. A Hydrostatic double-drum vibrating roller was used to simulate field compaction. Graded crushed stone and gravel material were used as the granular materials. Indirect tensile (strength and stiffness) and Semi-circular bending (strength) testing was used to assess the mechanical properties. Use was made of 80/100 and 150/200 penetration grade bitumen. The study revealed that binder type has no influence on the mechanical properties of foamed mixes, whilst compaction method influences mechanical properties significantly. The SCB test was found to be inappropriate for foam mixes with low binder contents. All the laboratory compaction methods were found to be suitable for the design of foam Mixes. The results reported in this thesis needs to be validated by more extensive as testing was limited to only two types of granular materials. / National Research Foundation and The Institute for Transport Technology

The velocity of diffusion of the bitumin from sections of 'Tar Sands' has been measured in a specially designed diffusion cell. The solvent used in this case was benzene. The diffusion constant was found to be D = 2.39 x 10⁻⁵/ ft²/hr. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

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The Upper Devonian Grosmont reservoir in Alberta, Canada, is the single largest carbonate bitumen reservoir in the world, with an estimated 400 billion barrels of bitumen in place. The Grosmont bitumen formed from light crude oil via extensive biodegradation, which produced extremely high in-situ viscosities of >1 million cP. Forty nine samples from fifteen wells were selected for rheological behavior, viscosity, and biodegradation pattern analysis. In addition, various methods of viscosity determination were compared. Results indicate that the Grosmont bitumen is essentially a non-Newtonian fluid at in-situ conditions, exhibiting a distinctive shear-thinning behavior at T < 40C. Neglecting this character will cause inaccurate viscosity measurements. The viscosity variations in the Grosmont reservoir are cyclic with depth and are stratigraphically controlled. The bitumen exhibits 3 levels of biodegradation. Biodegradation parameters from hopanes and tricyclic terpanes may potentially be used for bitumen quality prediction.

In the development of a non-aqueous bitumen extraction process, a major obstacle is solvent loss due to hydrocarbon attachment to the reject sand grains. A proposed solution to this problem is to wash (i.e. remediate) the oil-contaminated sand grains with water and surfactants. This research is focused on developing a protocol to evaluate the performance of particular surfactant types and water chemistry; emphasis was placed on using minimal amounts of water to recover the residual oil. To start, a series of jar tests were conducted (using heptane and hexadecane as solvents)to study the phase behaviours of oil-water-surfactant ternary systems. This was followed by the development of a new washing protocol for the purpose of evaluating remediation performance. Finally, the correlation between overall remediation performance and the oil-water interfacial tension was discussed.

To better understand bitumen conditioning stage in oil sands extraction process a flow cell was designed to study bitumen liberation directly from sand grains, using real oil sand ore. A high-grade oil sand ore was subjected to various water temperatures and pH values to examine the bitumen liberation. The effect of weathering of the high-grade ore and the presence of salt in the water were also examined to evaluate their effect on bitumen liberation. Bitumen liberation was found to be critically and proportionately dependent on solution (water) temperature and pH values. A high temperature of 46C and pH value of 11.3 promoted fast liberation with a high bitumen liberation. High salt concentration complemented with a high pH value was found to be detrimental to bitumen liberation from a high-grade ore. Overall, this novel setup provided distinct, high quality images and interesting results, which aided in understanding the critical parameters behind bitumen liberation from an oil sand ore. / Chemical Engineering