#810: Syncrude: Co-mixing to Manage Tailings
Syncrude has developed a number of technologies to deal with clay and fluid fine tailings after oil sands are processed.
The latest is called co-mixing.
Jim Lorentz is Syncrude’s team lead on tailings research and development.
JIM LORENTZ: Co-mixing involves mixing the KC overburden clay with fluid fine tails in proportions so that we’re left with material that can be used for construction of landforms, hills, hummocks or any other type of reclamation substrate that the closure and reclamation plans call for.
Co-mixing creates a malleable material with the consistency of cookie dough or plasticine.
JIM LORENTZ: So there are a number of ways that we mix the materials together. The simplest way has been on a conveyor belt where we basically pour the fluid fine tails on through a fire hose, and the two materials mix by the time they get to the tailings deposit where they form a composite material. Then when they do that we get a material that’s strong enough that it can be trafficable by vehicles within a week.
Jim Lorentz says Syncrude is now sharing its co-mixing technology with other oil sands companies.
Thanks today to SYNCRUDE
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
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Syncrude
Program Date: 2016-09-27