X-ray Diffraction (XRD)-Derived Processability Markers for Oil Sands Based on Clay Mineralogy and Crystallite Thickness Distributions

An X-ray diffraction (XRD) methodology has been developed for characterizing clays in unextracted oil sands. Application of the new technique to five estuarine and five marine ores directly identified three clay mineral properties that may impact bitumen recovery: (1) The specific surface area of illite was significantly greater for four oil sand ores identified as problematic in batch extraction unit tests. (2) The correlation of illite/kaolinite XRD peak area ratios with bitumen recovery produced a processability classification similar to that proposed in earlier work. (3) Significant amounts of chlorite, as measured by XRD, were observed only in marine oil sands; this may provide a means to distinguish marine from estuarine ores. A combination of XRD analysis on separated clays and laser diffraction determination of clay contents provided a quantitative estimate for the illite and kaolinite contents of the oil sands. Also, the contribution from ultrathin illite and kaolinite for each oil sand (i.e., th...