Ionic liquid promoted extraction of bitumen from oil sand: A review

2020 
Abstract As the crude oil reserve is decreasing day by day, alternative source of fossil fuel has been uncovered in the form of bitumen. Bitumen is found mixed with clay or sand to form oil sand. With trillions of barrel proven reserve worldwide, sustainable and economic extraction of bitumen is a technological challenge. Over the years, non-aqueous extraction technique has been developed as the alternative of conventional aqueous extraction process. Ionic liquid (IL) promoted bitumen extraction is one of the non-aqueous extraction techniques that is gaining attention from scientific community from last decade and the success has been achieved up to the pilot plant scale study. Herein, we have discussed the recent research findings and technological advancement of IL assisted bitumen extraction from oil sand. The review highlights the experimental and computational advancement in this field. The selection criteria and role of IL in the bitumen extraction is rigorously reviewed. Therefore, based on current research trend this review also highlights the future development pathways of this state-of-the-art technology.
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