Correspondence pubs.acs.org/IECR
Cite This: Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Response to “Comments on ‘Evaluation of the Performance of Newly Developed Demulsifiers on Dilbit Dehydration, Demineralization, and Hydrocarbon Losses to Tailings’” Ishpinder Kailey* and Jacqueline Behles Baker Hughes, 7020 45th Street, Leduc, Alberta Canada T9E 7E7
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e thank Indervir Shukla1 for his comments regarding our published paper2 and would like to respond as follows. In oil sands mining, one of the key performance indicators (KPI) for bitumen froth treatment is the percent solids content in final diluted bitumen (dilbit) product after chemical demulsification. The percent solids contents in the dilbit were determined by high-speed centrifugation. Figures 5 and 6 in our original work2 clearly demonstrated that the total solids, including quartz, in the dilbit collected from the top and interface decreased with the demulsifier application. The total solids were collected from the control test and after chemical treatment with 50 ppm of demulsifier X or demulsifier Y via high-speed centrifugation. Figure 5 shows that ∼0.65%, ∼0.55%, and ∼0.50% solids (by weight) were present in the dilbit collected from the top fraction in the control test, 50 ppm of demulsifier X and 50 ppm of demulsifier Y, respectively. These results point out that there were 15.4% and 23% less solids by weight in the dilbit samples collected from the top fraction after chemical treatment with demulsifier X and demulsifier Y, respectively, comparative to the control. Figure 6 shows that the percent solids contents in the dilbit that was collected from the interface fraction were 0.735%, 0.59%, and 0.54% solids (by weight) in the dilbit collected from the interface fraction in the control test, 50 ppm of demulsifier X and 50 ppm of demulsifier Y, respectively. These results illustrate that there were 19.7% and 27% less solids by weight in the dilbit samples collected from the interface fraction after chemical treatment with demulsifier X and demulsifier Y, respectively, relative to control. The demulsifier formulations were designed by incorporating components that target rag-forming minerals such as iron, titanium, aluminosilicates, and zirconium minerals. The emphasis of this paper was to examine the impact on these targeted minerals, not on quartz or other hydrophilic clay minerals, and, as such, they were intentionally not included in Figure 7 in the original work.2 (A revised version of Figure 7, which includes data for calcite, dolomite, quartz, and magnesite, is provided in this response.) The intent of the mineralogy studies was to characterize the components of extracted fine solids from both the top and interface fraction. It is known in the industry that quartz solids by themselves do not contribute to emulsion severity, especially when compared to how siderite or iron affects the emulsion. The data presented in Figures 7 and 8 in the original work2 were collected by XRD and EDS, respectively, for solids extracted via high-speed centrifugation. Caution must be taken when comparing the results from two different techniques. XRD is a relative measurement and measures only crystalline components of the solids sample. EDS considers both crystalline and noncrystalline components in the solids sample. In this paper, © XXXX American Chemical Society
we focused on clays and rag-forming minerals. We did mention, in the description for Figure 7, that the total clay content (i.e., kaolin, illite, albite, microcline, and clinochlore) decreased in the top fraction, but increased in the interface and bottom fractions. The settling time after chemical demulsification at mining facilities varies from 15 min to 1 h. In this work, we selected the shortest residence time of 15 min, which might not be sufficient for all of the solids to completely separate to the bottom phase. Demulsifiers not only coalescence/flocculate water droplets, but also agglomerate fine solids, so that they can separate from the oil under gravity. Particle size distribution (PSD) analysis was conducted on SEM photomicrographs with Image Pro Plus software by measuring 500 particle sizes in the solids extracted via high-speed centrifugation. From our understanding, the particles of bigger sizes on chemical demulsification are agglomerated solids. The micrographs of the dilbit from the top and interface also were not showing any buildup of rag after a residence time of 15 min. Particles of size ≤5 μm are responsible for rag layer buildup and our demulsifiers are helping to remove most of that particle range by agglomeration in the 15 min residence time. SEM photomicrographs shown in Figures 9 and 10 in the original work1 also revealed that the application of demulsifier helped to clean top and interface fractions. We did observe magnetite in the froth (see Figure A1), in both untreated and treated samples. We are appreciative that Indervir Shukla noticed it.1 The results for magnetite are included in the revised Figure 7.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*Tel.: (780) 980-5978. Fax: (780) 980-5989. E-mail: ishpinder.
[email protected]. ORCID
Ishpinder Kailey: 0000-0001-8731-1618 Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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REFERENCES
(1) Shukla, I. Comment on “Evaluation of the Performance of Newly Developed Demulsifiers on Dilbit Dehydration, Demineralization, and Hydrocarbon Losses to Tailings”. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2018, DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.7b04597. (2) Kailey, I.; Behles, J. Evaluation of the Performance of Newly Developed Demulsifiers on Dilbit Dehydration, Demineralization, and Hydrocarbon Losses to Tailings. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2015, 54 (17), 4839−4850.
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.8b00412 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Correspondence
Figure 7. Relative abundance of minerals determined by XRD in solids collected from (A) the top fraction, (B) the interface fraction, and (C) the bottom fraction.
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.8b00412 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Correspondence
Figure A1. Relative abundance of minerals determined by XRD in solids collected from the bitumen froth.
C
DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.8b00412 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
