What is Oil Sand? Resources and History of Oil Sands
Table of Contents
What are Oil Sands?
Oil sands, “tar sands,” are sediments or sedimentary pillars made of sand, clay minerals, water, and bitumen. Oil is in the bitumen system, a very weighty liquid or a sticky black solid with a low melting temperature. Bitumen generally makes up about 5 to 15% of the deposit.
How Is The Oil Removed?
The method of extracting bitumen from oil sand depends on how deep the oil sands buried. When oil sands deeply bury, wells must drill to extract the bitumen. When the oil sands are close to the surface, they mine and transported to a processing plant for extraction. Are tar sands an important resource?
Most of the world’s oil sands resources are located in Alberta, Canada. The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board estimate that these contain about 1.6 trillion barrels of oil, about 14% of the world’s total oil resources. The largest deposit is Athabasca Oil Sands
Open Sky
The overburden remove at an oil sand mine, and large mining machines load the sand onto trucks that take it to a nearby processing facility. In the treatment plant, the oil sand crush and treated with hot water and chemicals to release the bitumen. The released bitumen is then separated from the water, mixed with lighter hydrocarbons to reduce its viscosity, and pumped through a pipeline to a refinery.
Production Per Drilling
Bitumen extract from deeply buried oil sands by drilling wells, known as “in situ recovery.” Several wells are prepared in the oil sand. Then the steam and chemicals pump into a well. The hot vapor and chemicals soften the bitumen, reduce its viscosity, and discharge it into extraction wells, where it pump to the surface. At the surface, the bitumen clean, mixed with lighter hydrocarbons, and pumped through a pipeline to a refinery.
Oil Sands Development History
Research on oil sands began in Canada in the 1920s. The Alberta Research Council sponsored the first research on the separation of bitumen from oil sand. Experimentation continued through the 1960s without significant commercial production. Before, in 1967, the Great Canadian Oil Sand Company began commercial production, producing around 12,000 barrels per day.
In the United States, government agencies granted permits to oil companies to open demonstration mines and drill on-site on government land in the 1930s. These projects resulted in smaller amounts of commercial production in California and Utah. However, most failed because they faced remote locations, difficult topography, and a lack of water.
The Athabasca oil sands of Canada have been the main source of commercial production. Open-pit minefields can be prosperous when oil prices are high but financially distressed when Oil prices are falling. They also face environmental concerns, including air quality, land use, and water availability.
Environmental Concerns
The extraction and processing of tar sands have several environmental impacts. These include: greenhouse gas emissions, land disturbance, habitat destruction for wildlife, and degradation of local water quality. In the United States, water issues are critical because known tar sands and shale deposits find in arid areas of Utah. Several barrels of water require for every barrel of oil produced.
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