Abstract
Understanding mineralogy and surface properties of clays is very vital in oil sands processing and tailings management. Clay-sized minerals (CSM) in oil sands are often contaminated by tightly adsorbed organics during hydrocarbon removal, thereby increasing surface hydrophobicity and making characterization of CSM problematic. This study evaluates the use of low temperature ashing (LTA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for the removal of adsorbed organic matter (OM) from CSM without changing its mineralogy. CSM isolated from tailings and bitumen froth of a Denver flotation cell after oil sands extraction was treated by H2O2 and LTA. Both techniques were found to be effective in removing OM from the CSM as shown by the infrared spectra of the samples. The wettability of the CSM increased with treatment. Elemental analysis showed a reduction in carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Infrared band for siderite at 864 cm−1 was observed for the isolated and LTA-treated CSM but was absent for those treated by H2O2. The ab...
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