Abstract
Summary Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry has been used successfully to perform estimates of oil and water content in unconsolidated oil-sand samples. This work has intriguing applications in the oil-sands mining and processing industry, in the areas of ore and froth characterization. Studies have been performed on a database of ore and froth samples from the Athabasca region in northern Alberta, Canada. In this paper, new automated algorithms are presented that predict the oil- and water-weight content of oil-sand ores and froths. Suites of real and synthetic samples of bitumen, water, clay, and sand have also been used to investigate the physical interactions of the different parameters on the NMR spectra. Preliminary observations regarding spectral properties indicate that it may be possible in the future to estimate the amount of clay in the samples, based upon shifts in the NMR spectra. NMR estimates of oil and water content are fairly accurate, thus enhancing the possibility of using NMR for oil-sands development and in the oil-sands mining industry.
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