5 research outputs found
Combined Effect of Surfactant and Ultrasound on Nano Calcium Carbonate Synthesized by Crystallization Process
Dewatering Oil Sands Tailings with Degradable Polymer Flocculants
We
synthesized hydrolytically degradable cationic polymers by micellar
radical polymerization of a short-chain polyester macromonomer, polycaprolactone
choline iodide ester methacrylate (PCL<sub>2</sub>ChMA) with two polyester
units, and used them to flocculate oil sands mature fine tailings
(MFT). We evaluated the flocculation performance of the homopolymer
and copolymers with 30 mol % acrylamide (AM) by measuring initial
settling rate (ISR), supernatant turbidity, and capillary suction
time (CST) of the sediments. Flocculants made with trimethylaminoethyl
methacrylate chloride (TMAEMC), the monomer corresponding to PCL<sub>n</sub>ChMA with <i>n</i> = 0, have improved performance
over polyÂ(PCL<sub>2</sub>ChMA) at equivalent loadings due to their
higher charge density per gram of polymer. However, MFT sediments
flocculated using the PCL<sub>2</sub>ChMA-based polymers are easier
to dewater (up to an 85% reduction in CST) after accelerated hydrolytic
degradation of the polyester side chains. This study demonstrates
the potential of designing cationic polymers that effectively flocculate
oil sands tailings ponds, and also further dewater the resulting solids
through polymer degradation
Structure Modifications of Hydrolytically-Degradable Polymer Flocculant for Improved Water Recovery from Mature Fine Tailings
Variants of the partially hydrolytically
degradable cationic macromonomer
polycaprolactone choline iodide ester methacrylate (PCL<sub>2</sub>ChMA) have been synthesized to assess the effects of structure on
the performance of the resulting polymers in the flocculation of mature
fine tailings (MFT) that are a byproduct of bitumen extraction from
oil sands. Neither the substitution of PCL with polyÂ(lactic acid)
(PLA) units or replacement of the methacrylate functionality with
acrylate greatly affected the ability of the resulting cationic flocculants
to settle and separate the sediments in diluted MFT suspensions, as
the synthesized polymers have similar structures and charge densities.
The higher degradation rates of the PLA-based materials, however,
led to faster compaction of the MFT sediment, as quantified by the
amount of water released from the flocculated materials over time.
Over 50% compaction was observed in MFT samples ranging between 2
and 20 wt % held for either 5 days at 50 °C or for 12 weeks at
room temperature, whereas no significant amount of water was released
from sediment flocculated with a comparable nondegradable cationic
polymer or with high molecular-weight nonionic polyÂ(acrylamide). The
results demonstrate the potential of these LA-based cationic degradable
polymers for dewatering of oil sands MFT or other flocculated sediments