Accelerated Dewatering and Detoxification of Oil Sands Tailings Using a Biological Amendment
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 9
Abstract
Accelerating the dewatering of oil sands tailings is a crucial challenge to the oil sands industry. Fresh tailings (15–20% by weight solids) and mature tailings (30–35% by weight solids) dewater slowly over a period of decades or centuries, and have resulted in the accumulation of of tailings in tailings ponds, the equivalent of 430,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. UltraZyme Hydrocarbon Powder (UltraZyme), a proprietary biological amendment of microbes, enzymes, and organic carrier developed by Cypher Environmental Ltd., was tested for its ability to accelerate dewatering and improve expressed pore water quality in three types of tailings. The effects of varying temperature, nitrogen addition, initial solids content, and UltraZyme dosage were also investigated. A 30% increase of solids content could be achieved in 112 days in all three tailings sources using of UltraZyme without physical mixing. Increasing the temperature to 55°C yielded similar results in only 14 days. High UltraZyme dosages and low initial solids contents had the most positive impact on dewatering rates, and UltraZyme addition caused detoxification of expressed pore water (toxicity , by Microtox bioassay) and improved dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (27% removal for MFT-D1 and 16% removal for MFT-D2) and naphthenic acids (NAs) (38–46% removal for MFT-Mix). UltraZyme was unable to degrade bitumen, but was capable of reducing bitumen-derived toxicity.
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Acknowledgments
This investigation was supported by funds from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Engage, Mitacs Accelerate, and China Scholarship Council in supporting Xiaoxuan Yu. We would also like to thank Abi Olubodun and Teaghan Wellman of Cypher Environmental Ltd. for their technical assistance.
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Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 9 • September 2018
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©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Nov 28, 2017
Accepted: Apr 3, 2018
Published online: Jul 10, 2018
Published in print: Sep 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Dec 10, 2018
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