What is in situ oil mining?
In Situ refers to methods of oil sands production that use drilling and steam to produce bitumen. The most common in situ method is called Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD).
What oil sands looks like?
Oil sands, also known as “tar sands,” are sediments or sedimentary rocks composed of sand, clay minerals, water, and bitumen. The oil is in the form of bitumen, a very heavy liquid or sticky black solid with a low melting temperature. Bitumen typically makes up about 5 to 15% of the deposit.
How big are the Athabasca oil sands?
Together, these oil sand deposits lie under 141,000 square kilometres (54,000 sq mi) of boreal forest and muskeg (peat bogs) and contain about 1.7 trillion barrels (270×109 m3) of bitumen in-place, comparable in magnitude to the world’s total proven reserves of conventional petroleum.
How do they mine the oil sands?
Currently, 20% of oil sands reserves are accessible via mining techniques. Large shovels scoop the oil sand into trucks which then move it to crushers where the large clumps of earth are processed. Once the oil sand is crushed, hot water is added so it can be pumped to the extraction plant.
How does in situ oil mining work?
In in situ recovery, wells are drilled to extract an extra-heavy type of oil called bitumen. Some bitumen is too “viscous,” or dense, to flow to the well on its own. In these cases, heat must be added or fluids injected in order to reduce its viscosity so that it can flow to the well.
How does in situ mining work?
In-situ leach mining involves pumping of a lixiviant into the ore body via a borehole, which circulates through the porous rock dissolving the ore and is extracted via a second borehole. For copper, acids are generally needed to enhance solubility of the ore minerals within the solution.
Where does Alberta’s oil go?
Almost three-quarters of Alberta’s oil exports to the U.S. are still destined for the Midwest re-gion. Smaller amounts are sent to the U.S. Gulf Coast, East Coast, Rocky Mountain and West Coast regions.
Are the oil sands really that bad?
Tar sands oil — even the name sounds bad. And it is bad. In fact, oil from tar sands is one of the most destructive, carbon-intensive and toxic fuels on the planet. Producing it releases three times as much greenhouse gas pollution as conventional crude oil does.
How does sand mining work?
Sand mining took off only decades ago. The method of extraction depends on where the sand is located. On land or along rivers, it is often dug up with backhoes, shovels or bare hands. Along coastlines, miners use dredging boats or suction pumps.
What is oil mining?
Mining, oil and gas studies include all operations involved in the exploration, evaluation and extraction of minerals, metals, petroleum and fossil fuels from earth.
Why is in situ better than mining?
More efficient water usage: In-situ operations use water for steam production, which is mostly recovered and recycled back into the process plant. Fresh water consumption rates are therefore much lower than mining operations, which require large volumes of water to slurry the oil sands.
What do you need to know about oil sands in situ?
In-situ facilities typically require 1/5th to 1/10th the fresh water volume of an equivalent-sized mining facility. No tailings pond: Much of the sand contained in the oil sands deposit is left in the ground, and never comes to surface. In-situ operations therefore do not require tailings storage and have no need for tailings reclamation.
What’s the difference between in situ and surface mining?
Smaller footprint: The surface area required for the wellheads and central processing plant is very small relative to the size of the oil sands deposit. In-situ facilities therefore have a much smaller footprint than surface mining operations. In-situ plants require about 1/7th the land area of an equivalent-sized mining facility.
When did oil sand mining start in Alberta?
Oil sand mining began in Alberta in 1967. That first mine is closest to the Athabasca River in the top image (1984). The mining operation includes a tan pit mine, processing equipment, and tailings ponds, where water and minerals are stored after the oil is removed.
Where can bitumen be extracted from the oil sands?
However, bitumen can only be extracted in-situ if the oil sands deposit is deep below the surface. Most in-situ deposits lie at least 200 meters below grade.