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Canadian National Railway Company

Amanda Prefontaine

Kasra Nikooyeh

John Bleile

James Auld

Derek Stanger

Jesse White

Historically, bitumen from oil sands has been carried over land using trucks, pipelines, or by rail, and over water using tankers. Each mode of transportation faces economic or technical challenges of its own. Here there is provided a method for transporting bitumen, comprising: receiving in a dry bulk shipping container a load of discrete pellets with bitumen entrapped into the pellets, wherein the pellets have non-stick outer surfaces configured to prevent the bitumen from sticking to walls of the container when the pellets are carried in the container; and transporting the dry bulk shipping container containing the pellets over a distance. Alternatively or additionally, the pellets may have non-stick outer surfaces configured to prevent the load from caking when the pellets are carried in the container such that the load of bitumen pellets is substantially free-flowing when the transporting is completed.

Method and systems for transporting bitumen in solidified form

A solid bitumen pellet, including a mixture of bitumen and an additive, where the additive operates to increase the viscosity of the mixture. Optionally, the pellet includes a protective shell.

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Legal, Canada

Amanda Prefontaine