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Syncrude Canada Ltd.

Syncrude Canada Ltd. in Trust for the Owners of

Sean Sanders

Jason Schaan

Jonathan Spence

Kevin Reid

Gary Anthieren

Mike P Wagner

Kevin McDowell

A method for transporting a bitumen froth having coarse solids having a particle size&#x3e;180 &#x3bc;m through a pipeline is provided comprising injecting into the pipeline a bitumen froth slug having a lower temperature or a lower water content or both that the bitumen froth.

Transporting bitumen froth having coarse solids through a pipeline

A method and apparatus for measuring the flow rate of bitumen froth through a pipeline is provided. A flow meter device is provided including a conduit comprising an approach section having a diameter less than the diameter of the pipeline and a venturi section having in series a converging section, a throat section and, optionally, a diverging section, the converging section of the venturi section being disposed relative to the approach section, and a means for measuring the pressure difference &#x394;P between two points that are separate from one another in the flow direction, one point being on the approach section and the other point being on the throat section. In one embodiment, a heating means for heating the conduit is provided.

Flow meter for bitumen froth pipelines

Aerated bitumen froth obtained from oil sands must be deaerated so that it can be pumped through a pipeline. Mechanical shearing is effective to deaerate bitumen froth to an air content of below 10 volume percent. Mechanical deaeration of bitumen froth can be achieved either by passing the froth through a confining passageway and shearing the froth with an impeller while it is in the passageway or temporarily retaining the aerated froth in a tank and circulating it repeatedly through a pump.

Mechanical deaeration of bituminous froth

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Edmonton, Canada

Sean Sanders