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US-12624293-B2 - Method and systems for transporting bitumen in solidified form

US12624293B2US 12624293 B2US12624293 B2US 12624293B2US-12624293-B2

Abstract

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.

Inventors

  • James AULD
  • John Bleile
  • Kasra NIKOOYEH
  • Amanda PREFONTAINE
  • Derek Stanger
  • Jesse White

Assignees

  • CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20230531

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method of preparing non-volatile bituminous material for transport comprising the following steps: a) heating non-volatile bituminous material until it is suitably viscous for casting; b) introducing the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material to a plurality of molds, wherein each mold defines a mold cavity configured to define a pellet of irregular shape and to receive the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material; c) filling each mold cavity of the plurality of molds with the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material; d) solidifying the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material in the plurality of molds until a plurality of substantially solid pellets are formed; e) removing the plurality of pellets from the plurality of molds; and f) preparing the plurality of molds before the step of introducing the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material to the plurality of molds by positioning a buoyant polymer structure in the mold cavity defined by each of the molds to form an internal web structure within each of the plurality of pellets.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets has a shape selected from generally spherical, generally lozenge, generally cylindrical, generally discoidal, generally tabular, generally ellipsoidal, generally flaky, generally acicular, generally ovoidal, generally pillow shaped and any combinations thereof.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets has a generally lozenge shape.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets comprises a plurality of non-planar surfaces.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets comprises a plurality of edges.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets has a cross-sectional dimension that varies along a longitudinal axis of the substantially solid pellet.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein, for each of the substantially solid pellets, the cross-sectional dimension of the pellet tapers towards a longitudinal end of the substantially solid pellet.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising blending the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material with an additive before introducing it to the plurality of molds.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the additive comprises a polymer.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying a coating to each of the plurality of pellets after removing them from the plurality of molds.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each buoyant polymer structure further comprises a plurality of pockets of gas formed within the polymer.
  12. 12 . A method of preparing non-volatile bituminous material for transport comprising: a) heating non-volatile bituminous material until it is suitably viscous for casting; b) accessing a plurality of molds, wherein each mold defines a mold cavity configured to receive the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material and to mold a pellet of irregular shape; c) positioning a buoyant polymer structure in the mold cavity defined by each of the molds, d) filling the mold cavities defined by the molds with the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material; e) solidifying the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material until a plurality of substantially solid pellets of irregular shape are formed, each of the plurality of substantially solid pellets having an internal web structure formed by the buoyant polymer structure positioned in the mold cavity defined by the corresponding one of the molds; and f) removing the plurality of substantially solid pellets of irregular shape from the plurality of molds.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each buoyant polymer structure further comprises a plurality of buoyant features supported by a polymer of the buoyant polymer structure.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of buoyant features comprises a plurality of pockets of gas formed within the polymer.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets has a shape selected from generally spherical, generally lozenge, generally cylindrical, generally discoidal, generally tabular, generally ellipsoidal, generally flaky, generally acicular, generally ovoidal, generally pillow shaped and any combinations thereof.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets has a generally lozenge shape.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets comprises a plurality of non-planar surfaces.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets comprises a plurality of edges.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein each of the substantially solid pellets has a cross-sectional dimension that varies along a longitudinal axis of the substantially solid pellet.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein, for each of the substantially solid pellets, the cross-sectional dimension of the pellet tapers towards a longitudinal end of the substantially solid pellet.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/985,144, filed on Aug. 4, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/133,123, filed on Sep. 17, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/436,244, filed on Feb. 17, 2017, U.S. application Ser. No. 15/436,292, filed Feb. 17, 2107 and U.S. application Ser. No. 15/435,948, filed on Feb. 17, 2017, and claims benefit of prior U.S. Provisional Application 62/304,589, filed on Mar. 7, 2016, U.S. Provisional Application 62/323,240, filed on Apr. 15, 2016, U.S. Provisional Application 62/409,200, filed on Oct. 17, 2016, U.S. Provisional Application 62/411,888, filed on Oct. 24, 2016 and U.S. Provisional Application 62/449,310, filed on Jan. 23, 2017. Each of these applications is incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY The present invention relates to methods and systems for transporting bitumen. BACKGROUND 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. Transportation by truck may not be able to sustain the expanding need of the oil industry for moving bitumen to market. For example, transportation by trucks can be seasonally restricted and relatively inefficient and expensive compared to other means of transportation when transporting large bitumen quantities over large distances. The pipeline option also faces challenges. Bitumen is so thick and viscous at ambient temperatures that it cannot flow through pipelines on its own and instead, bitumen must be thinned with diluents, typically natural-gas condensates and/or natural gasolines, to sufficiently increase its fluidity to carry it through a pipe over long distances. The blend ratio may consist of 25% to 55% diluent by volume, depending on characteristics of the bitumen and diluent, pipeline specifications, operating conditions, and refinery requirements. The diluent is expensive and reduces the amount of bitumen that can be transported but has become accepted by the industry as the “cost” to move the product to refineries. That diluent must then be carried back to the oil sands to thin the next batch of bitumen, which adds further costs to the process. The use of rail tank cars to transport bitumen has increased rapidly over the past several years. While less or no diluent is required when transporting bitumen in railcars, representing a significant savings in diluent costs relative to the pipeline option, however, producers have continued to transport diluted bitumen (i.e., dilbit). This is because most oil producers use pipeline, and therefore dilbit, to reach intermediate transport points, at which further pipeline capacity isn't available. To carry the bitumen to destination, it is loaded on railcars at these points. Since Diluent Recovery Units (DRUs) needed to remove the diluent from the bitumen are not likely to be available at the intermediate transport points, the dilbit is directly loaded into the railcars. The cost to install the DRU isn't worth the marginal increase in safety or economic benefits to shippers—which explain why no such DRUs have been built to-date. Over water, bitumen is transported by tanker. However, Canada is currently formalizing the West Coast Tanker moratorium, which effectively bans all maritime transport of crude bitumen over British Columbia's North Coast waters. Such moratorium renders impossible the maritime transport of bitumen extracted in Canada towards the west. Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for a different bitumen management and transportation technology, which would alleviate at least some of the above-mentioned deficiencies. SUMMARY As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a set of 100 solid bitumen pellets, the set having a probability of failing a crush-resistance test per pellet that does not exceed 0.25, when subjected to a load of pellets having a height of 1 meter. As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a set of 100 solid bitumen pellets, the set having a probability of failing a crush-resistance test per pellet that does not exceed 0.25, when subjected to a load of pellets having a height of 5 meters. As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a set of 100 solid bitumen pellets, the set having a probability of failing a crush-resistance test per pellet that does not exceed 0.25, when subjected to a load of pellets having a height of 10 meters. As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a set of 100 solid bitumen pellets, the set having a probability of failing a crush-resistance test per pellet that does not exceed 0.25, when subjected to a load of pellets having a height of 20 meters. As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a set of 100 solid bitumen p