Oil Sands Water Treatment
LIME & MAGOX SYSTEMS FOR WATER TREATMENT
Lime Slaking Systems & MagOx Systems for Recycle Water Treatment at an Oil Sands Processing Facility
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Equipment & Technology Offered:
- Bulk Quick Lime & MagOx Storage Silos (Welded or Bolted)
- Silo Discharge and Metering Devices
- Pneumatic Dilute Phase Conveying System
- Lime Slaker
- Slurry Mix Tanks
- Slurry Pumping Systems
- PLC Based Control Systems
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| Photo: Lime and MagOx Make Down System for an Oil Sands Process Water Recycling Facility | 
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The Alberta Oil Sands Industry is under growing pressure to economize water consumption. Recycling of process water used for the oil extraction is now a necessity. One such example is the above photograph of a "Hot Lime" water softening system utilized on a SAGD facility. In this particular example, the final process water becomes extremely high in dissolved minerals which if recycled back to the process would place a strain on the process equipment. The term "Hot Lime Water Softening" refers to the process temperature conditions for the precipitation out of solution of the dissolved Silica and other minerals. The ratio of Silicon to magnesium in the precipitate is 1:1. In some cases a combination of Hydrated Lime or Ca(OH)2, and Magnesium Oxide MgO are required to get the desired amount of Silica to precipitate. In the case of SAGD Oil Sands facilities the dissolved mineral content can be extremely high due to the nature of the process. The process basically injects steam into the ground where the Oil bearing formation is located. The heat of the steam permits separation of the oil from the sand but it also allows for a higher dissolved mineral content in the condensate that forms. This condensate and oil is pumped pack to a process facility where the oil and water fractions are separated. However the recycled water portion of the process flow cannot be immediately placed back into the boiler loop without fowling up the process equipment.
The Semco System utilizes a bulk Lime and MagOx system to allow a customized ratio of reagents to allow the desired target precipitate levels needed on a daily basis. Bulk trucks transfer the raw materials to the silos. Inside the skirt of the silos is the balance of the process equipment which produces a consistent flow of slurry to feed the "Hot Lime" softening process vessel shown at the far left of the photograph.
The equipment design expertise for these types of systems is available from Semco Systems Limited.
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