| Abstract: | The effects of the addition of clay on oil drop size were investigated for dispersions of oil in water in an agitated vessel. Three types of oil were used: hexane, a medium viscosity paraffin oil and a viscous Cold Lake bitumen. Pure kaolinite clay was used for the solids. Experiments were carried out with and without clay fines over a range of agitator speeds. The addition of kaolinite was found to increase the drop size for both the hexane and the paraffin oil, approximately doubling the drop size for hexane. The addition of the kaolinite to the bitumen/water dispersions was found to have no effect on the drop size. |
