Using Specified Risk Materials-Based Peptides for Oil Sands Fluid Fine Tailings Management

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Canada's oil sands industry generates vast quantities of fluid fine tailings.
• The colloidal stability of these tailings leads to extremely slow settling (hundreds of years), hindering water recovery and posing environmental risks.
• Existing methods for tailings treatment face challenges in efficiency and sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop value-added aggregation agents from specified risk materials (SRM), a waste protein stream.
• To investigate the efficacy of SRM-derived peptides in separating fluid fine tailings into water and solids.
• To assess the potential of SRM-peptides as a sustainable solution for oil sands tailings management.

Main Methods:

• Utilized waste protein from slaughterhouse industries (SRM) to derive peptides.
• Tested SRM-derived peptides on synthetic kaolinite slurries and diluted oil sands tailings.
• Measured initial settling rates and observed pH changes with varying peptide dosages.

Main Results:

• SRM-derived peptides achieved a 2-3 fold faster initial settling rate in synthetic slurries compared to controls.
• An optimal peptide dosage of 14 kg/ton for diluted fluid fine tailings resulted in a 4-fold faster initial settling rate.
• Peptide addition caused a slight reduction in tailings pH within the tested dosage range.

Conclusions:

• SRM-derived peptides demonstrate novelty and feasibility as effective aggregation agents for oil sands fluid fine tailings.
• This approach offers a potential pathway to improve water recovery and solids separation from challenging mining waste.
• Utilizing SRM as a source for tailings treatment presents a sustainable, value-added application for industrial waste streams.