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Abstract

A combination physical separation process and thermal fluidized bed process for recovering products from tar sands. The process includes initially separating a portion of the sand from the tar sand through a physical separation process, yielding a bitumen-rich concentrate. The bitumen-rich concentrate is introduced into a heated fluidized bed and products are recovered and distilled into their respective fractions. A coked sand is removed from the fluidized bed and placed into a combustor where the carbonaceous residue on the sand is burned to produce a hot burnt sand, a portion of which may be recycled to provide heat to the bitumen-rich concentrate in the fluidized bed. The coked sand and a certain fraction of the distilled products may be recycled to the physical separation process to improve the separation efficiency thereof.

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First Claim