Conversion of tailings solvent recovery unit (TSRU) by-products into activated carbon-zeolite composites: Impact of fusion pre-treatment on porosity and CO2 capture

Abstract

Currently, the oil sands industry is producing millions of tons of tailings by-products from the tailings solvent recovery unit (TSRU) into the tailings ponds. TSRU tailings (TTs) consist of water, asphaltene, and minerals, including silica and alumina mixtures. The oil sands sector has expanded efforts to discover solutions to remove the tailings ponds due to growing public concern about the environmental effects of these ponds and stiffer government rules on their disposal. Therefore, this report studied the effect of the different methods for the conversion of the TTs into the activated carbon-zeolite composite. The TTs were treated with activation followed by hydrothermal, either with or without fusion with NaOH at 800°C for 1 h as a pre-treatment. Zeolite Na-P, zeolite A, and zeolite X were identified during the different characterizations, depending on the pre-treatment of the fusion. The result showed that the fusion with NaOH before the hydrothermal reaction was effective as it increased the porosity and adsorption of the composite. The CO₂ capture capacity of the product before fusion was 0.19 mmol/g, and after fusion, it was improved to 0.486 mmol/g.