Oil sands are transported using a multi-step process that involves large machinery and pipelines.
Here’s a breakdown of the transportation process:
- Extraction: First, large shovels dig up the oil sands.
- Trucking: These shovels load the oil sands into large haul trucks.
- Crushing: The trucks transport the oil sands to crushers, where big clumps are broken down into smaller pieces. The reference states: "Large shovels scoop oil sands into haul trucks that transport it to crushers where large clumps are broken down"
- Mixing & Piping: Next, the crushed oil sands are mixed with hot water and the resulting slurry is then pumped through pipelines to an upgrader.
- Bitumen Separation: At the upgrader, the bitumen (a heavy, thick form of crude oil) is separated from the sand, clay, and water.
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| Extraction | Large shovels dig up the oil sands from the ground. |
| Hauling | Haul trucks transport the excavated oil sands. |
| Crushing | Large clumps of oil sands are broken down into smaller pieces using crushers. |
| Slurry Creation | Crushed oil sands are mixed with hot water to create a pumpable slurry. |
| Piping | The oil sand slurry is transported via pipelines to the upgrader facility. |
| Upgrading | Bitumen is separated from sand, clay, and water at the upgrader. |
This system enables the efficient movement of oil sands from the extraction site to processing facilities, where the valuable bitumen is extracted.
