Oil Recovery from Oil and Tar Sands


Hydrocarbon Recovery System

Recovered Earth Technologies (RET) Hydrocarbon Recovery System incorporates a combination of mechanical and chemical technologies which has the ability to separate 100% of hydrocarbons from sand, soil and substrate. The ability to completely remove hydrocarbons is UNMATCHED in the industry, coupled with the relatively low operating cost of the process makes it economically viable.

Process Overview

The effective separation of hydrocarbons from a soil or sand substrate is quite difficult. When the oil / sand agglomerate contains weathered crude, including bituminous material, the polycyclic aromatics that are tenaciously attached to quartz crystals, clay and other minerals make this process even more difficult.

RET’s Hydrocarbon Recovery System can break these bonds, recover the hydrocarbons and separate the sand, liquid and chemical catalysts, without incurring the high energy costs associated with other processes. At ambient temperatures above 15°C, the process does not require an external heat source.

Much of the difficulty surrounding the separation of hydrocarbons from soil and sand lies in its attachment to the substrate. RET’s Hydrocarbon Recovery System uses a combination of mechanical and chemical technologies that have succeeded in extracting 100% of the hydrocarbons from most substrates with a significant reduction in operating costs and environmental discharges.