5 - Vertical Wick Drains and Accelerated Dewatering of Fine Tailings in Oil Sands - Wells and Caldwell

VERTICAL “WICK” DRAINS AND
ACCELERATED DEWATERING OF
FINE TAILINGS IN OIL SANDS
Patrick Sean Wells, P.Eng.
Jack Caldwell
November 4, 2009
Tailings & Mine Waste Conference 2009, Banff, AB
Pond 5
Exposed Soft
Tailings
Phase II Coke
Cap Trial - 2009
Exposed Beach
Deposits
Phase I Coke
Cap Trial - 2008
Coke Cap Installations
300 ft HSP
450 ft HSP
550 ft HSP
Coke Cap Profile In Drain Field

HSP3 - 450ft from dyke on geogrid
1104.0
1102.0
1100.0
1098.0
1096.0
Elevation (ft)
1094.0
1092.0
1090.0
1088.0
Coke Surface (10Jun09)
Baseline (16Apr09)
1086.0
Reading 1 (22Apr09)
Reading 2 (11Jun09)
1084.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Distance (m)
Vertical Drain Installation

Through Floating Coke Cap
Individual Test Vertical Drain Installation

1-2 ft 16 L Collection
Container
Coke
3 - 10 ft
Cap
¾ inch
Drainage
Reported Tube
Drain Depth
Vertical Drain
5ft Strip
67 ft
Total Depth to Anchor
Anchor
Rope
Sand
Interface
Anchor
Plate
Coke Cap Long Section

5ft Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

10
15C
6 20B
25C
Q (L/day)
30B
5 35A
40B
40C
4 55C
0
- 500.00 1,000.00 1,500.00 2,000.00 2,500.00
Time (hours)
300 ft HSP
450 ft HSP
550 ft HSP
Site CC03 – Control Profile (No Drains)

Site CC03
(% )
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1100
Coke Cap
1090
1080
Soft Tailings
Elevation (ft)
1070
1060
1050
Sand Beach
1040
1030 Peak CMWR in Control

Mineral Clay to water SFR*10
Site CC01 – Total Depth Drain Field Profile

Site CC01
(%)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1100
1090
Coke Cap
1080
Soft Tailings
Elevation (ft)
1070
1060 Full Drain

Position
1050
1040 Sand Beach

Site CC02 – Deep Individual Drain Profile

Site CC02
(%)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1100
1090
Coke Cap
1080
Elevation (ft)
1070
Soft Tailings
1060
5ft Wick
1050 Position
1040 Sand Beach
1030

Coke Road Settlement from June 29 to Aug 25
>-1.0’
Drain Field
• Blue: -1,-0.8’
• Green: -0.6’~-0.8’
• Yellow: -0.4~-0.6
• Light blue: -0.2~-0.4’
• Pink: -0.2~ 0
• Red: 0~1’
Individual Drains
Trial Programme Conclusions

 Dewatering rates are dependant on two main factors
 Permeability of the “fluid” tailings
 Fliud pressure differential between inside and outside of
vertical strip drains
 Fluid tailings pressure equal to total stress (“slurry-static”)
 Hydro-static conditions within the vertical drains
 Geotextile acts as a filter for suspended solids
 In-situ permeability calculations using standard radial

well formulae agree with lab results from UBC
 Approximately 10-9m/s for SFR’s < 1:1
 Lab tests conducted by Jonathan Fannin and Atitep Srikongsri
Trial Programme Conclusions

 Vertical Strip drains are capable of dewatering high
fines, low density oil sands tailings
 Significant increases in clay to water ratios in 3 months
 Dewatering provides potential to accelerate soft

tailings closure
 Undrained low SFR materials may take decades plus to
consolidate
 Strip drains may dewater low SFR materials in a few years
 Release water quality is consistent with standard pond

water
Next Steps
 Complete FLAC modelling of measured tailings and
vertical drain behaviour
 Formulate a formal mathematical and geotechnical
description of the behaviour
 Submit for peer review
Acknowledgements
 Thanks to Jack Caldwell, Andrew Robertson and RGC
 Programme design and concept consulting
 Special thanks to Peter Byrne and Ernie Naesgard
 Material Performance and modelling
 Jonathan Fannin and Atitep Srikongsri
 Laboratory testing
 Joseph Fournier, Chengmai Guo
 Data collection and reporting
 Suncor Reclamation Operations
 Field operations and safety
Reference Slides
300 ft HSP
450 ft HSP
550 ft HSP
5ft Shallow Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

4
3.5
2.5 10A
10B
10C
Q (L/day)
15A
2 15B
15C
20A
20B
1.5 20C
0.5
0
- 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500
Time (hours)
5ft Mid Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

10
25A
6 25B
25C
Q (L/day)
30A
5 30B
30C
35A
4 35B
35C
0
- 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500
Time (hours)
5ft Deep Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

7
40A
40B
4 40C
45A
Q (L/day)
50A
50B
50C
3 55A
55B
55C
0
- 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500
Time (hours)
5ft Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

10
10A
9 10B
10C
15A
8 15B
15C
20A
7 20B
20C
25A
25B
6
25C
30A
Q (L/day)
30B
5
30C
35A
35B
4 35C
40A
40B
3 40C
45A
50A
2 50B
50C
55A
1 55B
55C
0
- 500.00 1,000.00 1,500.00 2,000.00 2,500.00
Time (hours)
5ft Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. 1/Time

7
15C
20A
4 20B
25B
Q (L/day)
25C
30A
30B
3 30C
40B
40C
0
0.0000 0.0020 0.0040 0.0060 0.0080 0.0100 0.0120
1/Time (hours)
Vertical Drain Release Water Chemistry
ANALYTE UNITS MW (g/mole) 15C 20A 20B 25B 25C 30A 30B 30C 35A 40C 45C
Alkalinity (Total as CaCO3) mg/L NA 959 1130 1030 1010 927 972 980 1000 1200 1100 1090
Alkalinity (PP as CaCO3) mg/L NA 60 <5 50 25 20 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5
Bicarbonate (HCO3) mg/L 61 1020 1380 1140 1170 1080 1190 1200 1220 1470 1340 1340
Carbonate (CO3) mg/L 60 72 <5 60 30 24 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5
Hydroxide (OH) mg/L 17 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5
Nitrate (N) mg/L 62 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1
Nitrite (N) mg/L 42 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1
Chloride (Cl) mg/L 35.45 152 124 120 140 275 188 167 328 310 255 93
Sulphate (SO4) mg/L 96 280 33 36 110 494 225 202 380 146 196 2
Conductivity uS/cm NA 2500 2200 2200 2300 3000 2600 2500 3200 3100 2800 2200
Hardness (CaCO3) mg/L NA 120 120 120 120 180 150 160 170 140 140 180
Iron (Fe) mg/L 55.85 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06 <0.06
Magnesium (Mg) mg/L 24.3 23.4 22.7 22.8 22.7 36 25.6 25.1 30.3 23.5 19.9 18.3
Manganese (Mn) mg/L 54.94 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.036
Potassium (K) mg/L 39 15.2 13.3 13 14.9 18.3 15.8 15 17.6 15.5 13.9 13.7
Sodium (Na) mg/L 23 506 537 494 497 643 545 547 693 713 593 431
Calcium (Ca) mg/L 40.1 10.9 9.15 10.8 12.2 11.3 18.4 22.5 18.3 16.5 21.8 41.9
Ion Balance N/A NA 0.85 0.97 0.98 0.93 0.87 0.92 0.96 0.91 0.96 0.87 0.92
Nitrate plus Nitrite (N) mg/L NA <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1
pH pH Units NA 8.6 8.76 8.7 8.63 8.5 8.26 8.19 8.26 8.14 7.89 8.26
Total Dissolved Solids mg/L NA 1600 1400 1300 1400 2000 1600 1600 2100 1900 1800 1300
Turbidity NTU NA 360 8.1 2.9 6 140 110 56 270 6.5 64 1.9

5 - Vertical Wick Drains and Accelerated Dewatering of Fine Tailings in Oil Sands - Wells and Caldwell

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5 - Vertical Wick Drains and Accelerated Dewatering of Fine Tailings in Oil Sands - Wells and Caldwell

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VERTICAL “WICK” DRAINS AND

Coke Cap Installations

Coke Cap Profile In Drain Field

Vertical Drain Installation

Individual Test Vertical Drain Installation

Coke Cap Long Section

5ft Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

Coke Cap Installations

Site CC03 – Control Profile (No Drains)

1030 Peak CMWR in Control

Site CC01 – Total Depth Drain Field Profile

1060 Full Drain

1040 Sand Beach

1030 Peak CMWR in Control

Site CC02 – Deep Individual Drain Profile

1020 Peak CMWR in Control

Coke Road Settlement from June 29 to Aug 25

Trial Programme Conclusions

 In-situ permeability calculations using standard radial

Trial Programme Conclusions

 Dewatering provides potential to accelerate soft

 Release water quality is consistent with standard pond

Coke Cap Installations

5ft Shallow Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

5ft Mid Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

5ft Deep Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

5ft Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. Time

5ft Trial Drains – Flow Rate/day vs. 1/Time

Vertical Drain Release Water Chemistry

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