Based on field data, between 2 and 5 tons of steam are injected into the reservoir to produce each ton of bitumen (Gates and Leskiw 2010).
Hot water extraction of mined bitumen produces one barrel (159 L) of bitumen per ton of oil sands ore, as well as 3 m of tailings, consisting of water, sand, clays, residual bitumen, and some diluent hydrocarbon.
It's actually a filthy mixture of bitumen, sand, heavy metals and toxic organic chemicals.
After around 20 years, give or take, the top layer of bitumen oxidises and becomes brittle.
Only 8-16% of the material takes the form of bitumen, the desirable, energy-rich bit.
The cheapest black varnish is Brunswick black, a solution of bitumen in white spirit.
It takes over a tonne of bitumen to make one useful barrel of oil.
The amount of sulfur compared to oil sludge (weight of bitumen = 73 g, weight of sludge = 10/42 g) was calculated for bitumen, oil sludge, bitumen and old sludge.
The Canadian tar sands contain huge quantities of bitumen that can be converted to petroleum.
Freeman et al. (2009) studied the geomechanics of bitumen formations.
