Short-term dewatering of treated oil sand fine tailings

Abstract

Background: The appropriate management of oil sand tailings requires a reduced environmental footprint of the waste containment facilities. This study models the short-term dewatering behavior of a 10 m deep deposit. Results: Results indicated that inherent material properties along with hydraulic boundary conditions govern the rate and amount of consolidation. Conclusions: The process alone is not sufficient for meaningful tailings dewatering in one year and must be augmented by other methods to further improve the tailings disposal scheme.