Commercial Magnafloc 1011 and in-house synthesized Al-PAM were used as flocculants for treating model tailings, laboratory extraction tailings and tailings from paraffinic froth treatment unit. The polymers were tested for their ability for flocculation of tailings in settling and filtration.;For the laboratory extraction tailings, both polymers showed excellent ability to enhance settling. Al-PAM performed very well as a filtration aid. The moisture of the cake obtained from tailings derived from a low fines ore was 6.6 +/- 1.2 wt% and that from a high fines ore was 16.9 +/- 0.8 wt%. However, Magnafloc 1011 was found not effective as a filtration aid.;For the froth treatment tailings, Al-PAM improved the settling and filterability dramatically. Although the moisture of the cake obtained was 42.5 wt%, no free water is seen visually in the cake. The solid cake is self-supportive and remains intact.;This class of Al-PAM polymers can provide an alternative approach for oil sands tailings disposal that can potentially eliminate tailings ponds.;For model tailings, both polymers showed excellent ability to improve the settling and filtration performance. Magnafloc 1011 is found more sensitive to overdosing than Al-PAM within the tested range.
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