WHO WE ARE
WHAT WE DO

The company behind the innovation

Extract Process Solutions is a technology company focused on ionic liquids and sustainable solutions to enhance liquid-solid separation.

The process is conceptually simple and works well because of three factors:
  • The strong force of attraction between the ions in ionic liquids and mineral surfaces has been shown (using atomic forces microscopy) that adhesive forces between silica and bitumen are an order of magnitude smaller in an IL medium than in water, allowing easy detachment under low shear.

  • The ILs employed in the process are completely immiscible with hydrocarbons such as bitumen or oil. Coupled with a large density difference, this results in sharp phase separation of hydrocarbons from the ionic liquid. ILs do not act as a solvent, but a separating fluid. They keep the oil (or naphtha diluted bitumen) and extracted sand apart.

  • The negligible vapor pressure of ILs easily separates the water - used to wash residual IL from the sand - from the IL using vacuum distillation. Both recirculate in a closed system. There is no wastewater stream and no tailings ponds.
Environmental restoration technology.

The process has been validated for a wide range of samples, including:

  • Oil sands from Alberta, Utah, Kentucky, California, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • Contaminated sand and soil from the oil lakes in Kuwait.
  • Sludge from refinery operations in Kuwait.
  • Sludge from oil sands operations in Canada.
  • Oil coated iron oxide particles from steel mill operations.
  • Contaminated sand from a beach in Alabama after the Deepwater Horizon spill.
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These separations are fully documented in laboratory reports and can be viewed on-line upon execution of a non-disclosure agreement with Extrakt Process Solutions.

Please contact us at info@extraktps.com.