Patent ID: 8747661

Claim:
A method for processing oil sands in a vortex gas/liquid reactor comprising: a) mixing oil sands with liquid hydrocarbonaceous solvent containing dissolved carbon dioxide CO 2 to form a three-component oil sand mixture comprising oil sands, hydrocarbonaceous solvent, and CO 2 wherein CO 2 is sorbed by bituminous material contained in porous sand grains of the oil sands; b) supplying the three-component mixture to a working zone of the the vortex gas/liquid reactor; c) injecting saturated steam into the working zone of the reactor through an inlet and directing the saturated steam to an impeller to create a turbulent flow of the saturated steam; d) suspending the three-component mixture in the working zone in the saturated steam flow; and e) separating from the vortex gas/liquid reactor a liquid phase comprising bitumen and hydrocarbonaceous solvent containing CO 2 and a solid phase comprising SiO 2 .