Patent ID: 7628909

Claim:
A process for recovering bitumen from oil sands deposits, the process comprising the steps of: heating a chemical composition to a temperature of 80 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, the chemical composition comprising: ammonia; an alcohol containing from one to eight carbon atoms, wherein the alcohol is non-aromatic; hydrogen peroxide; and an aqueous carrier solution, wherein the aqueous carrier solution is water, the aqueous carrier solution is of sufficient volume operable to disperse at least one of the hydrogen peroxide, the alcohol and the ammonia in the aqueous carrier solution; introducing the chemical composition into the oil sands in an amount effective to, when added to the oil sands, cause a substantial amount of the bitumen to separate from the oil sands, resulting in a bitumen phase and a sand phase without the formation of an emulsion; and recovering bitumen from the oil sands.