Patent ID: 7223331

Claim:
A method for settling suspended finely divided inorganic solid particles from a high solids hydrocarbon, the method comprising: (a) admixing an effective amount of an additive with a high solids hydrocarbon containing suspended finely divided inorganic solid particles; and (b) allowing the inorganic solid particles to settle and form a settled phase, wherein the additive is an amine or alkanolamine initiated polyether; the hydrocarbon includes less than 2 percent water by weight; the effective amount of the additive is in the range of from about 300 ppm to about 10,000 ppm, by volume, of the hydrocarbon; at least 50 percent by weight of the total amount of the finely divided solid particles present and/or suspended in the slurry, are settled; and the method excludes a subsequent addition of water to the hydrocarbon prior to allowing the inorganic particles to settle and form a settled phase; wherein the settling of the inorganic solid particles is accomplished by a process selected from the group consisting of gravity settling, filtration, centrifugation, cyclone separation, magnetic separation and combinations thereof.