Patent ID: 7431830

Claim:
An assembly of components for producing a pumpable oil sand slurry at a mine site, for transmission through a pump and pipeline system, comprising: (a) first means for comminuting as-mined oil sand to conveyable size; (b) a surge bin for receiving and temporarily retaining the comminuted oil sand to provide a quantum of surge capacity; (c) second means for delivering the comminuted oil sand into the surge bin; (d) a sluffy preparation tower, having a downwardly descending sequence of components for forming a pumpable sluffy without screening it, comprising: third means for further comminuting the oil sand from the surge bin in a plurality of downwardly descending stages, to reduce its particle size to pumpable size, fourth means for adding heated water to the oil sand in the course of comminution by the third means; fifth means for mixing the oil sand and water to produce pumpable slurry, and a pump box for receiving the pumpable slurry and feeding it to the pump and pipeline system; and (e) sixth means for removing oil sand from the surge bin and transporting it to the upper end of the tower for feeding into the third means.