Clark hot-water extraction of oil sands
Extracción de arenas bituminosas con agua caliente (Clark)
- Date
- 1923-1929 · confidence medium
- Place
- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Credited to
- Karl Clark
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Clark, a chemist at the Alberta Research Council, separated bitumen from Athabasca sands by mixing them with hot water and soda. It is the basis of commercial oil sands production.
Tests began around 1923 and the patent dates from 1929; it was applied industrially decades later.
What it led to
- the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant (1967)
- Alberta as a major crude producer
- unconventional oil