ABSTRACT

The oil sands industry in Western Canada is actively testing new treatment techniques to increase the consolidation rate of Mature Fine Tailings (MFT). It is extremely time consuming to physically evaluate the long-term response of new treatment methods with conventional settling column tests or field pilot tests. Centrifuge modelling considerably shortens the consolidation process, while maintains the stress similarity between a downscaled model and the prototype. A series of centrifuge modelling tests were conducted in the University of Alberta to compare the long-term consolidation behavior of differently-treated MFT specimens. The centrifuge models shared the same prototype scale and consolidation time. Results revealed the long-term divergence of consolidation behavior in terms of settlement, geotechnical properties evolvement and porewater pressure response as the result of different treatment methods. The research proves that centrifuge modelling is an effective and highly-efficient experimental method in obtaining the long-term behavior of MFT consolidation of new amendments.