A description of our method.
Our method is based on two physical principles: heated centrifugation and filtration using tapered holes. In oil-sand the oil is in the form of bitumen, which is tar-like: thick and gooey. Heat reduces the viscosity of the bitumen so that it flows more readily. Centrifugation, produced by spinning, forces the reduced-viscosity bitumen through tapered holes with a force 1,000 times that of gravity. The next figures show how the process works.