The major impediment in controlling the interface between Bitumen-froth and Middlings in
separation cells is the lack of safe and reliable sensors for interface level detection. This
work describes a novel sensor for this problem using computer vision techniques on video
frames captured from a sight glass camera. A simple edge detection method combined with
state-space model based particle filtering is used to estimate the interface level and its
quality. Industrial results show that the algorithm is robust to lighting changes and process …

Bitumen extraction from oil sands is the core process in the production of oil from oil sands.
This floatation process is carried out in large vessels called separation cells. Optimal control
of the interface between Bitumen froth and Middlings in these cells can result in a significant
improvement in Bitumen recovery and increase process efficiency downstream, resulting in
large economic benefits. The major impediment in the implementation of such a control
system is the lack of safe and reliable sensors for interface level detection. Traditional …