Skimmer apparatus for recovering bitumen

Bitumen, floating on tailings pond water in the form of a cohesive blanket, is recovered from the surface by an apparatus that takes advantage of the cohesiveness of the bitumen. A drum with radially attached prongs is partly submerged in the water and is rotated around its longitudinal axis so that the prongs penetrate into the bitumen blanket and grip and pull it towards the drum. Upon being drawn by the prongs beneath the surface of the water, hydrostatic pressure causes the bitumen to adhere to the curved surface of the drum. During the upswing of the drum, the prongs and the adhesiveness of the metal surface of the drum hold the bitumen on the drum. A comb scraper then removes the greater portion of the bitumen, which falls into a receptacle.