Orimulsion is a heavy bitumen dispersed into water with a surfactant. In general, in-situ burning has not been considered as a countermeasure for Orimulsion because of the nature of Orimulsion and the perception that the product could not be ignited. If it could be ignited, then combustion may not be sustained. This study examined the feasibility of burning Orimulsion at three small laboratory scales. Tests were conducted on three scales or diameters of approximately 5 cm, 10 cm, and 50 cm. Burning at the smallest scale was conducted in a Cleveland Open Cup apparatus, which was run in standard mode. A special pan was built for larger-scale burns. All tests were conducted on saltwater which resulted in the bitumen separating from the water in the Orimulsion. The Cleveland Open Cup apparatus was used to determine whether sufficient vapours could be generated to begin combustion. In 2 burns out of 9, limited burning of vapours was started. The same apparatus was also used to measure whether sustained flame impingement would result in successful combustion. This latter experiment was also successful in most cases. The larger scale combustion tests were conducted in a special pan and were ignited using diesel fuel as a primer. In all cases, quantitative removal of Orimulsion was achieved, although re-ignition was required in some burns. Orimulsion burns with frequent mini-explosions of entrained water droplets still in the bitumen. Some of these mini-explosions were large enough to extinguish the flame, if the burn area was not large enough. This did not occur on large-scale burns. Thus the potential for successful burning increases with the size of the burn. The amount of diesel ignitor required was found to be about 1 mm in thickness in the given starting area. Large-scale burns were ignited from an area less than 30% of the total area.

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