The environmental impact of the energy industry is diverse. In view of the significantly large amount of energy consumption and following environmental problems in the oil sands separation process, this study proposed a dual-frequency ultrasounds assisted surfactant extraction of oil sands technology. Comparative experiments were performed in order to investigate the effects on the oil production rate by the application of ultrasound and their combination modes of the two ultrasounds with the different frequencies. Based on these experimental results, the improvement in the treatment conditions for surfactant extraction of oil sands, which is contributed by adding of dual-frequency ultrasounds, was researched. The results indicated that compared to the mechanical agitation, the surfactant extraction of oil sands under the effect of ultrasound with the frequency of 28 kHz resulted in an increase in the oil production rate by 13%. Further, the oil production rate of surfactant extraction assisted by dual-frequency ultrasounds, with the frequency of 28 kHz and 68 kHz separately, was found to be up to 95%, significantly higher than that of single-frequency ultrasound and alternated ultrasounds with the frequencies of 28 kHz and 68 kHz. When the maximum oil production rate treated by dual-frequency ultrasounds was acquired, the processing time was shortened from 45 to 15 min; the concentration of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate in washing liquid decreased from 5 to 2 g L-1; the mass ratio of surfactant solution to oil sands reduced from 2.6 to 2 g L-1; and the treating temperature decreased from 70 to 30 degrees C. Therefore, the dual-frequency ultrasounds assisted surfactant extraction of oil sands technology provides an environmentally friendly development method for high efficiency and low resource consumption exploitation of oil sands resources. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.