Oil spill Absorbent materials

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechniou 9, Athens 157 80, Greece Tel. +30 (1) 772-3190; Fax +30 (1) 619-7750

Abstract

The current study examines the consumption ability of five different sorts of materials for oil spills clean. The absorbents had been a commercial cellulosic product from commercially produced wood, a commercial synthetic natural dietary fiber from polypropylene and three commercial kinds of local expanded perlite from the area of Milos. The absorption capacities associated with the above products were evaluated in a wet plus an arid environment with various types of petroleum items. The outcomes showed that commercial types of perlite, in many cases, have absorption capacities much like normal and synthetic natural materials employed for clean-up programs. The improvement for the hydrophobic properties of perlite can lead to better performance in a water bathtub. The nature of the spilled oil proved to relax and play a crucial role when you look at the collection of the appropriate absorbing material. Overall, the outcomes recommended that partial replacement of commercial artificial sorbents by mineral materials extensively produced in Greece for oil spill clean-up operations is possible, offered their particular friendliness into the environment and their particular regional abundancy.