Oil Spill Pollution Treatment by Sorption on Natural Cynanchum Acutum L. Plant

Abstract

The aim of this work is to use cheap, available, biodegradable and recyclable natural organic sorbent for oil spill clean – up. White Silky Hairs (WSH) that is collected from the smooth seeds of Cynanchum Acutum L. plant is used before treatment and after thermal and chemical treatment, to remove crude oil; 0.6 g, below which mechanical means for removing crude oil becomes less more effective, from the surface of saline water of volume 750 mL at temperature 30oC. The plant was treated mechanically by squeezing and then chemically by naphtha, a petroleum product of boiling range 30oC - 165oC, to remove sorbed crude oil from its surface for further reuse and contaminated naphtha are processed to be distilled for reuse. WSH absorbs hydrocarbons quickly and encapsulates oil on contact. WSH absorbs, on average, three times its weight. De-waxed WSH absorbs four times its weight, in case of de-waxing by n-hexane and six times its weight in case of de-waxing by methanol. Dehydrated WSH at 120oC absorbs seven times its weight. WSH absorbs eleven times its weight when it is used after soaking in 10-4 M dodecyl benzenesulphonic acid. WSH absorbs twenty times its weight when it is soaked in dodecyl benzenesulphonic acid and dehydrated at 120oC. Characteristics of crude oil and Cynanchum Acutum L. plant were investigated by FTIR, X – Ray Fluorescence, pour point and centrifuge instruments. Determination of amount of crude oil in saline water was done by extraction the crude oil with tricholorotrifluoroethane and measuring absorbance by Infra Red Spectrometer.


Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management Vol. 7(2) 2003:63-73