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Research Paper :
Effectiveness Of Biowaste In Cleaning Up The Oil Spill
By
From
Teacher Advisor:
On
March 2011
Running Head : CLEAN UP OIL SPILL 2
CONTENT
Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4 - 6
Purpose ……………………………………………………………………………. 7
Methods ................................................................................................................... 13
Results .................................................................................................................... 14 - 16
Discussion ............................................................................................................. 17 - 18
Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 19
Acknowledgement ................................................................................................. 20
References .,.,........................................................................................................ 21 - 23
Running Head : CLEAN UP OIL SPILL 3
ABSTRACT
cleaning up the oil spill. Therefore, organic sorbents are used as biowaste in this experiment.
The experiment was designed to compare between three different and strong organic sorbents
which could absorb oil spill. With these three organic sorbents we would be able to come up
with the most effective organic sorbents which could absorb the most amount of oil spill. The
three organic sorbents used were the human hair, coconut husks and corn cobs. The most
effective organic sorbent must be hydrophobic, absorbs up to 19 times its own weight in non-
polar liquids, floats on water, economical and can be reused or disposed of by incineration or
burial in accordance with local regulations to rescue operation of marine oil spill.
There are two ways the fix pollutant (crude oil) will adhere on the surface of the organic
sorbents which is through adsorption and absorption. Adsorption means retention of the
pollutant on the surface of the sorbent. Absorption means retention of the pollutant within the
sorbent itself.
Thus, in order to conduct this experiment, the organic materials must be cut and prepared to
be in similar sizes so that the surface area for absorption will be same and the results will be
accurate. The organic sorbents were made into booms before it is immersed into the crude oil
where, the nylon casing act as the booms. From this experiment, the percentage of recovered
crude oil for each organic materials was calculated. Based on the results the effectiveness of
Based on the percentage of recovered crude oil, coconut husk appeared to be the most
effective organic sorbent compared to the hair and the corn cobs. Coconut husk manage to
absorb up to 83% of crude oil which is about 20 times of its own weight.
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INTRODUCTION
pollution is caused by a variety of sources, including oil and petroleum based products. Oil
pollution, either by way of oil tanker spills or as a result of other human activities, results in
massive damage to marine environments and coastlines. The negative consequences are both
short and long-term in nature, and will impact every individual on earth in some way or
When oil is spilled or leaked into in waterways and the ocean, it spreads very quickly with
the help of wind and currents. A single gallon of oil can create an oil slick up to a couple of
acres in size. When oil starts mixing in water, it can change composition and becomes what's
known as "mousse". This is a sticky substance that clings even more to whatever it comes in
contact with. Many marine animals don't know to avoid a slick and some fish may even be
However, people are involved in efforts to prevent oil spills and their consequences. They
also are involved in efforts to “clean up” after such spills take place. These cleanups are
usually conducted by oil companies, government agencies, local groups and volunteers.
There are several methods used in these cleanups, with varying degrees of success. Crews
come in by air and sea to try to contain and skim the spreading oil from the water’s surface.
Oil that cannot be skimmed is emulsified using dispersants, chemicals which break down oil
into small droplets that can float away and disperse out to sea. These chemicals pose their
own danger, however. This broken-down oil can be absorbed by marine life and into the food
chain. A 2007 Israeli study reported that the combination of dispersants and broken-down oil
Running Head : CLEAN UP OIL SPILL 5
are actually more toxic to tropical coral reefs than raw crude oil. Sometimes, oil-eating
bacteria and sorbents (large sponges) are put to work to clean up the oil spills.
Therefore, we came up with an idea of using the sorbents to clean up these oil spills.
Sorbents are solid products capable of trapping liquid pollutants. Sorbents are used to reduce
the spread of a spill of pollutant, fix a pollutant by impregnation to facilitate its recovery for
small spills, recover the pollutant from effluents generated by clean-up operations, filter
pollutant that cannot be recovered from a water mass (channels, rivers, water intakes
and washing effluents). There are three types of sorbents which are organic, inorganic and
synthetic sorbents. Our group has decided to investigate the effectiveness organic sorbents in
cleaning up oil spill. Organic sorbents can absorb between 3 to 15 times their weight in oil,
floats on water and economical. To be more precise, we narrowed down our experiment on
three selected organic sorbents which are the corn cobs, undyed human hair and coconut
husks.
Human hair consists of three layers. The outside layer, known as the cuticle, is made of
scales of the protein keratin. Much like the shingle coverings of a roof, the keratin scales
protect the inner portions of the hair. The next layer also contains keratin, but is made of
protein fibres more tightly knit together. Finally, the inner core--known as the medulla--is
composed of round cells. Hair naturally absorbs oil. The corn cob is a fluid absorbing device
having a natural wicking or capillary action for controlling oil spills. The most important
their weight in fluid. While, coconut husk floats on water and is 100% biodegradable.
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Coconut husk is entirely nontoxic. It is light in weight and creates very little dust even when
Therefore, the experiment is conducted to test and compare the ability and the amount of
oil that can be absorb between these three organic sorbents. Based on our research, we
predicted that the hair will be able to absorb the most amount of oil compare to the other
organic materials.
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PURPOSE
The main purpose of the experiment is to investigate the effectiveness of biowaste in cleaning
up the oil spill by comparing between three types of organic sorbents which are the human
hair, corn cobs and coconut husks. The effectiveness is determined by calculating the
Besides, to instil nature loving attitude and good moral values are also the purpose of this
experiment.
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EXPERIMENT DESIGN
The manipulated variable in this experiment is the type of organic sorbents which are the
The responding variable in this experiment were the final mass (g) of organic sorbents which
• Size of beaker
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Below are the list of apparatus and materials required to conduct the experiment.
Materials :
• Coconut husk
• Distilled water
Apparatus :
• Forceps
• Electronic balance
• Stopwatch
• An oven
• Nylon casing
• Wash bottle
• Knife
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Beaker
Wash Bottle
First, the organic materials were cut into similar sizes. Then, the materials was put into an
oven and was set to be 120° Celsius for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the materials were removed
from the oven and 5.89 grams of each organic materials were measured using an electronic
balance. Later these organic materials were put into the nylon casings and weighed. Two sets
of organic materials were prepared. The mass are recorded in the table below.
Secondly, the beakers were labelled A, B and C. 250 cm³ crude oil was poured into the
beakers respectively. The prepared organic materials were then immersed into the crude oil in
the respective beakers and the stopwatch was started. The forceps were used to flip the nylon
casing while waiting for 10 minutes to over. After 10 minutes, the nylon casing was removed
from the crude oil and it was let to drip for 20 seconds. The final mass of the organic
materials were then weighed. The experiment was repeated using the second set of organic
sorbents. The results were recorded in the Table 1 below and the data was tabulated. Then,
the percentage of recovered crude oil was calculated by using the formulae below and was
recorded in Table 2.
Formulae :
RESULTS
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Table 1
Table 2
Table 1 shows the mass of recovered crude oil. Table 2 shows the percentage of recovered
crude oil. Corn cob absorbed the least volume of crude oil which was 61.2%. It has a least
percentage of recovered crude oil. The human hair can absorb more crude oil than the corn
cob. Human hair has a higher percentage of recovered crude oil which was 70.0%. The most
effective organic material in cleaning a oil spill is the coconut husk. The coconut husk has the
highest percentage, which is 83% of recovered crude oil. It absorbed more crude oil than the
Diagram 1
Diagram 1 shows the graph for comparison of percentage of recovered crude oil for the three
organic substances which are human hair, coconut husk and corn cobs. As shown in the graph
above, coconut husk indicates the highest percentage of recovered crude oil, followed by
human hair and finally the lowest percentage of recovered crude oil is from the corn cobs.
DISCUSSION
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Coconut husk.
2. Why is coconut husk more effective in absorbing oil spill compare to human hair?
This is because coconut husk floats and absorbs oil in preference to water. One pound of
coconut husk will absorb between about eight and ten pounds of crude oil. A very significant
advantage of coconut husk over conventional oil absorption substances used to absorb oil in
oil spill situations is that coconut husk is one hundred percent biodegradable. Coconut husk
floats upon water and remains afloat even when saturated with oil. Coconut husk absorbs oil,
coolants, solvents and other oily materials that float on water. Coconut husk is entirely
nontoxic. It is light in weight and creates very little dust even when thrown a considerable
distance onto a surface from which oil is to be absorbed. Furthermore, coconut husk has an
additional advantage in that it retains its consistency, even when spread on water and
saturated with oil. That is, it will not turn to “mush” even when wet and saturated with oil.
This feature allows the oil-saturated coconut husk to be scooped or raked from the surface of
a body of water without great difficulty. When utilized to absorb oil on the surface of a body
of water, coconut husk absorbs more than one gallon of oil per pound. The extent of
absorption depends upon the viscosity of the oil. Moreover, coconut husk reduces volatile
vapours from the oil by up to 90 percent. Coconut husk is ideal for use in cleaning up ocean
oil spills, as well as for use in cleaning up both outdoor and indoor spills on the ground or on
3. Why is the nylon casing used in this experiment compare to other materials?
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Nylon casing is hydrophobic so it does not absorbs water or other fluid. Therefore, only
the organic materials will absorb the oil and the percentage of recovered crude oil will not
be affected.
This is to make sure the oil spilled do not spread to other area which will endanger the
wildlife. Besides, booms also can be used to adsorb the oil spilled.
This is to ensure the surface area for absorption is the same. Different surface area will
cause the rate of absorption to differ. Therefore, the surface area should be kept constant.
This method can be used to clean up spills on water bodies, spills on the ground, spills on
streams, rivers and coastal areas as well as to clean up sites to recover washing effluents.
CONCLUSION
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Corn cob absorbed the least volume of crude oil which was 61.2%. It has a least
percentage of recovered crude oil. The human hair can absorb more crude oil than the corn
cob. Human hair has a higher percentage of recovered crude oil which was 70.0%. The most
effective organic material in cleaning a oil spill is the coconut husk. The coconut husk has the
highest percentage, which is 83% of recovered crude oil. It absorbed more crude oil than the
corn cob and the human hair.In conclusion, coconut husk is the most effective sorbent in
cleaning up oil spill. Thus, coconut husk should be used to clean up oil spill.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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We owe a great many thanks to many great people who helped and supported us during
the research.
project .We would like to thank her for guiding and correcting various documents of us with
attention and care. She has taken pain to go through the project and make necessary
I express my thanks to the Principal, lab assistance and all teachers for
extending their support. Our deep sense of gratitude to all of our friends who gave support
and guidance. Thanks and appreciation to the helpful people in the lab, for their support.
We would also thank our group members without whom this project would have been a
distant reality. I also extend my heartfelt thanks our family members. Thank you.
Running Head : CLEAN UP OIL SPILL 21
REFERENCES
1. ^ "Hindsight and Foresight, 20 Years After the Exxon Valdez Spill". NOAA.
2. ^ http://seeps.geol.ucsb.edu/
N. Stromberg.
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Environmental Magazine.
14. ^ "Detergent and Oil Spills". NEWTON BBS. 2002-10-12. Retrieved 2007-07-
29.
15. ^ Barry, Carolyn (2007). Slick Death: Oil-spill treatment kills coral, Science
16. ^ Pezeshki, S. R., Hester, M. W., Lin, Q. & Nyman, J. A. (2000). The effects
17. ^ Fountain, Henry (2010-06-24). "Advances in Oil Spill Cleanup Lag Since
18. ^ "Trained noses to sniff out Gulf seafood for oil - Yahoo! News".
3.0. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS OR&R 11. Seattle: Hazardous Response
25. ^ Metcalf & Eddy. Wastewater Engineering, Treatment and Reuse. 4th ed.
Spaulding. 1993. The worldwide oil spill model (WOSM): an overview. Pp. 627–646
in Proceedings of the 16th Arctic and Marine Oil Spill Program, Technical Seminar.