CHEM 2 RESEARCH PROPOSAL NOTES

TITLE: Using of Sorbents in Oil Spill Clean-up: A Review

RESEARCH PROBLEM: The spill of oil in the sea

RESEARCH DESIGN: Descriptive Research Design

What is Sorbent?
Sorbents are insoluble compounds (not soluble in water) or mixtures of materials used to recover liquids through the mechanism of absorption, or adsorption, or both.
● Oleophilic (Oil attracting)
● Hydrophobic (Water repellant)

Sorbent Categories
Natural Organic
● Includes peat moss, straw, hay, sawdust, ground corn cobs, feathers, and other readily available carbon-based products
● Adsorbs between 3 and 15 times their weight in oil
● Inexpensive and readily available in large quantities.

Natural Inorganic
● Consist of clay, perlite, vermiculite, glass wool, sand, or volcanic ash.
● Absorbs from 4 to 20 times their weight in oil
● Inexpensive and readily available in large quantities.

Synthetic Sorbents
● Include man-made materials that are similar to plastics, such as polyurethane, polyethylene, and polypropylene and are designed to adsorb liquids onto their surfaces.
● Absorb up 70 times their own weight in oil.

Type of SORBENT that we will utilize in oil spill clean-up

Enclosed Sorbent. Why?

● They have high retention features and a broad availability of interactions (has a combination of organic and synthetic sorbent).
 ● Can be easily applied to the contaminated area
● Can collect various amount of oil and can easily be monitored
● Used in large surface area

How does it work?

● Enclosed sorbents are housed within an outer fabric, such as mesh or netting to form booms or pillows which absorbs oil and makes the used materials
swell.

How to utilize SORBENT?

1. Putting of sorbents covering the surface area where the oil spill locates,
2. Collection of oil-saturated sorbents, and
3. Extraction and removal of the soaked-up oil from the sorbents using mechanical press or distillation.

Benefits of Sorbent:
● Valuable source
● Avoids secondary issues such as excessive waste
● Low-cost
● Non-toxicity
● Any oil that is removed from sorbent materials must also be properly disposed of or recycled (United States Environmental Protection Agency)

Researcher's Aim
● To provide a marine-friendly and easier way to clean oil spills in the sea.