Human Hair As An Oil Spill Absorbent

_______________

A Research Paper Presented to the 

Faculty of Senior High School Department 

Dr. Cecilio Putong National High School 

Tagbilaran City

_______________

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the subject, 

PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 – GRADE 12 – STEM B

_______________

By 

Buloran, Cheryl Rose B.

Montesco, Kaisha Marie G.

Doydoy, Rosette Candy

Junsay Edric Geann D.

Culajara, Louiegie

October 2022
Rationale

Oil spills are more common than one might think, and they happen all around the world

and that means it also happens in the Philippines. For Instance, The Tanker SOLAR 1

Oil Spill, Guimaras, the Philippines, its impact and response challenges. The sinking of

the tanker SOLAR 1 in the Guimaras Strait, the Philippines, was the largest oil spill in

recent time. On August 11, 2006, the tanker SOLAR 1 (998 GT) sank in the Guimaras

Strait, approximately 18 km southwest of Guimaras Island in the Western Visayas

region of the central Philippines. It caused damage to mangrove and beaches along the

southern coast of Guimaras Island and smaller islands in the Strait. Due to the oil spill,

the fisheries and villages along the impacted coastline got affected. 91 Guimaras

islands as well as several smaller islands to the south and east were heavily impacted

by spilled oil. (Yender, R., & Stanzel, K. (2011). Tanker SOLAR 1 Oil spill, guimaras,

philippines: impacts and response challenges. In Oil Spill Science and Technology (pp.

1133-1146). Gulf Professional Publishing.)

Oil is an ancient fossil fuel that people use to heat homes, generate electricity, and

power large sectors of our economy. But when oil accidentally spills into the ocean, it

can cause big problems. Oil spills can harm sea creatures, ruin a day at the beach, and

make seafood unsafe to eat. It takes sound science to clean up the oil like surfactants,

Booms and skimmers, and dispersants. Oil spills are a serious concern as they can

inflict a lot of damage to the ecosystem. The effects are experienced not only in the

area of the spill but also expand over vast regions to negatively impact shorelines and

terrestrial wildlife thousands of metres away from the site of the spill However, oil spills
vary in severity and the extent of damage they cause. This can be attributed to

variations in the oil type, the location of the spill, and the weather conditions present. In

addition, the spread and behavior of spilt oil in the seas is governed by various

chemical, physical and biological processes.

Oil density is lesser than water, it floats on the water surface when it leaks or spills

(saltwater or freshwater). It is for this reason that it is much easier to clean up an oil

spill. It is easy to imagine the difficulty in cleaning up a spill if oil was denser than water,

and as a result, formed a layer along the bottom of the seas instead of the surface. Oil

spills will continue to be a pressing problem and source of pollution as long as ships

move most of the petroleum products around the world, and exploration of oil from

oceanic resources is steadily on the rise. There are many ways of cleaning up oil spills

such as oil booms, skimmers, sorbents, etc.

Whether hair is growing out of your head, arm, or ankle, it all rises out of the skin in the

same way. It starts at the hair root, a place beneath the skin where cells band together

to form keratin. Most of the hair waste in a lot of hair salons is usually disposed of in

general waste. To put a figure on this it’s about 99%, the other 1% can be donated to

various charities for wigs and hair extensions.

In this research the use of hair's adsorbent quality is used to be the countermeasure for

oil spillage. Human hair is natural organic material which possesses oleophilic
characteristic. It was evaluated as oil adsorbent in this project. Oil adsorption properties

of human hair were evaluated on different forms (i.e. particulate and boom). Oil uptake

performance of human hair was observed to be better in boom form where there was

hydrophobic yet oleophilic skirt wrapping material on human hair particulate. With

human hair in boom form, evaluation on oil reclaimed after adsorption was carried out.

Recycle in used boom were further evaluated for oil uptake performance. Temperature

was served as another important factor that influencing oil uptake performance.

Evaluation was done on comparison oil adsorption properties of different waste

material, namely, polypropylene, rice husk and wood dust. Polypropylene rated as the

best oil sorbent. Tan, P. N. (2012). Oil Adsorption Properties of Human Hair and Its

Applications (Doctoral dissertation, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College).

In conclusion, Hair has the best qualities to made as an oil spillage cleaning method

and hair is mostly thrown away after being cut and only 1% of hair are sometimes

donated to be made as hair extensions and wigs. In using hair to absorb oil spills many

benefits are seen such as hair being a budget friendly material, no side effects to the

sea life like how chemical dispersant create a toxic environment for fishes.

Review of Related Literature

Human hair surface has a high affinity for oils much higher than its affinity for water.

This property is very useful in oil-water separation. After the pioneering work of Phillip A.

McCrory from (Alabama, USA) booms and mats of human hair have been used to clean
up coastal oil spills in the Philippines and the USA. In this method, oil can be recovered

by wringing out the hair, which then can be reused up to 100 times advantages not

present in other oil spill remediation methods. With this method, up to 98% of the spilled

oil can be absorbed. The oily hair can then be used to grow oyster mushrooms, which

decompose the oil. The hair then left can be composted. Human hair can also separate

emulsified oil in water, which is very expensive to clean by other methods. This property

can greatly help in cleaning effluent from industries such as oil refineries. Any kind of

hair can be used in these applications (except with toxic contamination, which can

contaminate the water body). Source: Hindawi researchers from USA. Site: It has been

reported that the sorption is a popular technique for cleanup of oil spills. Adsorption is a

simple, relatively inexpensive tool for performing oil spill removal. This section reviews

of some main previous research papers of the synthesis and the absorbing properties of

the wide variety of porous sorbent materials that have been studied for application in the

removal of organics, particularly in the area of oil spill cleanup. The areas for further

development of some of these materials are identified also. In order for a material to be

used as sorbent, it should attract the oil preferentially to water, i.e. it should be both

oleophilic and hydrophobic. Sorbent materials can act either by adsorption or, less

commonly, by absorption. In adsorption, the oil is preferentially attracted to the surface

of the material whereas absorbents incorporate the oil, or other liquid to be recovered,

into the body of the material. The majority of products available for oil spill response are

adsorbents; few are true absorbents. Sorption can take place in two ways, namely by

absorption and adsorption. Absorbents allow oil to penetrate into pore spaces in the

material they are made of, whereas adsorbents attract oil onto their surfaces but do not
allow it to penetrate into the material. Many parameters governed by the structure of

adsorbents play a vital role in separation process, such as hydrophobicity, porosity,

suitable pore sizes and surface area. Surface area of the adsorbent is important feature

and leads to efficient oil removal from water, in addition, high carbon or oxygen content

is also essential since this aspect leads to good oil recovery from water. Nonetheless,

limited numbers of materials meet all the requirements for selectivity, sorption capacity,

sorption rate and recyclability. In general, the main characteristics of both adsorbents

and oil types must be considered when choosing adsorbents for cleaning up oil spills: (i)

Rate of absorption: The absorption of oil is faster with lighter oil products. Once

absorbed the oil cannot be re-released. Effective with light hydrocarbons (e.g., gasoline,

diesel fuel, benzene). (ii) Adsorption capacity (mass of pollutant adsorbed onto

adsorbent per adsorbent’s mass). (iii) Rate of adsorption: The thicker oils adhere to the

surface of the adsorbent more effectively. (iv) Oil retention: The weight of recovered oil

can cause a sorbent structure to sag and deform, and when it is lifted out of the water, it

can release oil trapped in its pores. Lighter, less viscous oil is lost through the pores

more easily than are heavier, more viscous oils during recovery of adsorbent materials

causing secondary contamination. (v) Ease of application: Sorbents may be applied to

spills manually or mechanically, using blowers or fans. Many natural organic sorbents

that exist as loose materials, such as clay and vermiculite, are dusty, difficult to apply

under windy conditions, and potentially hazardous if inhaled. (vi) Kinetic model /

equation is used for the description of adsorption procedure which is a very serious

factor, regarding the ultimate target to scale up the batch experimental data to fixed-

bed column calculations for designing/optimizing the commercial processes. Added to

aforementioned points that it must be an attempt to adjust some crucial techno-

economic data of adsorption process in order to carry out scale-up experiments (from

lab to industry) with possible economic analysis and perspectives of the use of green

adsorbents. To date, the synthesis of adsorbents with superior oil sorption performance

remains a great challenge.

Legal Basis

 REPUBLIC ACT No. 9483

An Act Providing for the implementation of the provisions of the 1992 international

convention on civil liability for oil pollution damage and the 1992 international

convention on the establishment an international fund for compensation for oil pollution

damage, providing penalties for violations thereof, and for other purposes.

 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 600

Preventions and control of marine pollution

 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 602

Establishing oil pollution operations center in the Philippine Coast Guard Headquarters.

Conceptual framework

HAIR AS AN OIL SPILL

ABSORBENT
 OILS DENSE QUALITIES

THEORY OF
DENSITY

ADSORPTION QUALITIES OF
HAIR

THEORY OF
ADSORPTION

Figure 1

Figure 1 illustrates the connection between the dense qualities of oil and the amount of

oil absorbed. The Oil Density is a crucial property not only in lubricants but in all fluids.
For instance, as the density of a lubricant increases, the fluid becomes thicker. This

leads to an increase in the amount of time it takes for particles to settle out of

suspension. The Density Theory states that density is also known as the specific mass,

is its mass per unit volume. The density of most oils will range between 700 and 950

kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3). In oils, it is usually indicated in the temperature of

+15°C or +20°C, in unit kg/m3. Water has a density of 1,000 kg/m3. This means that

most oils will float on water as they are lighter by volume. If the density of an object is

less than that of water, then that object will float. In Figure 1 it illustrates the connection

between hairs adsorption qualities and the density of the oil. The Adsorption theory

states that absorption is where a liquid is soaked up into something like a sponge, cloth

or filter paper. Adsorption refers to individual molecules, atoms or ions gathering on

surfaces. The surface of a material is made up of atoms and bonds that are exposed to

the air. For example, the surface of a piece of glass will be covered in silicon and

oxygen atoms. Molecules or ions can interact with this surface via intermolecular

interactions. This allows them to ‘stick’, or adsorb, to the surface. If a material has a

very high surface area, then lots of molecules can stick to the surface. Therefore,

changing the surface area or the thickness of the product results in more oil absorbed.

Significance of the Study

This study is aimed to provide valuable information on human hair as an oil spill

absorbent, on how we can solve oil spill pollution by using human hair as absorptions of

an oil spill.

For the fishermen, human hair as an oil spill absorbent may help them reduce oil spill

in the sea.

For the community, help lessen the pollution in our country.

Future researcher, this is a big help to future researcher because it serve as their

guide in making their first research.

THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

MAIN OBJECTIVE

The main objective is to optimize the thickness that can be used to improve the

absorptive capacity of human hair based absorbent. It seeks to find an answer to the

following sub-problems.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE

1. What is the estimated amount of oil (L) that can be absorbed by the absorbents

applied with the following:

a. Prototype A- 4mm

b. Prototype B- 6mm

c. Prototype C- 8mm

2. Is there a significant difference among prototypes A, B & C in absorbing the oil?

3. Is there a significant relationship between the hair boom thickness and the oil

absorbed?

4. Based on the findings, are hair booms adequate enough to be and as on alternative

oil absorbent?

Statement of Hypothesis

It’s there a significant difference among prototypes A, B, and C in absorbing the oil?
H a : There is a significant relationship between the prototypes (thickness of the hair) in

absorbing the oil.

H 0: There is no significant relationship between the prototypes (thickness of the hair) in

absorbing the oil.

Definition of Terms

Oil spill- oil discharged accidentally or intentionally, that floats on the surface of the

water bodies as a discrete mass and is carried by the wind, currents and tides.

Hair- a protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within

the dermis

Crude oil- unrefined petroleum

Oil- a thick, black liquid that comes from the ground and that is used in making

various products.

Density- mass of a unit volume of a material substance. The formula for density is d =

M/V, where d is density, M is mass, and V is volume. Density is commonly expressed in

units of grams per cubic centimeter.

Methods and Design

In this research it studies the human hair as an oil spill absorbent. It is a quantitative

experimental research that shows to provide a solution to our environment. The

experiment took place in Calceta Tagbilaran City. The independent variables are

manufacturing technique, The amount of hair, the way the hair is used, while the

dependent variables is the amount of oil absorb per kilo of hair. It is conducted with a

manipulated and controller domain. The goal of the study is to know the right prototype

or thickness that can absorb more than 8L of used oil by measuring the used oil and

sea water.

Methods in Creating Product

The main materials: Human hair collected from I Love Cut in Tagbilaran City and used

oil bought from Denz Vulcanizing Shop on Brunil Drive Dao, Tagbilaran City, and

Tapped Seawater was used for all experimentation. The process starts by measuring

the mass (1kg) of the hair and putting it in the pantyhose with a different prototype or

thickness. Using the weighing scale, it measures the weight of the containers, mass (L)

of the seawater, mass (L) of the used oil, and measures the seawater with the used oil.

After the measuring process, it is time to soak the hair booms in seawater with oil, to

absorb the used oil. The hair booms absorbed the used oil but not all of it. Based on the

observations, it depends on the thickness of the hair booms so that it can absorb a lot of

used oil. After the process of absorption, it measures the new mass of seawater with oil,

and the rest of the used oil that the hair did not absorb is put in the refrigerator for 5-10

minutes separating the oil from the seawater solution enabling us to calculate the

remaining oil left after the extraction.

Methods in Measuring Variable

•Water Absorption

Different absorbents have been developed as reliable absorbents for oil removal from

water surface. This review focused on several studies and compared different sorbents

and applicability of these materials in oil spill removal. An appropriate absorbent

material must show up high hydrophobicity and oleophilicity, low water uptake capacity

(high oil/water selectivity), high buoyancy, high oil sorption capacity, low cost and easily

availability. In another contest, the review showed that the researchers have been

proved to have high potential application in the fields of oil-water separation, with a

number of advantages, including strong mechanical properties, rapid sorption rates,

high sorbent capacity and engineered surface chemistry. In this format the hair absorb

the oil 98% in 1 liter that pour in the water, therefore the potential of the hair as

absorbent is very high. We freeze the water solution that has the remaining oil and

scoop the oil after it freezes and put it in a small jar.

Methods in Processing Data to Answer Research Questions

The researchers collect data analysis by manual methods to justify the research

questions. Researchers observe how the hair absorbs oil spills and collect data analysis

one by one. Experiments explain that less oil will remain. In this research, observers

have already quantified the quantity of variables being observed.

Project Cost Analysis

The table below shows the total cost of materials needed.

Particulars Unit Quantity Cost(php) Total

Stocking Pair 5 P25.00 P125.00

Used oil Liters 6 P41.67 P250.00

Plastic gloves Pack 1 P45.00 P45.00

Fare 32 P20.00 P640.00

Foods P100.00 P100.00

TOTAL P1160.00

Project Time Frame

The table below shows the time frame of how the research is conducted.

Date Time Interval Task

September 23, 2022 8:00pm-10:00pm Formulation of Research Topic

September 28, 2022 8:00pm- 10:00pm Finalization of Research Topic

October 3, 2022 9:00am-11:00pm Constructing the statement of the

problem

October 6, 2022 7:00pm- 9:00 pm Constructing the statement of the

problem

October 12, 2022 9:00am- 3:00pm Revision of the Statement of the

problem

October 15, 2022 9:00am-3:00pm Constructing a Conceptual Frame

Work

October 23, 2022 9:00am-11:00am Making a Rationale of the study

October 26, 2022 8:00pm- 12:00pm Making a Legal Basis

November 15, 2022 9:00pm-10:00pm Constructing Background Literature

November 18, 2022 9:00am-11:00am Making Methods in Creating Products

References

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jwm/2014/498018/
https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/oil-spills

https://www.marineinsight.com/environment/10-methods-for-oil-spill-cleanup-at-sea/

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matter/wilderness-

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479712001727
M., Amro, “Treatment Techniques of Oil-Contaminated Soil and Water Aquifers”,

International Conf. on Water Resources & Arid Environment, (2004).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zz3sT_VCAAs&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=k8fsVzyj-

PA&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR32GiZ2GdMoQ_HkQrB1R4aRr7t1dlJPM-

85Fc4nn1gapgn3ukmwWhqPzsY

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213343715000330