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The Use of Natural Sorbents for Spilled Crude Oil and Diesel Cleanup from the Water Surface

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Abstract

Oil spills impose serious damage to the environment. A spilled crude oil or its products affect aquatic flora and fauna and influence the atmosphere as well. Such pollutants are especially dangerous for the water ecosystems, where biological self-purification processes are slower (for example the Baltic Sea), than in warmer regions. In this paper, we evaluate a sorption capacity of ecologically friendly natural sorbents, when the crude oil and diesel are spilled on the surface of water. The experiments are carried out in the laboratory, and the water from the Lithuanian Baltic Sea coastline and Curonian Lagoon is used. Moss, straw, wool, sawdust, and peat are the natural sorbents evaluated during the experiments. Chromatographic analysis of crude oil and diesel during the process of sorption was conducted as well. An experiment with some synthetic sorbents was carried out to compare the results with natural ones. The experiments showed that the most suitable material for crude oil or diesel fuel spilled on the water surface is peat. As well, Lagergren’s model was adopted to the case of the sorption processes we have investigated. It can be exploited as a decision support tool while deciding the required time interval to achieve maximum sorption capacity of the sorbent in use.

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Notes

  1. Apparent density of material that can be poured from a specified funnel.

  2. It describes the sorbent hydrophobicity (ASTM F-726-99 “Standard Method of Testing—Sorbent Performance of Adsorbents”)

  3. Prepared in accordance with ISO 9377-2:2000 (E): Water quality. Petroleum hydrocarbons index determination. 2: Solvent extraction and gas chromatography.

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Acknowledgment

This work is supported by the Lithuanian National Science project “Technological and environmental research development in Lithuanian marine sector,” grant no. VP1-3.1-SMM-08-K-01-019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Technological Processes, Klaipėda University, Bijūnų St. 17, 91225, Klaipeda, Lithuania

    T. Paulauskienė & I. Jucikė

  2. Department of Computer Science, Klaipėda University, Herkaus Manto St. 84, 92294, Klaipeda, Lithuania

    N. Juščenko & D. Baziukė

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  1. T. Paulauskienė
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  2. I. Jucikė
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  3. N. Juščenko
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  4. D. Baziukė
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Correspondence to D. Baziukė.

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Paulauskienė, T., Jucikė, I., Juščenko, N. et al. The Use of Natural Sorbents for Spilled Crude Oil and Diesel Cleanup from the Water Surface. Water Air Soil Pollut 225, 1959 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-014-1959-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-014-1959-0

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