Conference PaperPDF Available

An Evaluation of the Adsorptive Properties of Coconut Husk for Oil Spill Cleanup

February 2015

February 2015

DOI:10.15224/978-1-63248-040-8-38

Conference: International Conference on Advances in Applied Science and Environmental Technology - ASET 2015
At: Bangkok, Thailand

Authors:

Augustine Ifelebuegu

Victoria University Kampala

The removal of vegetable oil and diesel fuel from seawater using waste coconut coir was investigated by batch adsorption experiments at varying sorbent doses and temperatures. Maximum adsorption capacities of 7231 and 6530 mg/g were achieved for the adsorption of vegetable oil and diesel fuel, respectively. The water adsorbency was relatively high at 6540 mg/g which is a limitation in its potential field application for oil spill cleanup. The maximum adsorption capacities improved significantly by up to 22% with a corresponding reduction in water adsorbency when coconut husk was impregnated with human hair. The adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo second order kinetic model and fitted to the Freundlich adsorption isotherm model. The sorption capacity was found to decrease with increasing temperatures. This work demonstrated that with adequate modifications to improve its hydrophobicity, coconut coir can potentially provide a low cost environmentally friendly adsorbent for oil spill cleanup.

Adsorption Rate of coconut coir in vegetable oil and 0 diesel fuel at temperature 25oC ± 2 C. The bars represent

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Adsorption capacities of coconut coir and coconut o coil human hair blends, in vegetable oil and diesel fuel at 25 C

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Content may be subject to copyright.

Proc. of the Intl. Conf. on Advances in Applied science and Environmental Technology - ASET 2015.

ISBN: 978-1-63248-040-8 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-040-8- 38

An Evaluation of the Adsorptive Properties of

Coconut Husk for Oil Spill Cleanup

Augustine Osamor Ifelebuegu and Zenebu Momoh

Abstract-The removal of vegetable oil and diesel fuel from

seawater using waste coconut coir was investigated by

batch adsorption experiments at varying sorbent doses and

temperatures. Maximum adsorption capacities of 7231 and

6530 mg/g were achieved for the adsorption of vegetable

oil and diesel fuel, respectively. The water adsorbency was

relatively high at 6540 mg/g which is a limitation in its

potential field application for oil spill cleanup. The

maximum adsorption capacities improved significantly by

up to 22% with a corresponding reduction in water

adsorbency when coconut husk was impregnated with

human hair. The adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo

second order kinetic model and fitted to the Freundlich

adsorption isotherm model. The sorption capacity was

found to decrease with increasing temperatures. This work

demonstrated that with adequate modifications to improve

its hydrophobicity, coconut coir can potentially provide a

low cost environmentally friendly adsorbent for oil spill

cleanup.

Keywords—coconut coir, Adsorption capacity, oil spill

I. Introduction

Massive oil spills have often occurred as a result of

exploration, production, storage and transportation of oil

catalysed by the high demand for oil by the growing world

population. When oil spill occurs, it has an adverse impact on

the environment, economy, humans and biota [1, 2], hence, the

need for prompt cleanup after a spillage. One of the effective

ways of achieving this is mechanical recovery by adsorbents.

Adsorbents are insoluble materials or mixtures of materials

applied to recover liquids by the mechanisms of absorption or

adsorption. In absorption, molecules of the adsorbate penetrate

the adsorbent while in adsorption, the molecules of the

adsorbate bind to the outer surface of the adsorbent without

penetrating into it [3, 4]. Studies have shown that adsorption

of oil by adsorbents is closely connected to their functional

properties and surface morphology. Adsorbents can adsorb oil

because of their ability to selectively remove resinous, sulphur

containing compounds, unsaturated and polycyclic materials

as well as organic residues of sulphuric acid and solvents from

oil [5]. Important functional groups responsible for oil uptake

include O-H, N-H, C-O and C=O groups [3]. The influence of

surface morphology on adsorption can be seen in excellent

adsorbents like kapok and populous seeds whose hollow

structures coated with wax provide a large surface area for

adsorption [6, 7, 8].

Authors: A. O Ifelebuegu, Z. Momoh Coventry University

United Kingdom

A.Ifelebuegu@coventry.ac.uk

Adsorbents are of three main types namely; natural inorganic

sorbents, natural organic sorbents and synthetic sorbents.

Synthetic adsorbents are commonly used as commercial

adsorbents for oil spill cleanup as they are hydrophobic and

oleophilic. However, their cost and non-biodegradable nature

has necessitated the search for alternatives that are cost

effective, abundant in nature and eco-friendly. The use of

coconut coir is investigated in this study with a view to

evaluating their suitability as potential substitutes for synthetic

adsorbents in booms, for oil spill cleanup.

Coconut coir is an agricultural waste obtained from the fibrous

mesocarp layer of the coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) fruit [9]. It

contains 38% cellulose, 28 % hemicellulose and 32.8% lignin.

Functional groups such as -OH and fibre carbonaceous CxOH

present on its surface are dissociated at specific pH values and

facilitate the uptake of positively charged metal ions from

aqueous solution. Its lignin content plays a vital role its

capacity to adsorb organic substances from aqueous solutions

[10].

II. Materials and Methods

A. Materials

The coconut husk used in this experiment was purchased from

the local store in Coventry. It was then pulverised, washed and

dried in the oven. Human hair used was also collected from a

local barbing salon. The human hair was of African origin, it

was washed with detergent and hot water and dried prior to

use. Samples of the dried adsorbents are shown in figures 1 a

& b. The vegetable oil was purchased from Sainsbury

Supermarket, the diesel fuel from Esso, Coventry, UK.

Artificial sea water was prepared as has been previously

described in Kester et al. 1967 [11].

a b

Figure 1(a) coconut coir (b) Human hair

Proc. of the Intl. Conf. on Advances in Applied science and Environmental Technology - ASET 2015.

ISBN: 978-1-63248-040-8 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-040-8- 38

B. Batch Experiments

Adsorption experiments were conducted in seawater. 20 g of

vegetable oil and diesel fuel were poured into separate 500 ml

conical flask with 200 ml of sea water. Varying amounts of the

sorbents were added with a 60 mins contact time following the

ASTM F 726-99 standard methods for testing oil spill sorbents

[12]. Water adsorbency was also measured following the same

method. Oil concentrations were measured based on US-EPA

method 1664 [13]. Oil adsorption capacities (mg/g) were

obtained from the following equation:

(1)

Where Xo is the total mass of wet sorbent after oil adsorption

and Xs is the mass of the adsorbent before adsorption. All

experiments were conducted at room temperature (25oC ±

20C) and carried out in triplicate with the average value and

standard deviation (SD) calculated. Sample data with SD

greater than 10% were rejected with a re-run of the test carried

out.

III. Results and Discussions

A. Effect of Contact Time on Adsorption

Capacity of Coconut Coir

The effects of contact time on the adsorption capacity of

coconut coir for vegetable oil and diesel fuel and are

illustrated in Figure 2. It can be seen that there was a rapid

increase in the retention of vegetable oil and diesel fuel in the

first 5 minutes and thereafter proceeded at a slower rate and

finally attained equilibrium at about 60 minutes. The initial

high retention rate of the adsorbates can be attributed to the

existence of bare active sites on coconut coir. As portions of

these sites got occupied with molecules of diesel fuel and

vegetable with increasing contact time, the adsorption rate

became slower until the 60th minute when there was no more

significant adsorption due to the saturation of the surfaces of

coconut husk and hence an equilibrium between adsorption

and desorption processes [8].

Figure 2. Adsorption Rate of coconut coir in vegetable oil and

diesel fuel at temperature 25oC ± 20C. The bars represent

standard deviation of the mean.

B. Oil/Water Adsorbency of Coconut

Coir

The oil and water adsorbency for coconut husk and varying

combination of coconut husk and human hair are shown in the

figure 3. It can be seen that coconut husk has a comparatively

good oil adsorption properties but also has a high water

adsorbency which could be a limiting factor in potential field

application. It can also be seen that the oil adsorbency

increased significantly with decreased water adsorbency when

modified by blending it with human hair. The increased oil

adsorbency and lower water adsorbency of the coconut coir

impregnated with human hair are due to the higher

oleophilicity and hydrophobicity of human hair. A ratio of

adsorbency to water adsorbency greater than one is often

considered a good characteristic for oil adsorbents. This ratio

was greater than one fpr vegetable oil adsorption to coconut

coir but less than one for diesel fuel. It was however,

significantly improved above one for both vegetable oil and

diesel fuel when coconut coir was impregnated with human

hair. Table 1 shows the reported adsorption capacity for other

similar adsorbents and how coconut husk compares. It can be

seen it compares favorably with some alternative adsorbents.

A drawback to its use in oil spill cleanup is its high water

absorbency which can be significantly reduced with increase

in oil adsorbency by modification, to increase its oleophilicity

and hydrophobicity.

Figure 3. Adsorption capacities of coconut coir and coconut

coil human hair blends, in vegetable oil and diesel fuel at 25oC

± 20C. The bars represent standard deviation of the mean.

Table 1: Types of adsorbents, adsorbates and their

adsorption capacities

Types of

adsorbent

Adsorbate

Adsorption

capacity

(mg/g)

Reference

Activated sugar

bagasse

Machine oil

20,000

[15]

Acetylated banana

Machine oil

18,012

[16]

Proc. of the Intl. Conf. on Advances in Applied science and Environmental Technology - ASET 2015.

ISBN: 978-1-63248-040-8 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-040-8- 38

Polypropylene

(commercial

sorbent)

Crude oil

9100-10,000

[17]

Organoclay

Diesel

7200

[18]

Treated sludge

Crude oil

2000

[10]

Modified oil palm

leaves

Vegetable

oil

646

[19]

Human hair

Vegetable

oil

Crude oil

Diesel fuel

9300

8100

7917

[20]

Coconut coir

Vegetable

oil

Diesel fuel

7231

6530

This study

Coconut coir and

human hair (3:1)

Vegetable

oil

Diesel fuel

8333

7705

This study

Coconut coir and

human hair (1:1)

Vegetable

oil

Diesel fuel

8814

7916

This study

C. Adsorption Kinetics and Isotherms

The adsorption kinetics was investigated for coconut coir by

using the pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order

adsorption models as proposed by Lagergren, 1898 [21] and

can be expressed linearly as:

Log (Ce-Ct) = Log Ce- k1 (2)

2.303

t/Ct = 1/k2*C 2+t/Ce (3)

Pseudo-first order plot of Log (Ce-Ct) against t should give a

linear relationship from which k1 in (min-1) can be calculated

from the slope of the graph. A plot of t/Ct will give a rate

constant k2 (mg g-1min-1) for pseudo-second order kinetics.

Table 2 presents the constant values and correlation

coefficients R2 of both pseudo-first order and pseudo-second

order kinetic models for adsorption of vegetable oil and diesel

fuel onto coconut coir. The kinetic plots showed a good fit of

sorption equilibrium data with respect to pseudo-second order

on the basis of the correlation coefficient. This suggests the

possibility of chemisorption as the rate controlling step.

Table 2. Result obtained from pseudo first order and pseudo

second order kinetic modeling of the adsorption of diesel and

vegetable oil by coconut coir

Pseudo-first order

Pseudo-second

order

Diesel oil

0.349

0.024

0.984

0.034

Vegetable oil

0.591

0.024

0.983

0.005

The equilibrium data obtained in the isotherm study was

analysed using the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption

isotherm models. The linear form of the Langmuir isotherm is

expressed in equation 4 as:

where:

X – the mass of adsorbate

M – the mass of adsorbent

Ce – the concentration of solute remaining at equilibrium in

mg/l

a, b – the constants. a is coefficient and b is the amount of

adsorbate needed to form a complete monolayer on the

adsorbent surface and so increases with molecular size. A plot

of (1/(X/M)) against (1/Ce) gave a straight line.

Also the linearised form of the Fruendlich isotherm is

expressed in equation 5:

where:

X – the mass of adsorbate

M – the mass of adsorbent

Ce – the concentration of solute remaining at equilibrium in

mg/l

kf and n – constants derived from the adsorption isotherm by

plotting (X/M) against Ce on log-log paper which produces a

straight line with a slope 1/n while the y intercept is kf.

The results of the isotherm study showed a good fit of the

Freundlich model, indicating that sorption of the oils onto

coconut coir occurred on heterogeneous sites with non-

uniform distribution of energy level rather than on

homogenous sites.

D. Effect of Ttemperature on Adsorption

of Crude Oil by Coconut Coir

The effect of temperature on the uptake efficiency of crude oil

by coconut coir was investigated at varying temperatures of

18, 28, 38 and 480C.The results of the adsorption capacities at

varying temperatures is illustrated in figure 4. It can be seen

that the oil retention efficiency by coconut husk decreased

with increasing temperatures. The decrease in adsorption of oil

from aqueous media as the temperature of the media increases

may be due to the fact that its solubility in water increases, its

viscosity decreases making it drain off sorbent’s surface

easily. In addition, its Brownian motion increases, hence

increasing the energy required to bind the oil to the surface of

the coconut coir [22, 23].

Proc. of the Intl. Conf. on Advances in Applied science and Environmental Technology - ASET 2015.

ISBN: 978-1-63248-040-8 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-040-8- 38

Figure 4. Effect of temperature on the sorption capacity of

coconut coir. The bars represent standard deviation of the

mean.

IV. Conclusion

The adsorption capacity of coconut coir was evaluated to

determine its applicability as an oil spill adsorbent. Adsorption

capacities of 7231 and 6530 mg/g were achieved for pure

coconut coir for the adsorption of vegetable oil and diesel fuel,

respectively. The ratio of oil adsorbency to water adsorbency

was greater than 1 for vegetable oil and less than 1 for diesel

fuel. With the impregnation of coconut coir with human hair,

water adsorbency was reduced and adsorption capacities for

vegetable oil and diesel fuel increased to 8814 and 7916 mg/g,

respectively. The adsorption capacities for both vegetable and

diesel fuel were inversely related to temperature. The

adsorption kinetic followed a pseudo-second order kinetic

model. With the modification of coconut coir to reduce its

water adsorbency, it could potentially be used as a low- cost

adsorbent for the cleanup of oil spills in oily water.

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Utilization of Reformed Coconut Fiber and Banana Stem Fibre as Green Oil Sorbent

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2022

Oil spillage is one of the significant wellsprings of contamination. It can happen in both land and water. Their expulsion from marine and land environment is regularly difficult. This investigation considers the utilization of coconut and banana stem fibers as a feasible sorbent material for marine and land oil spill recuperation. Coconut and banana stem fibers have lumens, which increases their specific surface area available for oil sorption. These fibers are cheap and have low bulk density, which makes them reasonable for oil spill recuperation. Moisture content in coconut and banana stem fiber were found to be 4.44% and 5.44%, respectively. The oil sorption limit of coconut and banana stem fiber was improved by coating it with chitosan. The treated fibers showed a considerable enhancement in oil sorption capacity for coconut fiber (9.87%) and banana stem fiber (6.59%), according to the results. The characterization of the natural and coated fibers was completed utilizing scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Moisture content and oil sorption limit of the fibers were estimated. The test has confirmed that both cocont and banana stem fibers can be utilized as a potential sorbent material for oil spillage tidy up.

Spent coffee grounds biochar from torrefaction as a potential adsorbent for spilled diesel oil recovery and as an alternative fuel

Article

Jan 2022
ENERGY

A new approach using torrefied spent coffee grounds (TSCG) as a bioadsorbent is presented for marine oil spill recovery. The adsorbent after diesel adsorption is referred to as “oilchar”. The torrefaction of spent coffee grounds (SCG) is performed at 200, 250, and 300 °C where the solid yields are 95%, 80%, and 62%, respectively. The specific surface area, hydrophobicity, thermal stability, diesel adsorption capacity of SCG increases with increasing torrefaction temperature. SCG torrefied at 300 °C (300-TSCG) can intensify its specific surface area, contact angle, crystallinity, diesel adsorption capacity by factors of 7.6 folds, 10.3%, 35%, and 1.47 times, respectively. The diesel adsorption capacity of 300-TSCG is 1.36 times that of commercial activated carbon. The higher heating value of 300-TSCG is 30.32 MJ kg⁻¹, accounting for a 45.1% improvement compared with that of untorrefied SCG. After adsorbing diesel, the HHV of the oilchar from 300-TSCG is 1.23 times that of SCG-oilchar, while the ignition temperature of 300-TSCG decreases from 301 to 157 °C. Overall, TSCG is a promising material to adsorb spilled diesel oil for environmental protection, and the resultant oilchar is a potential alternative fuel for thermal power plants and steel mills, thereby achieving waste reuse and circular economy.

Oil Sorption Performance of Sorbent Materials Examined Under Static and Dynamic Conditions

Article

Aug 2021

Oil spill cleanup and subsequent restoration of the environment is majorly a function of spill cleanup methods applied. Some of these methods, though efficient, are, however, very expensive and require more personnel for their application and relative deployment in the field. The study was aimed at examining the efficiency of a locally and readily available, eco-friendly and low cost agricultural waste (coconut husk coir) as sorbent materials for spilled engine oil cleanup under static and dynamic marine water conditions. The sorbent material was prepared and used in three forms: raw coconut husk coir (CHC), modified coconut husk coir (MCHC), and reused coconut husk coir (RCHC). Under static and dynamic marine water conditions, oil sorption batch equilibrium experiments were used to study the engine oil sorption capacity and efficiency of the sorbent. Effects of sorbent dosage and sorption times on the oil sorption and efficiency of CHC, MCHC, and RCHC were studied and determined. At a constant sorption time of 60 minutes and varying sorbent dosages of 2-8 /320 ml of engine oil-marine water concentration, MCHC exhibited the highest oil sorption efficiency of 61.18% and 44.33% for dynamic and static conditions, CHC had 55.61% and 38.50% for dynamic and static conditions, whereas RCHC had 41.66% and 26.04% for dynamic and static conditions, respectively. It is statistically deduced from the results that sorption times and sorbent dosages have significant effects on the sorption efficiency of experimental coir for spilled engine oil removal. Though there is a need for proper blending or modifications of the sorbent material to enhance its affinity to oil and hydrophobicity, there are enough potentials in the materials for mild marine water current spilled engine oil cleanup.

Recovery of Waste Polyurethane from E-Waste—Part I: Investigation of the Oil Sorption Potential

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2021

The shredding of end-of-life refrigerators produces every year in Italy 15,000 tons of waste polyurethane foam (PUF), usually destined for energy recovery. This work presents the results of the investigation of the oil sorption potential of waste PUF according to ASTM F726–17 standard. Three oils (diesel fuel and two commercial motor oils) having different densities (respectively, 0.83, 0.87, and 0.88 kg/dm3) and viscosities (respectively, 3, 95, and 140 mm2/s at 40 °C) were considered. The waste PUF was sampled in an Italian e-waste treatment plant, and its characterization showed 16.5 wt% particles below 0.71 mm and 13 wt% impurities (paper, plastic, aluminum foil), mostly having dimensions (d) above 5 mm. Sieving at 0.071 mm was applied to the waste PUF to obtain a “coarse” (d > 0.71 mm) and a “fine” fraction (d < 0.71 mm). Second sieving at 5 mm allowed an “intermediate” fraction to be obtained, with dimensions between 0.71 and 5 mm. The oil sorption tests involved the three fractions of waste PUF, and their performances were compared with two commercial oil sorbents (sepiolite and OKO-PUR). The results of the tests showed that the “fine” PUF was able to retain 7.1–10.3 g oil/g, the “intermediate” PUF, 4.2–7.4 g oil/g, and the “coarse” PUF, 4.5–7.0 g oil/g, while sepiolite and OKO-PUR performed worse (respectively, 1.3–1.6 and 3.3–5.3 g oil/g). In conclusion, compared with the actual management of waste PUF (100 wt% sent to energy recovery), the amount destined directly to energy recovery could be limited to 13 wt% (i.e., the impurities). The remaining 87 wt% could be diverted to reuse for oil sorption, and afterward directed to energy recovery, considered as a secondary option.

Isotherm and Kinetics Study of Biosorption of Cationic Dye onto Banana Peel

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2012

Today there are a lot of dyes available commercially. They are used in many industries such as food, paper, carpet, rubber, plastics, cosmetics and textiles. Its can be classified as follows: anionic (direct, acid and reactive dyes), cationic (basic dyes) and non-ionic (dispersive dyes). Removal of a basic dye, methylene blue, from an aqueous solution was studied by biosorption on banana and orange Peels waste. The biosorbent was chemically modified. To mentioned functional groups in order to determine their contribution to the adsorption of dyes. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was investigated. Kinetic study is also carried out to observe the effects of various process parameters. The maximum values of adsorption capacities for activated banana peel (ABP) was 19,671 mg/g and 18,647 mg/g for natural banana peel (NBP) at pH 4–8, 20°C. The results follow kinetic of pseudo second-order rate equation. The suitability of the adsorbent was tested by fitting the adsorption data with four isotherms, namely Freundlich, Langmuir and Temkin. The characteristic parameters for each isotherm have been determined. The Freundlich equation represented the best fit of experimental data for activated banana peel (ABP) than the other isotherm equations, and Langmuir equation described the adsorption of natural biosorbent (NBP). It was observed that activated banana peel was a suitable adsorbent than other for removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions.

Oil removal from aqueous state by natural fibrous sorbent: An overview

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2013
SEP PURIF TECHNOL

The threat of oil pollution increases with the expansion of oil exploration and production activities, as well as the industrial growth around the world. The study on the treatment of oily wastewater is a critical issue to the environmental protection as oil caused problems to the wastewater treatment facilities. Although oil particles can efficiently be removed by advanced technologies, the treatments are usually expensive and difficult to maintain. Adsorption and coalescence filtration are promising choice of treatment for its simplicity, effectiveness, and feasibility when appropriate sorbent is used. This review discusses the recent papers on the use of natural fibrous sorbent for removal of oil from wastewater, and its current development. With their excellent oil removal properties, environmental friendliness, easy availability, and feasibility, natural fibrous sorbents are an attractive alternative for oily wastewater treatment.

Sorption kinetics and intra particulate diffusivity of crude oil on kenaf plant parts

Article

Jan 2007

Zur theorie der sogenannten adsorption gelöster stoffe [about the theory of so-called adsorption of soluble substances]. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens

Article

S. Lagergren

Vetenskapsakad, About the theory of so-called adsorption of soluble substances

Article

Kamperhoff Sven

Liquid-phase sorption characteristics of human hair as a natural oil spill sorbent

Article

Feb 2015

Waste lubricating oil treatment by extraction and adsorption

Article

Mar 2013
CHEM ENG J

In this work, the recovery of base oils from waste lubricants was investigated using a novel combination of solvent extraction and adsorption on solids. The performance of six extracting solvents (n-hexane, 1-butanol, petroleum ether, 1-hexanol, carbon tetra chloride, and acetone) was evaluated experimentally. Solvent to oil ratios from 1:1 to 4:1 were also examined. This research has studied the effect of the use of KOH to enhance flocculation. The results show that 1-butanol achieved the best performance with the maximum percent sludge removal, followed by n-hexane, petroleum ether, 1-hexanol, carbon tetrachloride, and acetone. The percentage of oil sludge was found to increase with the increase of solvent to oil ratio until it reached the maximum at the ratio of 3:1. The application of an adsorption process using different adsorbent materials was investigated. Adsorbent materials such as almond shell, walnut shell, eggshell, and acid activated clay which were prepared locally were used. It was found that the acid activated clay was able to give the best conditions for treating the waste oil followed by the almond shell powder. The results from the test showed that, viscosity increased from 38.3 cst for used lube oil to 85 cst for acid/clay treatment and the flash point increase from 178 °C to 238 °C, while the density decreased from 912 to 896 kg/m3, the pour point from −6 to −13.2 °C and colour from 0.53 to 0.12. Other results from the different tests showed varying degrees of improvement with the best results obtained using the acid/clay treatment.

Preparation of Artificial Seawater

Article

Apr 1967

Modified oil palm leaves adsorbent with enhanced hydrophobicity for crude oil removal

Article

Sep 2012
CHEM ENG J

a b s t r a c t The removal of crude oil from water by lauric acid (LA) modified oil palm leaves (OPLs LA) was investigated by batch adsorption after varying pH (2–11), contact time (10–60 min), adsorbent dosage (0–52 g L À1), initial oil concentration (0–6400 mg L À1) and temperature (303–323 K). The modification significantly increased the hydrophobicity of the adsorbent, thus creating OPL LA with much better adsorption capacity for crude oil removal. The results gave the maximum adsorption capacity of 1176 ± 12.92 mg g À1 at 303 K. The significant uptake of crude oil from water was proven by FT-IR and FE-SEM analyses. The iso-therms studies revealed that the experimental data agrees with the Freundlich isotherm model. The pseudo-second-order kinetics model fitted well the experimental results. Boyd's and Reichenberg's equa-tion on adsorption dynamic revealed that the adsorption was controlled by internal transport mechanism and film-diffusion was the major mode of adsorption. The prepared adsorbent showed the potential to use as a low-cost adsorbent in oil-spill clean-up. Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Acetylation of banana fibre to improve oil absorbency

Article

Jan 2013

Oil spill leaves detrimental effects on the environment, living organisms and economy. In the present work, an attempt is made to provide an efficient, easily deployable method of cleaning up oil spills and recovering of the oil. The work reports the use of banana fibres which were acetylated for oil spill recovery. The product so formed was characterized by FT-IR, TG, SEM and its degree of acetylation was also evaluated. The extent of acetylation was measured by weight percent gain. The oil sorption capacity of the acetylated fibre was higher than that of the commercial synthetic oil sorbents such as polypropylene fibres as well as un-modified fibre. Therefore, these oil sorption-active materials which are also biodegradable can be used to substitute non-biodegradable synthetic materials in oil spill cleanup.

An Evaluation of the Adsorptive Properties of Coconut Husk for Oil Spill Cleanup

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