Investigation of the effectiveness of some adsorbent materials in oil spill clean-ups

The adsorption capacity was examined of three different types of materials: a sludge which is mainly composed of calcium aluminum silicate and formed in water clarification and filtration and in dissolved air floatation units in petroleum refineries and thermal power stations, and garlic and onion peel as agricultural wastes. Results showed that the adsorption capacities of the chemically treated sludge with 30 μg/mL dodecyl benzene sulphonic acid, untreated sludge and the thermally treated sludge at 1200°C are 2, 1.388 and 0.8 g/g respectively, while, garlic and onion peels have adsorption capacities of 0.385 and 0.455 g/g respectively. These results were obtained by placing 0.6 g crude oil on a saline solution - 750 mL of 0.5 M NaCl at 30°C with different weights of the adsorbents for 90, 90, 90, 30 and 30 s for each, respectively. Characteristics of the crude oil and sludge were investigated by FTIR, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, pour point and centrifuge instruments.