Treatment of oil spills using organo-fly ash

Crude oil released to the marine environment through accidental spillage or drainage from land causes serious damage to the environment and marine life. Treatment of oil spills remains a challenge to environmental scientists and technologists. Sorption is a popular technique applied for treatment of oil spillage. In this paper, the potential of fly ash, a thermal power plant waste organically modified using the cationic surfactant, hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA), to remove crude oil and weathered oil contaminated seawater (WOCS) was investigated. The efficacy of the surface modification of fly ash (FA) by HDTMA is demonstrated. The results presented and discussed in this work pointed out that the modified fly ash (HDTMA-FA) could successfully be used to remove fresh as well as weathered crude oil.