Abstract
This study was conducted to use nanoclay as an adsorbent for waste oil treatment and removal of oil contaminants from aquatic environments. Nanoclay was dispersed in a polyurethane foam bed. The results of morphological and structural investigation revealed that by adding nanoclay, the regular structure of the foam was decreased compared with the pure polyurethane foam and the diameter of the cells was increased. The presence of the nanoclay was also confirmed by the FTIR analysis, and the possibility of nanoparticle distribution was analyzed by XRD. To perform the experiments, a vessel was built to hold the adsorbent. The emulsions of crude oil with different concentrations were made and passed through the vessel containing 35 g of adsorbent with different flow rates. The proper flow rate and concentration of crude oil in the input feed were optimized by 50 L/hour and 500 mg/L, respectively. After performing the adsorption process, the turbidity analysis was firstly performed on the samples and the proper samples were then analyzed by COD, TOC, and TOG/TPH. The results of the LPSA analysis indicated that the diameter of the dispersed phase particles in the input feed was between 0.3 and 5 μm. The results of TOG/TPH analysis showed that the removal efficiency of oil, grease, and hydrocarbons both reached about 99% and the efficiency of COD and TOC both reached 94%. The experiment was also performed on the removal of diesel fuel from the aquatic environment, and the results of COD and turbidity analyses showed an efficiency of 96% and 98%, respectively.
Egyptian crude oil sorbent based on coated polyurethane foam waste