Treatment of Oil Spills and Oily Wastewater by Using some Local Agricultural Wastes.

Document Type : Research Studies

Author

Associate Professor., Mathematics and Physics Engineering Department., Faculty of Engineering., El-Mansoura University., Mansoura., Egypt.

Abstract

Set of tests were conducted using bagasse pith, rice straw, and rice hulls as sorbents for the removal of crude oil, cotton-seed oil, and kerosene present as spills or run-off either on solid surfaces or on bodies of water. Tests were conducted under static conditions at ambient temperature and pressure. These materials were effective within minutes, easily picked up, and easy to handle thereafter. Results indicated that over 95% of the spilled liquid can be removed by using the appropriate mass of the tested material. This mass depends upon type of spilled liquid, type of sorbent used, whether the spilled liquid is on a solid surface or on a body of water, and on the degree of salinity of that water, the operating flexibility inherent to this technique, the local availability and cheapness of the tested materials, the potential use of these materials to remove other oily wastes of various chemical natures and physical forms, and the feasibility of using the exhausted materials as a fuel, makes the obtained results promising and interesting.

Main Subjects