Sorbents Made of Cross-Linked Collagen and Styrene–Divinylbenzene Copolymers for Oil Spill Response

Abstract

A comparative study of the sorption properties of sorbents composed of highly porous copolymers of styrene and divinylbenzene with an average pore size from 3.5 to 44 μm and macroporous sorbents composed of cross-linked collagen of an average size of ~80 μm for petroleum feedstock and petroleum products of a wide viscosity range from 15 to 11450 mPa s was performed. Using scanning electron microscopy and densitometry, it was found that all sorbents possess high porosity, exceeding 90 vol %. The rate of sorption and the sorption capacity significantly depend on the viscosity of the petroleum feedstock and the sorbent structure. It was shown that, for the rapid collection of petroleum feedstock, it is preferable to use sorbents made of cross-linked collagen C-80, which most quickly absorbs petroleum feedstock of different viscosities. Even in the extraction of highly viscous fuel oil, sorbent capacity of 9.4 g/g was achieved in approximately 1 min. Moreover, the rate of oil feedstock sorption by the C-80 sorbent is higher than the rate of water sorption. If the oil film on the water surface is very thin, it is worth using sorbents composed of styrene and divinylbenzene copolymers. Under the conditions of a prolonged contact with a contaminated water surface, it is recommended to use the SD-4 sorbent, the sorption rate of which varies in the range from 0.35 to 0.12 kg/(m² s) in extracting oil of a viscosity of 15 to 1370 mPa s; this sorbent is additionally characterized by the highest capacity of up to 28–30 g/g. If a more rapid extraction of oil feedstock from the water surface is required, sorbents with a larger pore size can be used. However, one should take into account the viscosity of the sorbed liquid because of a possibility of the competitive sorption of water.