MAGNETIC-CONTROLLED SORBENT FOR WATER SURFACE CLEANING FROM OIL POLLUTION

Abstract

The modern structure of industry, outdated technologies form a wide range of environmental problems and sharply worsen the ecological situation. Various methods are used to clean water sources from oil spills: mechanical, thermal, physicochemical, biological. Among the available alternatives, oil sorbents are considered as one the most economical, efficient and environmentally friendly materials because oils can be properly absorbed by oil sorbents without causing secondary water pollution. The purpose of the research is to study the possibility of obtaining an effective magnetically controlled sorption material for cleaning the water surface from oil spills. Research objectives are to analyze the composition of electric arc steel-smelting furnaces (EASSF) dust; conduct research on the hydrophobization EASSF dust  with paraffin; determine the optimal proportions of dust and hydrophobizator, which allow the material to maintain buoyancy and magnetic susceptibility; evaluate the interaction of the obtained material with an oil spills on water surface. The dust sample elemental composition was obtained using the ARL9900 Intellipower Workstation. The sorption material was prepared as follows: the EASSF dust was mixed with a sample of paraffin, then it was heated to 105 °C in an oven, mixed, and cooled to a temperature of 20 °C. The true density was determined by the pycnometric method. The method ASTM D2854-70 «Standard Test Method for Apparent Density of Activated Carbons» was used to determine the bulk density. Electric steelmaking waste was used as a magnetically susceptible component. Studies have been carried out on its hydrophobization with paraffin for possible use in water treatment. With the waste : paraffin ratio of 1 : 0.07, a material with high hydrophobicity and buoyancy was obtained. Tests for thickening and extracting a crude oil spill from water surface proved the promise of using the obtained material for cleaning water from oil pollution.