Separation of Crude Oil and Its Derivatives Spilled in Seawater by using Cobalt Ferrite Oxide

Oil spills can cause a wide range of impacts in the marine environment and are often portrayed by the media as ’environmental disasters’ with dire consequences predicted for the survival of marine flora and fauna. The purpose of this paper is to study the possibility of using spinel oxide (CFO) as an oil absorbent material with the aim of removing crude oil and its derivatives from aqueous solutions. Spinel oxide from cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with formula CoFe2O4 (CFO) was prepared by sol-gel method. Functional groups were also identified on the surface of the oxide using the infrared spectrum (FTIR). In addition, crude oil and its derivatives were diagnosed using FTIR, and the density and viscosity of crude oil and its derivatives at 15◦ C temperature. In this study, three samples of seawater were used from different Libyan regions (Gemens Seawater, Abo Sitta Port, Elbrega Anchorage), and Two samples of crude oil were used from different Libyan fields (Light, Medium). The samples of crude oil used at three different concentrations (0.01g, 0.03g, 0.05g). However, the oil removal was calculated for different scenarios as gm / gm and as percentage. The oil removal capabilities of the prepared absorbent were found to be 10.966 2.3651 g/g to 4.5426 ± 0.113 g/g, 31.8333 ± 5.324 g/g to 7.02053 ± 1.1271, 14.7333 ± 3.1988 g/g to 6.01 ± 0.1287 g/g, 47.1033 ± 6.0222 g/g to 9.2122 ± 2.8177, 10.8833 ± 2.1840 g/g to 4.5786 ± 0.1921 g/g, 42.96 ± 1.4046 g/g to 10.5020 ± 1.3172 g/g for Gemmens Seawater (light oil), Gemmens Seawater (medium oil), Port Abu Sitta (light oil), Port Abu Sitta (meduim oil), Elbrega Anchorage (light oil) and Elbrega Anchorage (medium oil), respectively. The results suggest that the prepared magnetic nanoparticles can be used as absorbent materials for removing oil spills from sea water especially at medium oil.