Removal of Oil Spills from Salt Water by Magnesium, Calcium Carbonates and Oxides

Magnesium, calcium carbonates and oxides that are widely used in cement industries were employed in studying sorption of petroleum oil spills from salt water at different condition parameters such as temperature, loading weight, degree of salinity. Treatment of magnesium, calcium carbonates and oxides by dodecyl benzene sulphonic acid alcohol was studied to enhance the sorption efficiency. Results obtained showed that treated MgCO3, CaCO3, MgO and CaO with dodecyl benzene sulphonic can sorb oil by 0.95, 1.25, 78, 0.56 times its weight respectively; untreated materials can sorb oil by 0.49, 0.76, 0.44, 0.32 its weight. Characteristics of crude oil and the used materials were investigated by FTIR, X – Ray Fluorescence, Inductive Coupled Plasma, Pour Point and Thermostatic Water Bath instruments. Determination of the amount of crude oil in water was done by extracting the crude oil in tricholorotrifluoroethane and measuring absorbance by FTIR spectrometer. @JASEM As the Crude oil is a very complex mixture of many different chemicals, consequently the effects of an oil spill on the marine environment is dependent on the exact nature and quantity of the oil spilled, as well as such other factors as the prevailing weather conditions and the ecological characteristics of the affected region (Doerffer, 1992; Roy, 1996). According to the complex nature of oils, they do not behave as the same in the environment. Some constituents are noted for they tendency to vaporize while others clearly prefer to bind to solids; some oil hydrocarbons extremely unreactive while other interacts with light, so they have different toxicological effects on the aquatic life and hence on human being (Rene, 1993). Many researches had been forwarded towards organic sorbents for removing oil spills from the surface of salt water such as, de-oiled petroleum asphalt bottoms (Ralph S. Wilcox, 1979), turkey’s feathers, pre-cooked puffed cereals (Emile Arseneault and Hervey Tremblay, 1990), paraffin wax (John Bartha and Gyorgy Cscapo, 1992), ground corn-cobs (Adria Brown; and West Bloomfield, 1992), synthetic polymer (Glenn R. Rink, et al., 1999), peat-moss (Annapolis Valley Peat Moss Co. Ltd., 2001), recycled wool – based non woven material (Maja, et. al., 2003) and other carbon products. Organic sorbents are loose particles and are difficult to collect after they have spread on water. Getting rid of those materials are a real problems for all whom concern to the environment. So, many other researches had been concentrated their efforts to use inorganic sorbents. Clays are the most popular materials, which are used as sorbents for oil spills. Clays such as kaolinite (Tarrasevich, 1986, Sayed et al., 2002), bentonite (Laura Kajita, 1997), smectite (Steven Kemnetz and Charles A. Cody, 1998) have been used. Inorganic sorbents have an advantage over organic sorbents in that they can be re-sued again in many industries (EPA, 1999). A little work had been done to use metal carbonates and oxides to sorb oil spills from the surface of salt water (Sayed and Zayed, 2002; Sayed et al., 2003). Therefore the aim of this research work is to examine the effectiveness of MgCO3, CaCO3, MgO and CaO to cleanup oil spills. EXPERIMENTAL Gulf of Suez mixture crude oil is used for the purpose of our study since it represents about 60% of the mass production of Egyptian crude oil, which, is transferred directly to oil refining companies or for exportation along Suez Canal. It is a mixture of crude oils produced from nearly 33 fields located at the Red Sea area. Analyses figures for the tested crude oil according to the institute of petroleum (IP) test methods are listed in Table (1) (IP, 2001). Table 1. Physical properties of Gulf Suez mixture crude oil Test Test method Results Density at 15C Kg /L IP 160 0.8544 Sediment % mass IP 53 NIL Water %Volume IP 74 0.35 Salt % mass IP 77 0.004 Sulfur % mass IP 336 1.42 Pour point C IP 15 -3 Viscosity Redweed at 37.8C Sec. IP 212 31