Sorption of Hydrocarbons on Peat, and Possibilities for Using Peat-Based Oil Sorbent for Treatment of Polluted Areas

Abstract

The growing use and transport of crude oil and oil products has led to an increasing amount of spillages of various scales. In the event of an oil spill, it is important to stop the spill from spreading and to clean up the polluted environment. One of the possible ways of treating the polluted areas is the use of oil sorbents. The sorbents used for collecting oil in case of oil spills are mostly synthetic, which limits the possibilities of their disposal. The aim of our study is to investigate the possible use of peat and its modification products for oil and other hydrocarbon sorption. Peat is a prospective material for oil sorption because it has such advantages as low cost, biodegradability and relatively high parameters of specific surface area and porosity. At the same time, peat also has disadvantages, such as poor buoyancy characteristics, relatively low oil sorption capacity and low hydrophobicity. We have studied the sorption characteristics of native high-moor peat with different botanical compositions and levels of decomposition, as well as the effect of thermal treatment on the oil sorption capacity, buoyancy and water sorption capacity of peat in comparison with the effect achieved by means of two other methods of chemical modification: silylation and methylation. We have determined the optimal conditions for thermal modification of peat to have an effect on hydrocarbon sorption characteristics. Using the method of IR spectroscopy, we have investigated specific structural changes in peat, which resulted in the improvement of its sorptive characteristics.