A New Approach in the Performance of Sorption Booms in the Removal and Recovery of Oil Spills

Abstract

Abstract This work aims to compare the performance of sorption booms used to remove and recover oil spills. The first type of sorption booms was filled with eco-friendly polyurethane - natural palm fiber composite, and the others were filled with recycled polyurethane. In addition, the oil recovery and reusability of booms were studied. The study was done with mini-sorption booms and real-scale booms. The sorbent foam of eco-friendly polyurethane composite was obtained by partially replacing petrochemical monomers with polyols derived from vegetable oils and adding natural palm fiber residues. On the other hand, the sorbent foam of recycled polyurethane was obtained with petrochemical monomers. The tests were carried out using mini and real-scale sorption booms with 0.3 and 3 meters of length, respectively. The oil sorption capacity and the recovery efficiency in oil and water/oil systems were studied. Also, the oil recovery and boom reusability were tested. The study revealed that booms with the eco-friendly composite polyurethane as filling exhibited higher efficiency in oil sorption capacity with all the oil types, reaching values about two times higher than with the recycled polyurethane filling. However, the material-fabric integration still needs to be studied, which could affect the final performances. In the case of the oil recovery efficiency in water, the tests exposed the best performance of the first boom type, which absorbed almost 100% of the oil in less time and maintained its buoyancy. Also, the boom oil recovery efficiency values were between 50 - 80 % during the reuse of up to seven cycles compared with values of about 40 % for polyurethane booms. Then, the sorption booms filled with eco-friendly polyurethane composite foams are highly efficient in removing and recovering oil spills, being better than booms filled with recycled polyurethane. This study presented a new experience not previously published, revealing the highly efficient performance of sorption booms filled with eco-friendly polyurethane composite. The efficiency of the composite material used as sorbent filled was previously certified by the Centre of Documentation, Research, and Experimentation on accidental water pollution (CEDRE) in France.