Oil spill treatment using adsorber from natural organic materials / Safari Zainal

Three types of natural materials were studied to produce low cost oil spilled adsorber i.e. rice husk, peat and coconut dreg. The raw materials were carbonised before soaking with 1 M HCl or methanol. Carbonisation temperatures and times were varied from 300°C, 400°C, 500°C, and 600°C for 2, 3, and 4 hours. The adsorption properties of charcoals produced from different treatments and materials were compared with each types of untreated charcoal as standard. The quality of charcoal was determined by measuring the BET surface area, iodine number, methylene blue number, and oil spill adsorption. Charcoal treated with methanol exhibit higher surface area and good quality as compared to those treated with 1 M HCl and untreated. Results show that the rice husk charcoal soaked with methanol is superior and suitable as oil spill adsorber than those of other eight types of charcoals produced. The yield of rice husk charcoal obtained is from 40% to 61%, and the highest fixed carbon obtained is 55.1%. The BET surface area, iodine number, methylene blue number, and oil spill adsorption obtained are 220.04 m2g-1, 371.15 mg/g, 30.44 ml/g and 8.04 g of oil, respectively. It is suggested that the carbonisation process, method of treatment and types of raw materials are responsible for the quality of charcoal produced.