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- Soy performance: safe reagent will eliminate the consequences of oil spills
Soy performance: safe reagent will eliminate the consequences of oil spills
Scientists have developed an environmentally safe reagent for removing oil spills in Arctic conditions. In the experiment, the proposed composition made it possible to reduce the area of an oil slick by 89-93% in just one minute at both room and subzero temperatures. Thanks to this new reagent can become an effective means of cleaning the Arctic seas from oil spills. As the developers told Izvestia, the substance can also help in eliminating the consequences of fuel oil pollution in the Black Sea - with its help it will be possible to remove thin oil films left on the water surface after mechanical removal of pollution. However, this requires additional testing of the reagent, which may take time.
Environmentally safe reagent for the Arctic
Scientists from the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (National Research University), the Federal Research Center Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed environmentally friendly reagents - collectors of oil and oil products, which reduce the area of spills by shrinking the thin oil film on the water to a thickness at which it can be collected by special devices.
The finished reagent consists of phospholipids isolated from ground soybeans, a cheap and available raw material, and isobutyl alcohol. Phospholipids are compounds that make up the membranes of any living cells. The resulting reagent is easily decomposed in the environment, and therefore does not lead to its pollution.
The authors modeled an oil spill by pouring a sample of oil into a container of water at room temperature (about 22 °C) and cooled to 0 °C and 7 °C. After the oil slicks spread over the surface of the water, the researchers applied the synthesized reagent to the water. As a result, the composition was able to reduce the oil slick area by 89-93% in just one minute at both room and subzero temperatures.
The authors also studied for the first time by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) how the reagent affects oil-water interactions and ice formation at the spill site. These approaches allowed us to determine that the presence of the oil-collecting reagent alters the internal structure and surface texture of the ice beneath the oil slick, as well as its thermophysical properties.
- Our reagent outperforms most known compounds for oil spill removal in terms of efficiency, with the important advantage that it is environmentally friendly, as it is a rapidly degradable reagent. In the future we plan to test the new compound for oil spill removal in natural conditions to take into account all the factors available in the natural environment, such as wind and currents, ," Delgir Sanjieva, PhD in Chemistry, Senior Research Fellow at INHS RAS, Associate Professor of the Department of General and Applied Chemistry at Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (RGU), told Izvestia.
Elimination of consequences of fuel oil spill in the Black Sea
The new composition can also be used to eliminate the consequences of fuel oil pollution in the South of Russia. However, this will take time - the substance needs to be tested in the region of the spill, including in stormy conditions.
- Our reagent is designed to eliminate thin oil film contamination of water areas. This is especially important for ice conditions in the Arctic zone," said Delgir Sandzhieva. - In case of fuel oil spill in the Black Sea, even if it partially settles or is collected by mechanical methods, a thin "oil" film of lighter components of fuel oil will remain on the water surface. This film will disturb the gas and heat exchange of the sea, and therefore it must be removed. We can help at this stage, when the "oil" film is so thin that it cannot be removed by other methods.
Also, according to the specialist, the biocomposite material developed earlier at the University of Oil and Gas, consisting of a polymer matrix with plant filler and immobilized hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms, interacts well with fuel oil. This material sorbs about 70 g/g of fuel oil, and the bacteria in it are able to utilize hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water.
To apply new technologies in eliminating fuel oil spills in the Black and Azov Seas, industrial production of the preparation and its testing are necessary, said Associate Professor of the Department of Environmental Safety and Product Quality Management at the Patrice Lumumba Institute of Ecology of the Russian University of Science and Technology Tatyana Ledashcheva.
- Studies of this kind are important, but we should remember the need for practical testing in each region of application before the mass use of any drug to combat oil spills (different water salinity, temperature conditions), - she emphasized.
Indeed, all means to eliminate fuel oil spills should be tested in the conditions of the Black Sea. The legislation requires that every new technology and material should undergo state environmental expertise and certification, Igor Shkradyuk, the coordinator of the program of industry greening of the Wildlife Conservation Center, stressed in his conversation with Izvestia.
- The lion's share of fuel oil should be collected while it is mostly floating and lying on the shore in clumps. It is risky to use chemical and biological preparations now, as they may contribute to dispersing the lumps into tiny droplets, which cannot be collected with a shovel or a net. It is possible to use only sorbents for the thin film leaked out of fuel oil, if they do not contribute to the disintegration of lumps. And when it gets warmer, it should be time for biological treatment," the expert emphasized.
As for the Arctic region, a large number of preparations have been developed for it, including those containing components of plant origin. In this case, one of the components of the preparation is derived from soybean seeds. Laboratory tests have shown good results, said Vladimir Pinaev, a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia, a member of the Public Council of the basic organization of the CIS member states on environmental education.
The results of the study, supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RNF), were published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin.