Laboratory study of effectiveness of sorbents intended for oil spill combating

While various floating objects driven by combustion engines are exploited, unintentional oil spill might be done (caused by fuel, lubricant or gear leaks). So arisen undesirable pollution is usually removed from water environment using various types of booms, pumps and skimmers as well as by various oil-sorption materials. Sometimes oil spills are dispersed into bulk of water (only in water-areas that are rich with oil-consumption bacteria). The reason for undertaking investigations described in this paper was a real problem with oil pollution in narrow spaces of port and shipyard basins, marines and inland shipping routes. The paper describes study on sorptivity of chosen materials proposed as measures to combat oil spills on the water surface. Natural, synthetic and mineral materials were investigated at laboratory conditions, which was based on contacting those materials with, on the one hand, only water and – on the second hand – with oil in two ways, namely: with oil only and with oil as a film on the water surface. The authors presents in graphical form dependencies of sorptivity on a type of sorbent and on the time. In addition, air temperature, oxygen content in the water, density and viscosity oil are registered. The data obtained from the measurements play a role input data to establish procedure for usefulness of defines sorbent-materials in define conditions of application.