POTENTIAL OF CALOTROPIS PROCERA FIBER MODIFIED AS SORBENT MATERIAL FOR SORPTION AND REMOVAL OF OIL
Calotropis procera; Sorption; Crude Oil
Biosorbents have been highlighted as an alternative method to removal of contaminants from spills or leaks of oil and its derivatives, once that they are biodegradable, are highly available, low cost and have a good sorption capacity. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the sorption capacity of the Calotropis procera (CP) fiber in natura state, as well as, to treated the solution CPTA, CPNaCl, CPNaOH and CPNaClO2, followed by heat treatment, for use as biosorbent of material for crude oil cleaning, removal and recovery. Initially, a thermogravimetric analysis is performed to identify the degradation temperature of the fiber, thus, a CP intended to be treated at temperatures of 150°C and 200°C for time 1h, 2h and 3h. Fiber structures were investigated and compared using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM-FEG). The sorption capacity test results indicated better results when the fibers were 1440min in contact with crude oil. The CP in- natura achieves sorption capacity of about 75 times or its own weight (76.32 g/g), in addition, an increase in sorption was observed for all treated fibers, being a CPTNaOH200°C1h that reached the best values of sorption 127.77g/g and 192.67g/g, dried and selected. After the optimization study of the selected variables, the treatment of NaOH reagent fiber at 200°C for 1 h was the most desirable for both dry and less difficult systems,converging the real result and the predicted for the following oil sorption maximization conditions. How Calotropis fibers are processed in nature and how they have been subjected to treatment, in this work, demonstrate sorption performance for uses used as promising alternatives for crude oil removal in leaks, given good oil/water selectivity, hydrophobicity, oleofility, high availability and excellent oil sorption property.