Evaluation of Sorptive Capacity of Natural Clay, Pillared Clay, and Alga-modified Clay to Contain Oil Spills in Soil

OFELIA KATUSICH; ANDREA VALLONE; HEBE BLASETTI; FIORELA ALASSIA; STELLA MARIS RÍOS; KARIM SAPAG; NORMA NUDELMAN

American Journal of Modern Chemical Engineering

Columbia

Año: 2016 vol. 2 p. 15 - 25

2470-5055

This paper describes the characterization of natural Patagonian clay (ARC), composed mainly ofmontmorillonite and illite, and two modifications: one with alga Codium fragile (ARC-ALG) and other ironpillared(ARC-PIL), as oil sorbents. The textural characterization of samples was performed by nitrogenadsorption isotherms at 77K, obtaining 36, 2 and 105 m2/g of BET surface area, respectively. The pore sizedistribution was calculated from isotherms data by the method of density functional (NLDFT). Oilsorption capacities were determined and expressed in g oil/g sorbent by tests in batch, sorption isothermswere obtained in a concentration range of 50 to 300 mg/L of oil in organic solvent. The quantification ofremnant concentrations in solution was performed by UV-Vis spectrophotometric techniques. The results ofsorption capacity are consistent with the BET surface area for ARC and ARC-PIL, but are not in agreementwith ARC-ALG, since it has the lowest BET surface area and the highest sorption capacity; this would bemainly due to the organic nature of this material. This information together with the analysis of the respectiveisotherms, gives the possibility of making inferences about of the action mechanisms for the selection of newsorbents in treating soils spills.