Scientists from Novosibirsk State Technical University (NETI) have proposed an innovative method of soil purification from oil and petroleum products. The basis of the development was a protective shield that helps to quickly collect mixtures of hydrocarbons after their spill.
There are various ways to clean contaminated soils from oil and petroleum products — thermal, biological, mechanical, chemical. However, many of them are economically unprofitable due to the complexity of execution and high labor intensity during operation. The sorption method, which refers to physical methods, is inexpensive and quite effective. The advantages of the sorption method include: the ability to remove contaminants of various nature to almost any residual concentration, regardless of their chemical stability, the absence of secondary contaminants and controllability of the process.
"NSTU scientists have been working for a long time in the search for effective and economical sorbents, which can be used to localize oil and petroleum product spills at an early stage. We were one of the first to promote the use of what are now commonly referred to as recycled materials based on industrial and consumer waste as sorbents. We have experimentally proved that it works," said Vladimir Larichkin, Professor of the Department of Environmental Engineering at NSTU-NETI, Doctor of Technical Sciences.
According to him, in reality, the protective shield is a roll of technical geotextile, inside of which there is a composite of natural and recycled materials such as agricultural vermiculite, softwood sawdust, flax waste, technical silica gel, hydrogel and more. Experiments have shown the possibility of repeated use of man-made waste as sorbents for collecting petroleum products in case of accidental spills on a hard surface.
The size of the finished protective screen will depend on the tasks of the industrial partners. "It will be possible to talk about the shapes and sizes of the screen only after we receive a patent and the manufacturers are engaged in the development. So far, we can talk about the effectiveness and ease of use of a protective shield that can be used in case of oil and petroleum product spills, and more than once," Professor Larichkin emphasized.