Removal an oil spill from seawater by using natural sorbent material : case study : Tobruk, Libya

Abstract EN

Nowadays, oil spill is one of the most serious pollutants that have negative effects on the ecosystem and marine life.

Environmentalists face major challenges in the treatment of spills and in developing an alternative product with low cost.

So proper planning and necessary actions should be done to remove these pollutants and prevent subsequent environmental side effects.

Adsorption is a rapid and cost effective process to minimize the environmental impacts of oil spills and cleanup these pollutants.

Presently natural sorbents are used more than the others due to their biodegradability and high sorption capacity.

Among all different sorbents, agriculture and animals’ wastes is preferred as an oil cleanup technology due to its biodegradation and buoyancy.

The usage of this organic waste has not been widely discovered here in Libya.

This paper will investigate the effectiveness of sugarcane bagasse and chicken feathers as a material to adsorb oil.