By Elton Gomes
Scientists in Australia seem to found a solution for oil spills – an absorbent polymer that combines waste from petrol factories and cooking oil.
According to a statement from Flinders University in Adelaide, scientists are developing a new type of polymer that is made from waste cooking oil and sulphur. Made from waste, the new polymer has the ability to clean crude oil and diesel spills, making it a double boon for the environment.
Dr Justin Chalker, senior lecturer in synthetic chemistry at Flinders University, is heading the team that is responsible for the discovery. This is an entirely new and environmentally beneficial application for polymers made from sulphur, Chalker said in the official statement.
Here’s what happened
Dr Chalker stated that samples of the new polymer have been shipped to commercial partners, and several companies are discussing a possible way to test the product in the field.
The team from Flinders University has been working on the project for the past six months. Chalker believes that the new polymer has the potential to be cheaper and more sustainable than current tools such as such as polypropylene fibres and polyurethane foam.
As both cooking oil and sulphur do not interact with water, the research team combined the two elements and found that the new polymer not only absorbed oil but also turns it into a gel.
To create the absorbent polymer, the researchers used common waste substances, such as canola oil, sulphur, and sodium chloride. This is a new class of oil sorbents that is low-cost, scalable, and enables the efficient removal and recovery of oil from water,” Dr Chalker added.
In 2015, researchers claimed that they had developed a new material that could quickly clean up oil spills. Significant efforts to clean up oil spills in the Arctic ocean were also underway in 2016.
Why you should care
Oil spills have a devastating effect on the environment. They not only degrade the oceans but also affect the surrounding areas and wildlife, making it utmost necessary to find a cheap and sustainable method of cleaning them.
Traditional methods to clean spills involve using long, inflatable booms. However, using booms is not always feasible due to excess winds. Chemical dispersants have also been used, but they affect marine ecosystems. A new absorbent polymer therefore will be much more effective and might not affect marine ecology.
Besides being catastrophic to the environment, oil spills can be very expensive to clean. Ignoring even the cost of oil lost, and millions lost in litigations costs and social costs, just the clean up can be catastrophic for an economy. Although no accurate figures are available, it is estimated the BP Deepwater Horizon spill, cost about $61.6 billion, while the 2015 El Capitan State Beach spill in Goleta, California cost around $62 million and the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill cost $3.8 billion. Although estimates vary a lot, it costs approximately, around $18 per gallon to clean up an average oil spill in the United States.
Since the polymer will be developed from waste materials, not only does it help dispose of a by-product of the petroleum industry, but is anticipated to be economical to produce.