Absorption of Crude Oil from Water Surface Using Shells of Periwinkle, Thales (Ngolo) and Oyster

Abstract

The Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) of water contaminated with Bonny Light crude oil was determined before and after absorption using Ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy and Gas Chromatographic (GC) analyses. Shells of periwinkle, thales (ngolo) and oyster were used as absorbents, each of the shells were ground into powdery form, sieved through a mesh of 50 microns and calcined at temperatures of 500, 600 and 700°C respectively. Results obtained from UV spectroscopic analyses showed that the TPH concentration of the oil contaminated water after absorption with uncalcined periwinkle, thales and oyster shells were 1410.0, 1371.0 and 1330.0 mg/l respectively. The higher the calcination temperature of the absorbents, the lower the TPH of the oil contaminated water after absorption making oyster shell calcined at 700°C the best absorbent. GC analyses gave the individual hydrocarbon components of the oil contaminated water before and after absorption thereby confirming the uptake efficiencies of the absorbents. The lower the TPH of the oil contaminated water, the higher the uptake efficiency of the absorbents which is directly proportional to the dilution factor and the amount of crude absorbed by the absorbents. The uptake efficiency of the absorbents follows the trend Oyster >thales> periwinkle. The process of calcination (high temperature heating) boosted the uptake efficiency of the absorbents by 45 percent.