Oil spill removal technology with chitosan and polyurethane foam sorption material

Chitin-containing materials were most widely used in wastewater treatment. In production processes accompanied by the release of proteins, chitosan is used as a flocculant in the treatment of contaminated wastewater. Using chitosan, metals are extracted from mining waste. The introduction of chitosan into the soil leads to the removal of scattered heavy metals and radionuclides from the natural cycle. There are a number of patents in the field of water treatment using chitosan. However, there is much less work on the use of chitin and chitosan as a sorbent for oil and oil products. Alaa Eldin Muhammad Younes et al used chitin and chitosan to remove Tengiz oil spills from the water surface. At the same time, oil with chitin formed clots, which eventually (~ 2 hours) precipitated. On the contrary, chitosan forms floating clots, which contributes to their extraction. The authors on the model systems determined the flow rates for the collection and removal of oil film from the surface of 1 m2. This is 0.16 kg of chitin or chitosan with an amount of 10% of the sorbent based on the weight of the oil film. It has been suggested that extractable products can be used in asphalt concrete pavements. A high degree of water purification (up to 99.8%), and almost complete purification of waters containing oil emulsions makes it possible to recommend it as a highly effective flocculant with its content of 0.0028. It is characteristic that chitosan works better with a high oil content in water. However, efficient recovery of chitosan with absorbed oil remains an unresolved issue. In this case, oil flows from the sorbent, leading to secondary pollution. The invention proposes a method of oil and petroleum product spill response and purification at water bodies, as well as reduction of environmental pollution by waste water of industrial enterprises with the help of highly efficient, economically justified sorption material based on chitosan and semi-rigid polyurethane foam and a technological process of its production. Sorption material using crushed chitosan soluble in acid in amount of 30% of total weight and elastic polyurethane foam PPUel-30-HC has optimal absorption capacity of ~ 14.0 g/g at weight ratio of sorption material components A: B: chitosan = 1: 0.6: 0.48. The environmental friendliness of the developed sorption material is confirmed by the possibility of its repeated use up to 19 times after squeezing the absorbed product without significant changes in oil capacity. Disclosed is a technological scheme for producing a developed sorbent named Grinsorb X and a method for eliminating oil spills using it.