SEPARATION OF DISPERSED OIL IN PRODUCED WATER USING ACETYLATED LUFFER CYLINDRICA AS BIOSORBENT

The disposal of untreated produced water into water ways from oil recovery activities by oil and gas industries especially in the Niger Delta region is alarming. Separation of dispersed oil in produced water remains a challenge to environmental scientist. Sorption is a popular technique for clean-up of oil on aqueous media. In this study, luffa cylindrica, which are abundant, biodegradable agricultural product with less usage in Nigeria, were modified with acetic anhydride to increase their hydrophobic properties and improve their oil sorption effectiveness in aqueous environments. The un-acetylated luffa cylindrical, UALC and the acetylated luffa cylindrica, ALC were both characterized for chemical composition (AAS), functional group (FT-IR) and mineralogical (XRD). The result shows that the dispersed oil sorption efficiency of the acetylated luffa cylindrica, ALC was enhanced by 60% as compared with 40% for the un-acetylated luffa cylindrica, UALC. The results presented and discussed in this study also indicated that the rapid uptake and high absorption capacity of the ALC make it a very promising alternative sorbent for oil industries since the material is cheap, biodegradable and environmentally friendly.