Effective oil spill preparedness is crucial to ensure environmental protection and to promote the responsible development of the petroleum industry. Recently, interest in developing new approaches and improving existing oil spill response measures has increased substantially. Solidifiers are an attractive and underutilized option to mitigate the effects of oil spills on water, as they interact with oil to contain the spill, prevent it from spreading, and facilitate its removal from the environment. In this presentation, we will describe how to synthesize inexpensive and easy-to-make amylopectin-graft-poly(methyl acrylate) solidifiers that selectively solidify diluted bitumen and conventional crude oil from biphasic mixtures of oil and water within minutes. Only a low solidifier-to-oil ratio of 4% w/w is needed to completely recover diluted bitumen. This innovative, natural-based polymeric solidifier, may be applied as part of oil spill response procedures, especially for heavy oils, which can be challenging to solidify. In addition, our novel solidifier is derived from natural sources, potentially incorporating other important advantages, such as lower toxicity and higher biodegradability.

Novel amylopectin-graft-poly(methyl acrylate) solidifier for the containment and recovery of oil spills on water

2019 Fall National Meeting

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