Development Of Raw And Treated Flax Straw For Oil Spill Cleanup

An oil spill is a critical problem and appears to have increased in the number of incidence over the past decade. There are several methods for oil spill cleanups. One method is called sorption using either synthetic or natural sorbents. Synthetic sorbents are harmful to the environment as they create another form of waste for nature. This gives rise to evaluate a more environmentally friendly natural sorbent. This research represents the results of study carried out to evaluate the effect of chemical treatment (acetylation) on properties of flax straw as a natural fiber. Sorption capacity of untreated and chemically treated flax straw was examined. It was found that performing the acetylation treatment on flax straw, significantly increases oil sorption capacity in both light and heavy oil by 41% and 22% respectively and also decreases their water uptake by 5%. Moreover, by decreasing the particle size (to 0.6 mm) of the chopped flax straw, the oil sorption capacity increases. This research contributes to a greater understanding of flax straw properties for potential remediation and reclamation applications, representing the possibility of turning the available waste material into a valuable oil sorbent.