International Journal of Engineering Research

Volume No.5, Issue No.4, pp : 311-314 1 April 2016

ISSN:2319-6890)(online),2347-5013(print)

Oil Contaminated Sea Water Recovery System Using Composite Textile

Absorption Media
Nandagopal .K.R., Manoj Kumar.P
(Corporate member of Institution of Engineers India, R.No.AM-142404-4)AMIE (TEX, MECH, CIVIL), M.
Tech (Textile Chemistry), Ph.D Research Scholar, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam,
Erode District, Tamil Nadu, India.
Bachelor of Engineering student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Engineering
College, Vattamalaipalayam, Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India.
lickrn240569@gmail.com, 11manoj2009@gmail.com
Abstract: The paper deals with recovery and separation of
crude oil from sea water in case of oil spills. It is based on the
principle of absorption of oil contaminated water by textile
media followed by its extraction and separation of oil from sea
water. Various textile composites are used for this purpose and
the optimal fibre blend is found. Machinery and method for
recovery of oil is analysed.
Key words: crude oil, Ionic nature, absorption, viscosity,
adhesive, cohesive, surface tension, fitter media, woven, knitted,
non-woven fabrics, recovery, reuse, knurelled, internal stress

the exiting reserves of oil will run dry by 2078. This can actually
be accelerated by oil spills.
Also the economic cost of the oil that is spilt cannot be
discounted. For example, the oil spilt during the First Gulf War
was worth $20 million in those days. Accounting for inflation,
that totals up to more than 100 million dollars today. Refer Table
No.1.
Table No.1Modern Oil spills
Spill/Tank
er

Location

Date

Kuwaiti
Oil Fires

Kuwait

Jan 16
1991

Lakeview
Gusher

United
States

The Environmental effects of such spills are immense. The oil

has an adverse affect on sea life such as fishes whose supply of
oxygen is cut off and the migrating species of birds which may
get stuck in the oil and drown.

Deepwater
Horizon

United
States,
Gulf
of
Mexico
Mexico

Oil Spills can even affect global climate. Oil split in the sea
interrupts the ocean currents which are the main agents of
climate around the world. Also the oil reduces the oxygen
content of the seawater leading to innumerable biological
disasters.

Atlantic
Empress /
Aegean
Captain
Fergana
Valley

Trinidad
and
Tobago

Mar
14,
1910
Apr
20,
2010
June
3,
1979
July
19,
1979

Uzbekista
n

Acknowledgement

Nowruz
Field
Platform

Iran

I.Introduction
Sea water can be contaminated by crude oil during any step in
oil production. The contamination may occur during Drilling
(Oils spills in offshore Platforms), Transhipping (Leakage or
Accidents), Refining (during processing) etc..,

We the authors are grateful to the HOD and staff of the

Department of Textile Engineering of Bannari Amman Institute
of Tethnology, Sathy for allowing us the use of the facilities. We
humbly thank the HODs and staffs of the Departments of
Physics an Mechanical Engineering of Sri Ramakrishna
Engineering, Vattamalaipalayam, Coimbatore for thier guidance
and support.

Tonn
es
[Tho
1,36,0
usan
00
ds]
1200

Barrels
[Thous
ands]
10,00,0
00

Gallons
[Thous
ands]
4,20,00,
000

9000

3,78,00
0

560585

4,1004,900

454
480

3,329
3,520

287

20,105

172,000
180,800
139,818

147,840
88,396

Mar 2,
1992

285

2,090

87,780

Febar
y 4,
1983

260

1,907

80080

South
Aug 6, 252
Africa, Sa 1983
ldanha
Existing Systems and their demerits:
Bay

1,848

77,616

Ixtox I

Castillo de
Bellver

Economical Importance:

Though some systems are being used at present, all of them have
some defects which suggest the need for an alternative method.
Some of the present systems are:

Crude Oil is a non-renewable resource. The demand for crude oil

is increasing day by day. But the supply will only last for so
long. By some predictions, if the current trend were to continue,

Bio-Remediation- It is the use of microorganisms or biological

agents to break down or remove oil like the bacteria

IJER@2016

doi : 10.17950/ijer/v5s4/421

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International Journal of Engineering Research

Volume No.5, Issue No.4, pp : 311-315 1 April 2016
Alcanivorax or Methylocella Silvestris. But this process is very
slow. Also the microorganisms used for removal of oil may
create adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem. This method has
only been tested in laboratories and has yet to be implemented
on a large scale.
Dispersants- A dispersant is either a non-surface active
polymer or a surface-active substance added to a suspension,
usually a colloid, to improve the separation of particles and to
prevent settling or clumping. For example, silver oxide or
corexit. These chemicals disperse the oil film present at the
water surface over a larger area, thereby reducing the amount of
oil per unit area in the sea. But this does not actually remove the
contaminating oil from the water. Aside from being expensive,
EPA studies have shown that the use of such dispersants
significantly increases the toxic hydrocarbon levels in aquatic
organisms (Corexit increases toxicity by a factor of 100 times).
Centrifugal Separation: This involves the collection of
contaminated water using ships. Oil is separated from the sea
water by using a Centrifuge and the sea water is dumped back.
While this method offers the possibility of recovery of oil, it is
not possible to implement it on a practical scale. The centrifuge
which is the key to this method is a very expensive and complex
piece of machinery. Also it is a very cumbersome and sensitive,
making it unsuitable for use in rough conditions. This would
mean transport of oil to onshore sites which leads to needless
expenditure of time and money.

ISSN:2319-6890)(online),2347-5013(print)

Selection of Textile materials:

On the basis of following properties:Hydrophilic properties, Low bio-degradability and Resistance
against the various salts present in the sea water, Availability of
voids spaces present in the fibre (porosity)
Moisture Content- Less moisture content is preferred. Refer
Graph No.1 and Graph No.2.
Fibres recommended for study:
Based on physical, chemical properties and ecological point of
view, fibres like Wool & its blends, Acrylic fibres & its blends,
Viscose fibre & its blends are most suitable for use as collection
media.
Knitted and Non-Woven are recommended because of their
fabric structure. Woven fabric has high density construction
which will affect the efficiency of absorption of hydrocarbons
present in the contaminated sea water.
Moisture

content

in

various

fibres

and

their

Blends

Moisture content %
moisture content %
18.5
8.5

Burning- It is the most common and easiest method for disposal

of spilt oil. But it is also the most hazardous and damaging
method too. Burning actually causes more pollution than the oil
itself. It leads to emission of enormous amount of greenhouse
gases and other air pollutants. Burning must be carried out only
under extremely calm conditions because the drifting of oil due
to wind and waves can cause the fire to spread, endangering any
vessels or even aircraft in the region.

wool

cotton

12.5

7.8

viscose

acrylic

Moisture content for 65%-35%

blend proportions

moisture content %
15
8.045

14.755

11.1

II. Material and Methodology

Principle- Attraction of alternately charged ions (Cation and
Anion)
When textile materials like wool, cotton, acrylic and their
composites are impregnated with a basic buffer solution, they
acquire acidic nature and behave as Cations. Hydrocarbons
(Oil) in an ionic solution (water) generally behave as Anions.
This enables the cationic fiber to absorb the oil.

Table No.3 Visual determination of quantity of oil spilt

Also in fibres like wool, Vanderwaals Force of attraction is

strong enabling it to overcome the surface tension to absorb the
oil easily.

IJER@2016

doi : 10.17950/ijer/v5s4/421

Crude
oil

Film thickness

Appeara
nce

in

Barely
visible

0.00000 0.00003
15
80

mm

Quantity
spread
nm

gal/sq
mi

L/H
a

38

25

0.37

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International Journal of Engineering Research

Volume No.5, Issue No.4, pp : 311-315 1 April 2016

Silvery
sheen
First
trace of
colour
Bright
bands of
colour
Colours
begin to
dull
Colours
are much
Fig No.1
darker

0.00000 0.00007 76
30
60

50

0.73

ISSN:2319-6890)(online),2347-5013(print)

Then the fabric is fed into washing and drying unit. It consists of
a washing water tank and electrically heated Teflon coated
drying cylinder. Then the fabric is allowed to age for a few
hours.During ageing the internal stress present in the fabric,
leading to an increase in absorption capacity.

0.00000 0.00015 150 100

60
00

1.50

0.00001 0.00030 300 200

20
00

2.90

0.00004 0.00100 100 666

00
0

9.70

The machinery setup is installed in a fibre glass boat. The boat

maybe run through the contaminated area with minimum
velocity of 5 kilo meter per hour. It is a continuous process and
it is possible to cover required affected area quickly and
efficiently.

0.00008 0.00200 200 1332

00
00
0

19.5

III.Results and Tables

Model Machinery (Crude oil recovery/filtration unit)

The performance of various fibers are tabulate in Table No.1 and

Table No. 2. Graphical representaion can be seen in Graph No.3
and Graph No.4.
Table No.1
Knitted Fabric Rib Type (No of Dips vs Oil absorption
percentage)
Fab
ric

Oil Absorption per dip

I
II
III IV V

VI

VII

VI
II

IX

w/c

100

80

70

60

55

55

50

30

30

30

Machinery set up:

a/c

50

47

45

40

30

35

25

25

20

20

Collection Unit: Feed roller, Rubber mounted calendar roller

set up,3 pair of steel calendar rollers,

v/c

40

40

35

30

25

20

20

20

10

10

w/a

120

100

90

80

55

50

40

30

30

30

Separation Unit: Oil collection tray, Primary Filtration unit,

Secondary filtration unit, cleaned crude oil storage tank
Washing/Drying Unit: Fabric washing unit, Fabrics drying unit,
dry fabric reprocessing set up
One end of fabric is attached is to the feed roller in machinery
set up (servo drive motor attached or speed reduction gear box is
attached to the knurelled feed roller to maintain surface speed of
the feed roller as 5 to 10 meters per minute). The minimum
surface speed always produces good results. Then the fabric is
fed across the Guide roller to maintain required tension of the
fabric (adjustment handle installed).Then the fabric passes
through a Rubber mounted calendar roller setup to collect the
contaminated oil absorbed by the fabric. It is collected in the
collection tray fixed the bottom of the calendar roller set up

Oil absorption percentage decreases linearly because the

hydrocarbons present in the oil diffuse into the centre of fibre
core. These cannot be completely removed by washing/drying,
hence after the 8th dipping the percentage of oil absorbed
becomes constant.
Graph No.1
Knitted Fabric Oil Absorbtion
performance
150
100
50

Then the fabric passes through another set of steel calendar

rollers, remaining oil maybe collected in the tray set up
mentioned above. The collected contaminated oil present in the
tray, required primary and secondary filtration so necessary
arrangement made in the machinery setup. The collected
contaminated oil required necessary treatment to remove the salt
and moisture particles, present in it.
IJER@2016

doi : 10.17950/ijer/v5s4/421

0
1

Wool/Cotton

Acrylic/Cotton

Vicose/Cotton

Wool/Acrylic

10

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International Journal of Engineering Research

Volume No.5, Issue No.4, pp : 311-315 1 April 2016
Table No.2
Non-woven Fabric (No of Dips vs oil absorption percentage)
Fabric

Oil Absorption per dip

I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
w/c
90
78
70
55
50
50
48
a/c
44
38
30
28
25
20
19
v/c
38
35
30
26
20
10
5
w/a
90
88
70
70
60
65
38
Oil absorption percentage decreases linearly because the
hydrocarbons present in the oil diffuse into the centre of fibre
core. During washing/drying, after7th dipping Non-woven
fabrics become too damaged to be reused.
Graph No.2
Non-woven Fabrics Oil Absorption
peformance
100
80
60
40
20
0
1

wool/cotton

acrylic/cotton

vicose/cotton

wool/acrylic

IV.Conclusion
The textile materials can be successfully used for the collection
of oil from contaminated water in the sea; its separation and its
reuse. This significantly reduces the environmental effects of Oil
spills as the spilt oil is removed swiftly and the recovered oil is
also reused. This method is significant in both a ecological and
economic sense.
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