Efficient dispersion of crude oil by blends of food-grade surfactants: Toward greener oil-spill treatments

David A. Riehm; John E. Neilsen; Geoffrey D. Bothun; Vijay T. John; Srinivasa R. Raghavan; Alon V. McCormick

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.11.012

Efficient dispersion of crude oil by blends of food-grade surfactants: Toward greener oil-spill treatments

David A. Riehm, John E. Neilsen, Geoffrey D. Bothun, Vijay T. John, Srinivasa R. Raghavan, Alon V. McCormick

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Effectiveness of oil spill dispersants containing lecithin/Tween 80 (L/T) blends in ethanol was measured as a function of L:T ratio, surfactant:solvent ratio, solvent composition, and dispersant:oil ratio (DOR) using baffled flask dispersion effectiveness tests. Optimal L:T ratios are between 60:40 and 80:20 (w/w); at higher L:T ratios, effectiveness is limited by high interfacial tension, while at lower L:T ratios, insufficient lecithin is present to form a well-packed monolayer at an oil-water interface. These optimal L:T ratios retain high effectiveness at low DOR: 80:20 (w/w) L:T dispersant is 89% effective at 1:25 DOR (v/v) and 77% effective at 1:100 DOR (v/v). Increasing surfactant:solvent ratio increases dispersant effectiveness even when DOR is proportionally reduced to keep total surfactant concentration dosed into the oil constant. Replacing some of the ethanol with octane or octanol also increases dispersant effectiveness, suggesting that ethanol's hydrophilicity lowers dispersant-oil miscibility, and that more hydrophobic solvents would increase effectiveness.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	92-97
Number of pages	6
Journal	Marine Pollution Bulletin
Volume	101
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.11.012
State	Published - 2015

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to undergraduate researchers Sarah Downey and Prakash Paul for assisting David Riehm by running dispersion effectiveness tests, to Dr. Edith Holder of the USEPA and Drs. Tim Nedwed and Tom Coolbaugh of ExxonMobil for helpful discussions, and to the Mkhoyan group for the use of their UV–Vis spectrophotometer. This work was supported in part by a grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) (Consortium for Ocean Leadership Grant SA 12-05/GoMRI-002 ) to the Consortium for the Molecular Engineering of Dispersants (C-MEDS). A digital version of the dataset supporting this paper is available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org/ .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords

Crude oil
Dispersant
Lecithin
Oil spill
Tween 80

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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title = "Efficient dispersion of crude oil by blends of food-grade surfactants: Toward greener oil-spill treatments",

abstract = "Effectiveness of oil spill dispersants containing lecithin/Tween 80 (L/T) blends in ethanol was measured as a function of L:T ratio, surfactant:solvent ratio, solvent composition, and dispersant:oil ratio (DOR) using baffled flask dispersion effectiveness tests. Optimal L:T ratios are between 60:40 and 80:20 (w/w); at higher L:T ratios, effectiveness is limited by high interfacial tension, while at lower L:T ratios, insufficient lecithin is present to form a well-packed monolayer at an oil-water interface. These optimal L:T ratios retain high effectiveness at low DOR: 80:20 (w/w) L:T dispersant is 89% effective at 1:25 DOR (v/v) and 77% effective at 1:100 DOR (v/v). Increasing surfactant:solvent ratio increases dispersant effectiveness even when DOR is proportionally reduced to keep total surfactant concentration dosed into the oil constant. Replacing some of the ethanol with octane or octanol also increases dispersant effectiveness, suggesting that ethanol's hydrophilicity lowers dispersant-oil miscibility, and that more hydrophobic solvents would increase effectiveness.",

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note = "Funding Information: The authors are grateful to undergraduate researchers Sarah Downey and Prakash Paul for assisting David Riehm by running dispersion effectiveness tests, to Dr. Edith Holder of the USEPA and Drs. Tim Nedwed and Tom Coolbaugh of ExxonMobil for helpful discussions, and to the Mkhoyan group for the use of their UV–Vis spectrophotometer. This work was supported in part by a grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) (Consortium for Ocean Leadership Grant SA 12-05/GoMRI-002 ) to the Consortium for the Molecular Engineering of Dispersants (C-MEDS). A digital version of the dataset supporting this paper is available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org/ . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 Elsevier Ltd.",

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AU - Raghavan, Srinivasa R.

AU - McCormick, Alon V.

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ER -

Efficient dispersion of crude oil by blends of food-grade surfactants: Toward greener oil-spill treatments

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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