Oil Spill Remediation Research Articles

A Strategy of Liquid‐Grafted Slippery Sponges with Simultaneously Enhanced Absorption and Desorption Performances for Crude Oil Spill Remediation

Oil Spill Remediation In article number 2100242 by Jing Lin, Xuelin Tian, and co-workers, a slippery sponge is prepared via surface grafting of a highly flexible linear polydimethylsiloxane molecular brush, which can act as a liquid-like lubrication layer throughout the three-dimensional network channels of the sponge. When dealing with crude oil spills, such slippery sponge exhibits simultaneously enhanced absorption and desorption dynamics that can hardly be realized with conventional adsorbents.

Field Test of U-Champ Biosurfactant in Oil Spill Bioremediation

One of the serious environmental problems of the oil and gas industry is handling oil spills. Oil spills can be managed by using bioremediation in the form of biosurfactants. In this research, biosurfactants called U-Champ were used which can impact in remediation of oil spills. The research conducted was testing the effectiveness of biosurfactants on Cepu Field contaminated soil in reducing TPH and heavy metals. The method is done by stirring the contaminated soil with various concentrations of biosurfactant product in an artificial tank. Based on the test results, a decline in TPH and TCLP along with the increase in U-Champ biosurfactant concentration was used. The addition of 6 Liters of biosurfactant gave the most significant reduction. Some of the heavy metals in the soil decrease, but some also have increased. As an example, it can be seen in Ba metal, the addition of U-Champ biosurfactant as much as 1.5 L (0.3% v / v) resulted in a decrease in TCLP of 11.085%. The qualitative result is evidenced by the growth of various plants in each artificial tank.

Contribution of surfactants and micelles to contamination and treatability of crude oil-contaminated surface water

Subsequent to an oil spill in surface water, impacts of dispersant application on water treatability and residual contamination in distributed potable water remain largely unknown. The desired outcome of dispersant application is attributable to both nonionic and anionic surfactants which reduce interfacial tension. This study evaluated the contribution of surfactants and their agglomerates, micelles, to contamination and treatability of drinking water. Both a commercial oil-spill dispersant and a formulated dispersant solution were applied in surface water, with and without crude oil, and treated by ballasted flocculation. In crude oil-contaminated surface water, the formulated dispersant was applied at two concentrations to generate surfactant monomers and surfactant micelles. Water quality degradation in the absence of crude oil was attributable to surfactants but more importantly to other organic contaminants present in the dispersant matrix. Ballasted flocculation could only handle low dispersant concentrations judging from the generated settled water quality. In the presence of crude oil, dispersant application hindered water quality and treatability due to the introduction of surfactants that were absent in surface water and whose removal was unachievable with an optimized coagulant dose for turbidity and natural organic matter removal prior to contamination. This phenomenon was of greater significance in the presence of micelles. These findings are of relevance to regulators, petrochemical and water industry professionals in their efforts to best design contingency plans for oil-spill remediation of surface water used as drinking water supply.

Oil spill remediation and valorization of oil-soaked peat sorbent to biofuel by hydrothermal liquefaction

Oil spill remediation and valorization of oil-soaked peat sorbent to biofuel by hydrothermal liquefaction

Ecotoxicity of the formulated biosurfactant from Pseudomonas cepacia CCT 6659 and application in the bioremediation of terrestrial and aquatic environments impacted by oil spills

Dispersants with a low environmental impact are necessary for oil spill remediation. Thus, the biosurfactant produced by the bacterium Pseudomonas cepacia CCT6659 using industrial waste and formulated using a method of adding food preservative was evaluated for its toxicity against the vegetable Allium cepa and aquatic species such as the freshwater fish Poecilia vivipara and the bivalve Anomalocardia brasiliana. The biosurfactant was also applied in the removal of hydrophobic contaminant in sand and soils, in sea stones, in the dispersion and in the bioremediation of oil in seawater. The surfactant was considered to be of low toxicity for the bioindicators evaluated. As a petroderivative removal agent, the formulated tensoactive reached 76.55 % removal in soil and 84.50 % in sea stones. The biosurfactant was able to disperse 96.00 % of oil in seawater and promoted an increase in the biodegradation of oil by 70.00 % during a bioremediation process carried out in seawater. Therefore, the formulated biosurfactant presents suitable conditions for application as a dispersing agent in the decontamination of terrestrial and aquatic environments impacted by oil spills in substitution of chemical and toxic compounds.

Novel Ti3C2Tx MXene wrapped wood sponges for fast cleanup of crude oil spills by outstanding Joule heating and photothermal effect

Remediation of crude oil spills is a great challenge owing to the poor mobility and high viscosity of crude oil. Herein, a porous polydimethylsiloxane@wood sponge/MXene (PDMS@WSM) with outstanding compressibility and hydrophobic/lipophilic ability was demonstrated as crude oil absorbent. The surface temperature of PDMS@WSM could quickly rise to 80 °C with a working voltage of 4 V and to 66 °C under simulated sunlight irradiation of 1.5 KW m−2, respectively. Due to the excellent Joule heating and photothermal conversion effect, the PDMS@WSM displayed maximum adsorption capacity of 11.2×105 g m−3 within 6 min. The PDMS@WSM showed preferable reusability and cycle stability because of its brilliant compressibility. Moreover, the oil-collecting device based on PDMS@WSM could continuously collect crude oil spills, achieving an active collection of 25 mL crude oil within 150 s. Therefore, the porous PDMS@WSM absorbent exhibited great potential for crude oil spills remediation, energy regulation, and desalination of hypersaline water.

Ultralight and superhydrophobic perfluorooctyltrimethoxysilane modified biomass carbonaceous aerogel for oil-spill remediation

The removal of oil spills or organic contaminants from water surface is of great importance for environmental protection. A major challenge is the fast placement and collection of the absorbent materials with high separation selectivity, good stability, and excellent recyclability. In this work, we report a novel environmentally friendly, cost-effective, easy production, fast collection and good recyclability, superhydrophobic adsorbent (PPCA@PFTS), which was obtained via the modification of pomelo peel biomass carbonaceous aerogel (PPCA) with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl-trimethoxysilane (PFTS). Scanning electron microscopy image shows that PPCA@PFTS possesses a 3D cross-staggered structure with large diameter tunnels as well as numerous mesopores, which provide a possibility for its oil absorption characteristics. The maximum sorption capacities of PPCA@PFTS for soybean oil were about 5.8 g/g. PPCA@PFTS shows good durability with maintained effectiveness up to 30 regeneration cycles tested. Moreover, the adsorbed oil can be collected quickly. Therefore, we believe that a careful design of the pomelo peel biomass carbonaceous aerogel might further improve the oil absorption properties of this kind of materials. Importantly, our results suggest a facile and efficient material that might have practical applications in the cleanup of oil spills and the removal of organic pollutants on water surface.

Superhydrophobic polyaniline absorbent for solar-assisted adsorption of highly viscous crude oil

The effective removal and recovery of viscous crude oil continue to be an intractable concern, owing to the poor fluidity of viscous crude oil at normal temperature. When frequently used in oil remediation, traditional adsorption materials typically exhibit low absorption efficiency and easily destructible superhydrophobic surfaces. In this work, we constructed a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/polyaniline (PANI)-modified melamine sponge (MS) with a robust superhydrophobic coating by simple polymerization and dip coating. The unique PANI coating endows PDMS/PANI@MS with superior photothermal conversion efficiency and allows the surface equilibrium temperature to quickly rise to 81.8 °C within 2 min under the irradiation of 1 standard sunlight (1 kW/m2). The efficient photothermal conversion allows the absorbent sponge to significantly reduce oil viscosity and facilitate absorption, thus demonstrating an absorption capacity of 11.68 × 105 g/m3, which is superior to those of absorbents reported previously. The excellent reusability conferred by the modified sponge, on the basis of the stable surface structure and good elasticity, demonstrates its potential for application in the remediation of viscous crude oil spills.

High-viscosity Pickering emulsion stabilized by amphiphilic alginate/SiO2 via multiscale methodology for crude oil-spill remediation

The separation of crude oil from oily water and collection of the emulsion constituents has attracted significant attention. We demonstrate that the relationships between inherent dynamic factors and the performance of a Pickering emulsion stabilized by SiO2 particles with adsorbed hydrophobically modified sodium alginate derivatives (HMSA), a natural pH-sensitive polysaccharide, can be clarified via a multi-scale methodology. Functionalization of the silica surface with HMSA controls particle dispersibility, as verified by turbidity and stability analyses, the zeta potential, and transmission electron microscopy measurements. The interaction mechanism between HMSA and SiO2 nanoparticles was elucidated by both experimental adsorption measurements and computer simulations, which showed qualitative consistency. The aggregation/disaggregation of HMSA/SiO2 particles achieved by tuning the pH of the solution facilitated reversible dispersibility/collectability behavior. Overall, a high-viscosity Pickering emulsion system based on particle-particle and droplet-droplet interactions, which can be filtered for the recovery of spilled crude oil, was demonstrated.

Superhydrophobic leached carbon Black/Poly(vinyl) alcohol aerogel for selective removal of oils and organic compounds from water

The remediation of oil spills and treatment of oily wastewater remains challenging to cope with nowadays. This has caused a surge in demand on adsorbent materials with multi-functionalities to effectively separate oils and nonpolar solvents from water. A superhydrophobic composite aerogel prepared from industrial waste-derived leached carbon black waste (LCBW) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was developed in this work via conventional freeze-casting followed by surface coating. The composite aerogel was ultralight and porous with porosity >85% and tunable density ranging between 0.015 and 0.065 g/cm3. It was found that the embedded LCBW in the PVA network is crucial to impart superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity to the aerogel as it enhances the surface roughness. Wettability test showed that composite aerogel prepared from 0.5 wt% PVA at PVA/LCBW ratio of 1 exhibited the highest water contact angle (156.7 ± 2.9°). LCBW also improved the thermal stability of the composite aerogel. With its superior selectivity, PVA/LCBW aerogel was used as selective adsorbent for a variety of oils and organic solvents. The adsorption test showed that the composite aerogel exhibited an adsorption capacity up to 35 times its original weight and could be reused repeatedly and easily recovered through a simple drying method.

A Strategy of Liquid‐Grafted Slippery Sponges with Simultaneously Enhanced Absorption and Desorption Performances for Crude Oil Spill Remediation

AbstractCrude oil spill accidents pose a worldwide environmental threat. Oleophilic and hydrophobic absorbents that can selectively absorb oil from water have shown promising application potential in oil spill remediation. Simultaneous optimization of the absorption and desorption speed of absorbents towards oil is highly desirable for their recyclable usage, but remains a great challenge, because these two properties are generally conflicting. Here, a facile and ingenious strategy is proposed to tackle the above challenge via surface modification of porous sponges with highly flexible linear polydimethylsiloxane (LPDMS) brushes. The LPDMS brushes feature liquid‐like properties at room temperature owing to its extremely low glass transition temperature, and act as a covalently‐grafted lubrication layer throughout the 3D network channels of the sponge, which can minimize contact angle hysteresis and reduce friction between oil and sponge channel. Compared to the prevalent cross‐linked polydimethylsiloxane (CPDMS) modification strategy, sponges modified with LPDMS brushes not only shows significantly enhanced absorption speed, but also exhibits superior desorption dynamics towards viscous crude oils. The design strategy of slippery sponges with liquid‐like molecules may open a new avenue for developing advanced absorbents with simultaneously enhanced absorption and desorption performances for liquid separation and purification applications.

Solar-assisted isotropically thermoconductive sponge for highly viscous crude oil spill remediation

SummaryEfficiently cleaning up high-viscosity crude oil spills is still a serious global problem. In this paper, a composite filler PPy-polydopamine/BN (PPB) with high photothermal effect and high thermal conductivity was first prepared. Then the polyurethane sponge is decorated with polydimethylsiloxane and PPB to obtain a solar-assisted isotropically thermoconductive adsorbent (PPB@PU), which exhibits remarkable stability and durable mechanical properties. Meanwhile, the PPB@PU sponge has good thermal conductivity, and its surface temperature rises to 91°C in just 1 min under irradiation (1 sun). Therefore, the PPB@PU sponge can quickly heat and adsorb the crude oil contacted by the surface, significantly speed up the crude oil recovery process, and the adsorption capacity is as high as about 45 g/g. Finally, the oil adsorption method of the three-dimensional adsorbent is demonstrated, which provides a new idea for the subsequent development of advanced oil spill adsorbent.

Label-free characterization of organic nanocarriers reveals persistent single molecule cores for hydrocarbon sequestration

Self-assembled molecular nanostructures embody an enormous potential for new technologies, therapeutics, and understanding of molecular biofunctions. Their structure and function are dependent on local environments, necessitating in-situ/operando investigations for the biggest leaps in discovery and design. However, the most advanced of such investigations involve laborious labeling methods that can disrupt behavior or are not fast enough to capture stimuli-responsive phenomena. We utilize X-rays resonant with molecular bonds to demonstrate an in-situ nanoprobe that eliminates the need for labels and enables data collection times within seconds. Our analytical spectral model quantifies the structure, molecular composition, and dynamics of a copolymer micelle drug delivery platform using resonant soft X-rays. We additionally apply this technique to a hydrocarbon sequestrating polysoap micelle and discover that the critical organic-capturing domain does not coalesce upon aggregation but retains distinct single-molecule cores. This characteristic promotes its efficiency of hydrocarbon sequestration for applications like oil spill remediation and drug delivery. Such a technique enables operando, chemically sensitive investigations of any aqueous molecular nanostructure, label-free.

Multi-domain probiotic consortium as an alternative to chemical remediation of oil spills at coral reefs and adjacent sites

BackgroundBeginning in the last century, coral reefs have suffered the consequences of anthropogenic activities, including oil contamination. Chemical remediation methods, such as dispersants, can cause substantial harm to corals and reduce their resilience to stressors. To evaluate the impacts of oil contamination and find potential alternative solutions to chemical dispersants, we conducted a mesocosm experiment with the fire coral Millepora alcicornis, which is sensitive to environmental changes. We exposed M. alcicornis to a realistic oil-spill scenario in which we applied an innovative multi-domain bioremediator consortium (bacteria, filamentous fungi, and yeast) and a chemical dispersant (Corexit® 9500, one of the most widely used dispersants), to assess the effects on host health and host-associated microbial communities.Results The selected multi-domain microbial consortium helped to mitigate the impacts of the oil, substantially degrading the polycyclic aromatic and n-alkane fractions and maintaining the physiological integrity of the corals. Exposure to Corexit 9500 negatively impacted the host physiology and altered the coral-associated microbial community. After exposure, the abundances of certain bacterial genera such as Rugeria and Roseovarius increased, as previously reported in stressed or diseased corals. We also identified several bioindicators of Corexit 9500 in the microbiome. The impact of Corexit 9500 on the coral health and microbial community was far greater than oil alone, killing corals after only 4 days of exposure in the flow-through system. In the treatments with Corexit 9500, the action of the bioremediator consortium could not be observed directly because of the extreme toxicity of the dispersant to M. alcicornis and its associated microbiome.Conclusions Our results emphasize the importance of investigating the host-associated microbiome in order to detect and mitigate the effects of oil contamination on corals and the potential role of microbial mitigation and bioindicators as conservation tools. Chemical dispersants were far more damaging to corals and their associated microbiome than oil, and should not be used close to coral reefs. This study can aid in decision-making to minimize the negative effects of oil and dispersants on coral reefs.28o34xjp3LHKa34vd8g18TVideo abstract

Bio-based dispersants for fuel oil spill remediation based on the Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Deviation (HLD) concept and Box-Behnken design

The high density and viscosity of fuel oil leads to its prolonged persistence in the environment and causes widespread contamination. Dispersants with a low environmental impact are necessary for fuel oil spill remediation. This study aimed to formulate bio-based dispersants by mixing anionic biosurfactant (lipopeptides from Bacillus subtilis GY19) with nonionic oleochemical surfactant (Dehydol LS7TH). The synergistic effect of the anionic-nonionic surfactant mixture produced a Winsor Type III microemulsion, which promoted petroleum mobilization. The hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation (HLD) equations for ionic and nonionic surfactant mixtures were compared, and it was found that the ionic equation was applicable for the calculation of lipopeptides and Dehydol LS7TH concentrations. The best formula contained 6.6% w/v lipopeptides and 11.9% w/v Dehydol LS7TH in seawater, and its dispersion effectiveness for bunker fuels A and C was 92% and 78%, respectively. The application of bio-based dispersants in water sources was optimized by Box-Behnken design. The efficiency of the bio-based dispersant was affected by the dispersant-to-oil ratios (DORs) but not by the water salinity. A suitable range of DORs for different oil contamination levels could be identified from the response surface plot. The dispersed fuel oil was further degraded by adding an oil-degrading bacterial consortium to the chemically enhanced water accommodated fractions (CEWAFs). After 7 days of incubation, the concentration of fuel oil was reduced from 3692 mg/L to 356 mg/L (88% removal efficiency). On the other hand, the abiotic control removed less than 40% fuel oil from the CEWAFs. This bio-based dispersant had an efficiency comparable to that of a commercial dispersant. The process of dispersant formulation and optimization could be applied to other surfactant mixtures.

Concus Finn Capillary driven fast viscous oil-spills removal by superhydrophobic cruciate polyester fibers

Developing functional materials integrating multi-tasking oil/water separation performances is significant but challenging for the remediation of large-scale oil spills causing pernicious environmental damages. Herein, a novel Concus Finn Capillary driven oil sorbent (OSCPF) fabricated by aligning superhydrophobic cruciate polyester fibers based on yarn spinning mechanism is designed to realize the clean-up of oil spills and various oil/water mixtures at high speeds. Instantaneous oil diffusion is achieved by abrupt Concus Finn Capillary driven oil-flows along aligned channels. This advance reduces the penetrating time for viscous crude oils by 95.00% comparing with that of non-oriented circular polyester fibers. The OSCPF possess great oil sorption capacity of 54.36–124.71 g/g and can separate oils from immiscible oil/water mixtures, including seawater, soap-water, CuCl2-water, and KMnO4-water, and surfactant-stabilized O/W emulsions by the way of adsorption with satisfactory separation efficiency (99.41–99.83%). Especially, the OSCPF is effectively used to enclose oil spills to prevent rapid oil diffusion and in-situ continuously collect the spillages from water surface and underwater by pumping device with recovery rates of 15,727–104,227 L·m−2·h−1. Considering the unique structural design, fast oil sorption speed, and low operating cost, this work provides a prospective oil remover addressing the remediation of catastrophic multi-tasking oil/water pollutions.

Joule-heated carbonized melamine sponge for high-speed absorption of viscous oil spills

Introducing heating function to oil sorbents opens up a new pathway to the fast cleanup of viscous crude oil spills in situ. The oil sorption speed increases with the rise of the temperature, thus oil sorbents with high heating temperature are desirable. Besides, the oil sorbents also need to be produced environment-friendly. Here we present carbonized melamine-formaldehyde sponges (CMSs) that exhibited superior heating performance and the CMSs could be massively fabricated through a non-polluting pyrolysis process. The conductive CMSs could be heated over 300 °C with a low applied voltage of 6.9 V and keep above 250 °C for 30 min in the air without obvious damage. Such high heating performance enabled heating up the oil spills with a high rate of 2.65 °C·s−1 and 14% improvement of oil sorption coefficient compared with the state-of-the-art value. We demonstrated that one joule-heated CMS could continuously and selectively collect viscous oil spills (9,010 mPa·s) 690 times its own weight in one hour. The CMSs will be a highly competitive sorbent material for the fast remediation of future crude oil spills.

Deep remediation of oil spill based on the dispersion and photocatalytic degradation of biosurfactant-modified TiO2

The employment of dispersant was an effective method to treat marine oil spill pollution. However, conventional dispersants only showed a single oil dispersion. Here, by modifying TiO2 nanoparticles with biosurfactant-Rhamnolipids (Rha), a highly efficient particulate dispersant with photocatalytic activity was developed. Rha-TiO2 showed both excellent oil spill dispersion and facilitated photodegradation for oil simultaneously. The oil droplets dispersed by Rha-TiO2 in seawater exhibited long time stability, which indicated the synergistic emulsification interactions between TiO2 and Rha in artificial sea water (ASW). The dispersion mechanism of Rha-TiO2 was analyzed, we found the TiO2 nanoparticles alone weren't effectively emulsified oil in high salinity ASW, but the addition of a small amount of Rha could modify the surface wettability of TiO2 nanoparticles to form the stable emulsion. In addition, the addition of a small amount of Rha could reduce the surface tension of the oil-water interface, which contribute to increasing the content of TiO2 nanoparticles at the oil-water interface, form a steric rigid layer around the oil droplets to prevent droplet coalescence and facilitate the further photocatalytic degradation of oil. In short, the Rha-TiO2 nanoparticles could effective disperse oil in ASW, meanwhile the TiO2 also played the role of photocatalytic degradation of oil pollution. Hence, this study developed a novel photocatalytic particulate dispersant to remediate marine oil spill and delivered a new feasible solution for practical oil spill treatment in the future.

Expended Polystyrene (EPS) Waste as Sorbent for Crude Oil Spill Cleanup: From Laboratory Experiments to Field Application

EPS is a major constituent of plastic waste. Reuse of waste EPS which is non-biodegradable, to useful products is a way of effective waste management. Oil is one of the most important energy sources but oil spill accidents often take place during the oil utilization process, resulting in threats to the environment. We reported the use of EPS waste to obtain an adsorbent material to cleanup crude oil spill from water. The effects of major factors such as sorption time, adsorbent surface areas, kind of surface (smooth or rough) and thermo-modification and mechanical modification (punching holes) were investigated on laboratory experiments and presented at ADIPEC 2014( Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference, 10-13 Nov., 2014, Session 52 Environment, SPE 172000-MS). The laboratory experiments carried out with about 0.9 g EPS sorbent for oil sorption times of 5 to 120 min at 350 g oil only and at 100 g oil over 500 mL water. The sorbent were punched with holes of 1.65 mm diameter. To verify the above laboratory experiments a field study for oil spill cleanup at crude oil pond from a rupture pipeline in Basrah was conducted. About 40 g EPS waste of small pieces (0.100-0.200 g) packed in 40x30 cm mesh net plastic bags. More than 40 bags were placed on the surface of a pond containing the spill crude oil over water. The pond was of about 6 meter diameter with oil layer of about 1.0 cm thickness. The bags were agitated manually after placing it on the oil surface to increase oil distribution to all EPS pieces. Oil sorption Capacity (OSC) of EPS in the field application increased with the increasing of the sorption times. The oil sorption was measured after 30 min sorption time and then every 15 min till 150 min. OSC of 43- 53 g oil/ g EPS sorbent for a sorption time of 30- 150 min respectively, were determined. The OSC are about 4 times the maximum OSC of the laboratory tests. The increasing in OSC of field application over laboratory tests due to utilization of all EPS 6 surfaces in place of one surface in laboratory tests, using lower density EPS and high density crude oil. The use of EPS waste in oil spill cleanup will reduce pollution in two ways, remediation of oil spill and reduce the landfill area due EPS waste

Synthesis and Characterization of Date Palm Fiber-Based Bio-Char and Activated Carbon and its Utilization for Environmental Remediation

Natural agricultural products have the potential to be a substitute for synthetic polymers absorbentsin environmental remediation and spill cleanup and recovery. One of these natural by-productswhich is available in many regions of the world is Date Palm Fibers (DPF). DPF (also known assurface fibers) is a natural sorbent that exhibits good sorption characteristics. In an attempt tovalorize this abundant, low cost byproduct, we have investigated the micro porosity of this rawmaterial by carrying out two procedures. First, hydrothermal pyrolysis using a scalable reactor withonly water as solvent at high temperature (480 °C) under dry nitrogen atmosphere. Biochar yield wasfound varying from 30.5 to 33.6% (32%), with little bio-oil.Then the resultant biochar was physically activated with KOH and the mixture heated to 750oC(0.5oC/min) and kept at 750°C for 2 hours under Argon flow in a tubular furnace to produceactivated carbon. Second, the resulting biochar and activated carbons were then characterized byParticle Analyzer to measure their surface area, pore volume and pore diameter.For biochar, surface area : 1.1374 m²/g, pore volume 0.001883 cm³/g, pore diameter 1355.874 Å andfor activated biochar (activated carbon), surface area : 1220.2755 m²/g, pore volume: 0.062068cm³/g, pore diameter: 19.0116 Å were determined by particle characterization analyzer. ScanningElectron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) was also used for other analysis .The oil sorption behavior of the raw DPF, biochar and activated biochar were examined with motoroil. The Oil Sorption Capacity (OSC) of raw DPF, biochar and activated biochar were tested with theoil as oil alone and an oil over water surface and the value calculated gravimetrically. The maximumOSC values of the sorbents were in the order of: DPF<biochar< activated Biochar with OSC valuesof 8.952, 11.712 and 33.402 g*oil/g*sorbent, respectively at a sorption time of 30 min. That indicatethe OSC of the sorbents above are proportional with its surface areas.The sorbent materials can be utilized in oil spill remediation as well as waste water treatment forremoval of hydrocarbons pollutants from water. In addition biochar can be used as a soil amendmentfor enhancing soil fertility