A team of scientists from Russia, which included specialists from the Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a participant in the Yenisei Siberia Research Center, has developed environmentally friendly reagents that collect oil and petroleum products. The use of reagents can be a breakthrough in the technology of cleaning the Arctic seas from oil spills. This is especially relevant in light of the active development of oil fields in the region, where the risks of oil spills threaten a unique ecosystem, harming fish and marine life.
The reagent contains phospholipids isolated from soybeans— an affordable and cheap raw material, and isobutyl alcohol. The resulting reagent decomposes easily in the environment, and therefore does not lead to its contamination. In experiments simulating an oil spill at various temperatures, the new reagent has shown excellent results. The oil slick area decreased by 93% at room temperature, and by 89% at cooled water. In addition, the reagent increases the thickness of the oil film, which makes it possible to remove or burn it.
“The Arctic regions are of strategic importance for our country, which is associated with both huge reserves of hydrocarbons and mineral raw materials, as well as transport and logistics lines running along the Arctic coast. However, the intensive development of the northern territories is largely complicated by harsh climatic conditions, which significantly increases the risk of man-made disasters and makes it difficult to deal with their consequences. In the presented work, the developed methods and approaches were applied for the first time to the study of the interaction of oil spills with water and ice in the Arctic climate, as well as the influence of promising reagents designed to remove oil from the water surface on the processes of freezing and melting,” said Candidate of Physico-Mathematical Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technology SB RAS Evgeny Morozov.
In the future, scientists plan to test the composition in real natural conditions in order to take into account the influence of external factors: wind and sea currents.
The research was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation.
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The world-class scientific and educational center “Yenisei Siberia” was established in 2019. It is an interregional association initiated by the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republics of Khakassia and Tuva. The participants of the REC include 28 scientific and educational organizations and enterprises of the real sector of the economy. During its operation, the Yenisei Siberia Scientific and Educational Center has formed more than 50 comprehensive projects for the development of new technologies, bringing together leading scientific, educational and industrial organizations of the region and the country.
Cover photo: Press Service of the Russian Science Foundation