Petroleum Sorption by Thermally Treated Rice Husks Derived from Agricultural Byproducts

Abstract

Agricultural byproducts or residues are widely produced in Kazakhstan and their utilization as a sorbent material for petroleum spill can be developed as low cost, high tech environmental technology. Rice husk, an agricultural waste, was used as petroleum sorbent material. The present study examines the sorption capacity of thermally treated rice husk for different petroleum products. Results showed that the petroleum sorption capacity of this material prepared at 700 ºC was 15 g/g for heavy crude petroleum. The material obtained by thermal treatment of rice husk has very good buoyancy characteristics, high petroleum sorption capacity and high hydrophobicity. The effects of heating temperature, contact time and petroleum density on the petroleum sorption capacity of thermally treated rice husks were further studied on the basis of phase composition, microstructure and morphology using X-ray diffraction analysis, FTIR spectrometry, optical digital microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of the SEM and optical microscopy studies strongly indicate that thermal treatment is a suitable method to improve structure of husk particles regarding porosity compared to virgin samples. The research provides the basis for development of a new environmental material with optimal characteristics, providing efficient sorption of petroleum and petroleum products from aqueous medium.