Journals Proceedings

Abstract

The removal of vegetable oil and diesel fuel from seawater using waste coconut coir was investigated by batch adsorption experiments at varying sorbent doses and temperatures. Maximum adsorption capacities of 7231 and 6530 mg/g were achieved for the adsorption of vegetable oil and diesel fuel, respectively. The water adsorbency was relatively high at 6540 mg/g which is a limitation in its potential field application for oil spill cleanup. The maximum adsorption capacities improved significantly by up to 22% with a corresponding reduction in water adsorbency when coconut husk was impregnated with human hair. The adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo second order kinetic model and fitted to the Freundlich adsorption isotherm model. The sorption capacity was found to decrease with increasing temperatures. This work demonstrated that with adequate modifications to improve its hydrophobicity, coconut coir can potentially provide a low cost environmentally friendly adsorbent for oil spill cleanup.