A Hybrid Method for Analysis of Multimodal Data for Establishing the Mechanism of Sorption of Oil and Petroleum Products by Natural Sorbent: Hair of Flyers of Horse Flowers

Abstract

The economic and economic value of cattail consists of its medicinal, technical (fuel, construction, roofing, garter, wicker, cooper), as well as food, fodder, perganose, indicator, decorative and other uses. However, far from all the possibilities of using this plant have been disclosed. An interesting application of cattail is the use of its inflorescences (ears) as a sorbent when carrying out work to eliminate emergency spills of oil and oil products on the water surface. The chapter presents the results of studies on the use of the pistillate part of cattail inflorescences as an oil sorbent. A rather unique set of properties of the hairs of fly mats inflorescences of cattail - long-term buoyancy (more than 100 days), high sorption capacity, low water absorption and the possibility of multiple regeneration requires explanation and establishment of the sorption mechanism. To establish the mechanism of sorption by the sorbent - cattail inflorescences, a hybrid method for analyzing the data obtained from individual studies was used. On the basis of the hybrid method, it has been established that the sorption mechanism consists in a sequence of such processes as: dissolution of the wax layer covering the surface of an individual hair of a cattail fly; the formation of ruptures and the opening of internal cavities; stratification of individual hairs into several ribbons. Such a complex combination of processes leads to a synergistic effect that ensures high performance of the sorbent and an increase in its active surface by 30 %. The operational properties of a sorbent based on cattail inflorescences are given: density, oil capacity in static and dynamic conditions for various hydrocarbons, regeneration by mechanical squeezing, buoyancy, higher heat of combustion determined on a calorimeter IKA- WERKE C 5003 contro. The complex of the revealed properties of cattail inflorescences allows them to be effectively used when carrying out work to eliminate emergency oil and oil products spills on the water surface. For this purpose, a method of using adhesive drum devices for collecting waste sorbent from the water surface is proposed.