ISSN 1063455X, Journal of Water Chemistry and Technology, 2008, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 187–190.

© Allerton Press, Inc., 2008.

Original Russian Text © Kh.Kh. Khalilova, M.V. Mamedov, 2008, published in Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Vody, 2008, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 339–344.

WATER TREATMENT
AND DEMINERALIZATION TECHNOLOGY

A Technique of Water Treatment from Oil Pollutants

Kh. Kh. Khalilova and M. V. Mamedov
International Ecoenergy Academy;
Institute of Petrochemical Processes,
NAS of Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan
Received February 2, 2007

Abstract—A new technique of water treatment from oil and oil products using a highly effective adsorbent
has been developed. A composition was proposed for producing the adsorbent made of oligocyclopenta
diene with molecular weight 4000–5000 and a 5% solution of polynorbornyl acrylate. It has been proved
that using this adsorbent we can extract 5–7 wt % of oil from the water surface.
DOI: 10.3103/S1063455X08030089

It is wellknown that pollution of water bodies, lakes, seas, and rivers with oil and oil products negatively
affects the development of fauna and flora. A thin film of oil formed on the water surface prevents the disso
lution of atmospheric oxygen in the water resulting in oxygen starvation, therefore, the water treatment of oil
and oil products is now one of the urgent problems.
During the water treatment for removal of oil pollutants intensive studies are conducted aimed at produc
ing the effective and readily available adsorbents and also at developing a costeffective technique sufficiently
simple in terms of the technological process.
For removing oil pollutants from water different water treatment techniques are now available using as
adsorbents: fiber material [1]; filtering materials [2, 3]; adsorbents consisting of 20% SAS and 80% alkyl phe
nols [4]; highly porous material floating on the water surface [5]; porous foam silicate having oleophilic
hydrophobic properties [6]; dried oils [7]; cellulose and reinforcing fibers [8]. For collecting oil from the water
surface an adsorbent composition was produced consisting of 70% perlite, 23% cellulose fiber, 6% clay, and
1% asphalt [9]. According to data in papers [10–13] the same purposes can be achieved by using single syn
thetic, natural higher monocarboxylic aliphatic acids obtained by hydrolysis of vegetable and animal oils [10,
11], and also by using oxyesters produced by the synthesis of fatty acids with propylene oxide that are applied
as oleophilic agent for collecting oil from the water surface [12, 13].
Papers [14–17] present data on the water purification from oil and oil products and also organic com
pounds by using hydrophobic compounds of perlite [14, 15], activated carbon [16], and ionexchange resin
[17].
Oilcollecting and oildispersive methods using different reagents, which are surface active substances, are
presented in paper [18].
The purpose of the present paper is to study and develop an effective method of water treatment from oil
pollutants.
The principle of the method involves the use of fundamentally new adsorbent consisting of linear cyclopen
tadiene oligomers (CPDO)and having the molecular weight of 4000–5000. This adsorbent was synthesized by
oligomerization of cyclopentadiene in the presence of the catalytic system consisting of the Lewis acid:

n m
n>m

To make the oligomer floatable and waterproof, it was treated with a 5% solution of polynorbornyl acry
late. Polynorbornyl acrylate was synthesized by oligomerization of 2norbornyl acrylate in the presence of ini
tiators by the method presented in paper [19]:

187
188 KHALILOVA, MAMEDOV

CH3 CH
n
C= O
O

EXPERIMENTAL
The adsorption capacity of CPDO was studied by using solutions prepared by adding oil (5000–7000 mg)
from different oil fields in Azerbaijan and the adsorbent (from 100 to 1000 mg) to the distilled, fresh, and sea
water. The adsorbent was used in the form of powder and its bulk specific weight was 0.78 g/cm3.
The duration of oil adsorption was determined as follows. The required amount of oil was put in a beaker
having the capacity of 50 cm3 and then the adsorbent powder was added to it at room temperature. After the
specified time the latter was separated by filtration and its adsorption capacity was determined. In this case n
heptane was used as a solvent.
The regeneration of adsorbent was performed in the following order: the adsorbent was washed with the
solvent (light petroleum); dried during five hours to the fixed weight in a thermostat at 80°C. It should be noted
that in the case of storing the adsorbent after oil adsorption for 10 days the system did not undergo any visible
changes and oil did not escape from the adsorbent.
The efficiency of using the adsorbent after its regeneration was determined as follows: 7 g of the Apsheron
oil were put into a beaker and 1 g of the regenerated adsorbent was added to it. 30 minutes later we separated
7.1 g of dense mass. The adsorption capacity of CPDO amounted to 6.1 g (87.1%).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Table 1 shows the impact of the adsorbent quantity on the purification of water from oil.

Table 1. Impact of the CPDO quantity on the water purification from oil (quantity of water—1000 cm3, duration of
treatment—1 h)
Oil and distilled water, mg Oil and fresh water, mg Oil and sea water, mg
Adsorbent*,
before after before after before after
mg
treatment treatment treatment treatment treatment treatment
100 5000 4515 6000 5408 7000 6355
200 5000 4006 6000 4880 7000 5702
300 5000 3480 6000 4265 7000 5008
400 5000 3085 6000 3600 7000 4310
500 5000 2584 6000 2995 7000 3610
600 5000 2105 6000 2309 7000 2900
700 5000 1590 6000 1799 7000 2209
800 5000 1085 6000 1280 7000 1511
900 5000 589.0 6000 6450 7000 7842
1000 5000 19.5 6000 23.0 7000 30.0
Note: The oil used was from the Neft’ Dashlary oil field.

As can be seen from the data obtained, 1 mg of the adsorbent adsorbs from the surface of distilled, fresh
and sea water respectively ~5, ~6, and 7 mg of oil.
The data in Table 2 indicate that as the contact duration increases from 10 to 30 min, oil adsorption
increases from 20 to 34.8 %. Further increase of the contact duration does not result in a perceptible rise of
the adsorption efficiency. This implies that the optimal contact duration of the adsorbent with oil amounts to
30 min.
As the amount of oil per 1 g of adsorbent increases from 2 to 7 g, the latter increases its oil adsorption reach
ing the level of 99.4% (Table 3). However, further increase of the amount of oil does not contribute to improve
ment in adsorption. The results obtained made it possible to determine the optimal ratio of initial substances
oil and CPDO.

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 A TECHNIQUE OF WATER TREATMENT 189

Table 2. Relationship of CPDO as a function of the duration of its contact with oil
Duration Quantity, g Quantity of adsorbed oil
of adsorption, min adsorbent oil g %
10 1.0 20.0 4.0 20.0
15 1.0 20.0 4.50 22.5
20 1.0 20.0 5.65 28.2
25 1.0 20.0 6.12 30.6
30 1.0 20.0 6.95 34.87
35 1.0 20.0 6.98 34.9
40 1.0 20.0 7.0 35.0
45 1.0 20.0 7.0 35.0

The examined adsorbent CPDO can be used in producing energy as a fuel oil, paintwork material for pre
venting metal corrosion, and also as an adsorbent for purification of lakes, seas from oil and oil products and
the local water treatment at oil refineries. This adsorbent was tested at the laboratory Ecological Physiology of
the Karaev Institute of Physiology, NAS of Azerbaijan, for determining its effect on aquatic organisms (hydro
bionts) polluted with oil from oil fields Neftyanye Kamni and Serebrovskogo.

Table 3. Impact of the quantity of oil on the adsorption capacity of CPDO

Quantity, g Oil : CPDO weight ratio Quantity of the adsorbed oil
Oil CPDO g %
2.0 1 2:1 2.0 100
3.0 1 3:1 3.0 100
4.0 1 4:1 4.0 100
5.0 1 5:1 5.0 100
6.0 1 6:1 6.0 100
7.0 1 7:1 6.9 99.4
30.0 1 30 : 1 7.0 23.3

CONCLUSIONS
Thus, a new adsorbent has been produced and a highly effective technique of water treatment from oil has
been developed. The test results show that this adsorbent is not watersoluble in practical terms and does not
cause any chemical changes in its composition.
In addition, it was established that in the case of burning the adsorbent with adsorbed oil no carcinogenic
substances were formed.

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