Application of activated recycled rubber from used tyres in oil spill clean up

The majority of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta area of Nigeria suffer from environmental pollution caused by frequent oil spillages. The feasibility of using activated recycled rubber from used tyres in oil spill cleanup was investigated. Recycled rubber was activated through carbonization and acid treatment. The activated rubber particles of surface area ranging from 615 to 784 m2 /g were used for the absorption studies at temperature between 5 and 40 ◦ C. The results show that as the carbonization temperature increased from 500 to 750 ◦ C the rubber particle surface area increased from 615 to 784 m2 /g. Moreover, the equilibrium oil absorption decreased from 8.89 to 5.90 as the temperature of absorption increased from 5 to 40 ◦ C for 615 m2 /g, and as the particle surface area increased from 615 to 784 m2 /g the equilibrium oil absorption increased from 8.89 to 14.73 for 5 ◦ C. The activation of recycled rubber particles increased the oil absorptive capacity by 1.6 to 2.6 times.