Comparative Absorption of Crude Oil from Fresh and Marine Water Using Recycled Rubber

Crude oil spillage is a major environmental pollution in the Niger–Delta area of Nigeria. The use of recycled rubber from enormous available scrap tires for pollution control of oil-polluted fresh and marine water and the attendant survival of aquatic organisms (fish) in these polluted waters was investigated. The absorption capacity of rubber particles for the oil was the same in both the oil-polluted fresh and marine waters and depended on the rubber particle size and temperature of absorption. The survival time of the fish depended on the amount of rubber added to and the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in the oil-polluted waters. The survival time increased from 3.5 to 7.25 h as the rubber to oil ratio was increased from 0.5 to 2.5. At a ratio of 3, the oil film on the water was no longer continuous and the survival time increased to 6,000 h. The survival time increased with the DO concentration in polluted water. In the absence of added rubber particles, the DO concentration decreased within 2 h from 5.27 mg/L to less than 3 mg/L, a value below the limit required for aquatic organism survival.