Application of Sorbent materials in Oil Spill management: A review

Oil spills compel a serious problem on the environment which not only causes loss of energy sources, but also severely pollutes the sea water that imposes a serious intimidation to the ecological environment. Oil spill research and development has involved a large number of experiments to evaluate the effectiveness and the effects of sea water protection and cleanup techniques. One of the most important remedies in oil spill response is mechanical recovery by use of sorbent materials. This paper highlights the reviews on oil spill cleanup by using different sorbent materials such as natural organic sorbents, inorganic sorbents and synthetic sorbents. It also discusses their characteristics with special consideration on the oil sorption ca-pacity, Oil Sorption Rate and Absorbency, oil retention, Recovery of Sorbed Oil and Reusability of the sorbent. The review also contemplates development of sorbents that increase the sorption capacity. As a result organic product sorbents have great potential than the commercial synthetic sorbents due to its bio-degradable, eco-friendly and readily available.