Preparation and Characterisation of Oil Spill Dipersants Based on Polyglycerol Nonionic Surfactants

Abstract

DISPERSANTS, usually blended with several surfactants and a solvent, are used to enhance oil spill dispersion as small droplets in water column. Although there is growing acceptance of dispersants as a counter measure to marine oil spill around the world, the two major issues with the dispersants are their toxicity to marine life and dispersion effectiveness (DE) for crude oil. To develop more efficient and less toxic dispersants, three dispersants of hexaglycerol esters (hexaglycerol laurate, hexaglycerol myristate and hexaglycerol palmitate) non-ionic surfactants were prepared. Salinity at different temperatures of the three dispersants was investigated. They had high (DE) for studied crude oil. Emulsion stability was also examined and it was found that all the prepared surfactants were able to form stable emulsions and their stability was very high, extending for months.