Waste Biomass-Extracted Surfactants for Heavy Oil Removal

Abstract

The potential synergism between biobased surfactants, produced from the alkaline extraction of waste biomass, and a synthetic surfactant was assessed. This synergism was explored in terms of surface and interfacial tension reduction, and the ability of mixtures to remove heavy oil from oil-bearing sand. The waste biomass sources investigated were return activated sludge (RAS) from municipal wastewater from Toronto, Canada, and urban refuse (UR) matter from municipal solid waste compost treatment facilities in Piemonte, Italy. Surfactants from both sources were extracted using alkaline extraction methods. Mixtures of these waste biobased surfactants with the synthetic surfactant, sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate (AOT), at a total concentration of 1g TOC /L, were able to achieve low interfacial tensions (<1 mN/m) with toluene and hexane, without the addition of electrolytes. The mixtures generally achieved interfacial tensions (IFTs) an order of magnitude below that of the pure biobased surfactant. At an increased total concentration of 10 g TOC /L, an UR extract (FORSUD), mixed at 40% with AOT, reached an ultralow IFT of 0.019 mN/m against hexane, without the need to add salt into the system. Furthermore, the RAS− AOT and UR−AOT mixtures were examined for their use in the removal of heavy oil, bitumen, from contaminated sand. The low IFTs of the mixtures proved to be useful in removing heavy oil (bitumen) from sand particles.

Extruded Poly(ethylene–co–vinyl alcohol) Composite Films Containing Biopolymers Isolated from Municipal Biowaste

“…The process does not require secondary waste treatment. The performance of the above SLP has been studied in diversified fields of the chemical industry, agriculture and animal husbandry.…”

Thermal Conversion of Municipal Biowaste Anaerobic Digestate to Valuable Char

“…The MBW anaerobic digestate was sourced from the waste treatment plant of the ACEA Pinerolese Industriale S.p.A. (Pinerolo, Italy) by sampling from the biogas production plant line, which is fed with the organic humid fraction derived from the separate collection of urban refuse [11,12]. The MBW was hydrolyzed according to the previous work [10] to obtain the SBO. This material was washed repeatedly with hydrofluoric acid (HF, CAS 7664-39-3, 48%, Merck, Kenilworth, NJ, USA) until the insoluble residue was ash free, then dried in an oven (Memmert, Schwabach, Germany) at 100 • C for one night and maintained in the dark in a closed vial until used.…”

“…The present work shows that the pyrolysis of this material, performed under relatively mild conditions (below 700 • C), yields biochar. It points out that, along with other chemical technologies [2,10,11], pyrolysis may be complementary to convert an MBW treatment plant into a biorefinery that produces valued-added products.…”

Value-Added Products Derived from Waste Activated Sludge: A Biorefinery Perspective

“…The possibility of direct extraction through cell lysis and subsequent bio-surfactant release in domestic WAS by alkaline treatment, has been demonstrated [127][128][129]; however, it should be noted that the pathogenicity of certain microbes commonly found in domestic and industrial wastewaters may affect its practicality. For example, mycobacterial glycolipids, produced by pathogenic mycobacteria, such as M. avium intracellure, M. scrofulaceum and M. fortulitum [130], as well as methylrhamnolipids from Pseudomonas aeroginosa [131], are well-known for their toxicity and antigenic properties.…”