Potential application of recycled rubber in oil pollution control

The abundance and indiscriminate disposal of scrap tyres in urban areas in Nigeria create serious health and environmental problems. The potential of using rubber recycled from scrap tyres as an absorbent in crude oil clean up was investigated. Rubber particles of mesh sizes within the range of 0.15 to 2.36 mm were used to absorb crude oil at different temperatures (5 to 40 degrees C). The rapid increase in oil absorption within the first 20 min was followed by a much slower rate, with the equilibrium absorption being attained after 30 min. The equilibrium absorption increased with decreasing particle size and decreasing temperature of absorption. At 30 degrees C, the oil absorption for the 0.15 mm rubber particles was more than twice that of the 2.36 mm particle size. When regenerated recycled rubber was used, the equilibrium absorption decreased by about 15-40%. The extent of reduction was higher for the larger particles and at lower temperature of absorption.