Sorbent composition and apparatus for removing oil or oily substances from water, and process of manufacturing said composition

Abstract

A sorbent composition and process designed for removing oil or oily substances from the surface or upper layer of a body of a water. The sorbent composition consists of raw peanuts hulls crushed to a plurality of particles of predetermined dimensions. The composition further comprises crushed raw peanut kernels provided to create a hydrophobic/oleophilic protective film around those particles. Protective film is formed by treatment of the mixture in a rotary kiln at a predetermined temperature and a restricted air flow. An apparatus for removing oil or oily substances from a surface or upper layer of a body of a water comprises a flexible ballast feeding pipe containing the sorbent composition. The pipe is immersed on predetermined depth below an oil spill water surface area and contains a number of injection nozzles distributed along the pipe. The injection nozzles are provided to eject the sorbent composition from the pipe into an underwater medium to facilitate a uniform sorbent mixture distribution over the area polluted by the oil spill. Sorbent composition is capable to ascent immediately to the surface of the water to form a second layer that floats below an oil spill layer and insures an unavoidable mutual physical contact with this oil spill layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.