Sorção de petróleo por fibras vegetais

Nowadays, when accidents with oil tanker or shore tanks occur and there is oil spill, some arrangements are made in order to repress and to fix the situation. For the containment, barriers or detours are usually made of synthetic materials such as polyurethane foam. In order to clear water away, techniques like in loco burning, biodegradant agents, dispersant agents and sorbent materials application are used. The most of the sorbent materials are also synthetic and they are used because it is easy to store them and their availability in market. This dissertation introduces the study of vegetable fibers of pineapple leaf fibers (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.), cotton fibers (Gossypium herbaceum L.), kapok fibers (Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.), curauá fibers (Ananas erectifolius L.B. Sm.) and sisal fibers (Agave sisalana Perrine) related to their capacity of sorption of oil in case of accidental spill in the ocean. This work evaluates the substitution possibility of synthetic materials by natural biodegradable materials with less cost