Avaliação de biossorvente a partir da fibra da ceiba paineira para remoção de óleos e graxas em água produzida

Abstract

With the development of humanity, the need for new energy sources capable of meeting the demand has become a reality. Thus, with the extraction of fossil fuels, economic and technological progress became evident in the world's leading powers. Nowadays, petrochemical industries are responsible for a large portion of all the energy used globally. However, the exploitation of this raw material is followed by by-products such as gases, sedimentable residues, oils, and produced water. This water, when produced by oil refineries at their peak production, can correspond to 90% of the waste generated. Produced water consists of organic and inorganic matter, such as metals, hydrocarbons, oils, greases, and other compounds, which, when contaminant, can become potentially harmful to ecological balance as well as human life. In light of this issue, treatments to minimize such damage are necessary, and lignocellulosic biosorbents have shown potential as an alternative for removing oils and greases (O&G) in produced water. In this work, the fiber of Ceiba paineira was evaluated as a biosorbent in its natural state, as well as chemically modified with sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide for the removal of O&G in produced water. The fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and by thermogravimetry (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG). It was found that the sample with the best removal performance was the fiber treated with 1% sodium hydroxide (CPNAOH 1%) with a removal rate of 99.8% and sorbed oils and greases amounting to 180 mg/g. However, these results did not show significant differences compared to the other samples, with removal rates ranging from 81.7% to 99.7%. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Ceiba paineira fiber has great potential as a biosorbent for removing oils and greases in produced water samples from the petroleum industry, and it can even be used in its natural form.