Bioinspired Solar-Heated Carbon Absorbent for Efficient Cleanup of Highly Viscous Crude Oil
Title
Bioinspired Solar-Heated Carbon Absorbent for Efficient Cleanup of Highly Viscous Crude Oil
Subject
Crude oil
Efficiency
Absorption
Petroleum transportation
Oil spills
Irradiation
Carbon
Temperature control
Heat resistance
Structural design
Light absorption
Porosity
Solar absorbers
Solar heating
Vacuum technology
Wooden buildings
Description
Efficient cleanup of viscous crude oil spill is a worldwide challenge due to its sluggish flowability at room temperature. Conventional oil remediation methods using physical absorbers, skimmers, and vacuum technologies either demonstrate low absorption efficiency or have severe operational restrictions. Inspired by the highly efficient and passive transpiration process in trees, a solar-heated carbon absorber (HC-Wood) with an inherited wood structure of aligned channels for rapid crude oil absorption is reported. The unique porous structure of the carbon absorber can extend the light absorption paths, guide the direction of heat transport, and decrease the resistance to oil flows, endowing the carbon absorber a large efficiency of solar absorption (>99% of the incident irradiation), excellent thermal management, and fast capillarity-driven oil absorption behavior. The low tortuosity of the porous structure together with the efficient solar-thermal conversion enable the absorber to demonstrate a crude oil absorption rate of 1550 mL m2 in 30 s under 1 sun irradiation, which is 10 times faster than previously reported results for passive absorption of viscous crude oil. Given the unique structural design, low operating cost, and rapid oil absorption speed, this work provides a promising solution for addressing catastrophic large-area viscous oil spills. 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
16
29
Publisher
Advanced Functional Materials
Date
2019
Contributor
Kuang, Yudi
Chen, Chaoji
Chen, Guang
Pei, Yong
Pastel, Glenn
Jia, Chao
Song, Jianwei
Mi, Ruiyu
Yang, Bao
Das, Siddhartha
Hu, Liangbing
Type
journalArticle
Identifier
1616301X
10.1002/adfm.201900162
Collection
Citation
“Bioinspired Solar-Heated Carbon Absorbent for Efficient Cleanup of Highly Viscous Crude Oil,” Lamar University Midstream Center Research, accessed May 18, 2024, https://lumc.omeka.net/items/show/26070.