A Mobile Technical Module for the Production of Composite Sorbents for Petroleum Products

Abstract

Introduction.  Thousands of oil spills are recorded in Russia every year, many of which occur in remote regions such as Western Siberia, the Arctic zone, and the Far East. Oil production at all stages has a negative impact on the lithosphere, hydrological regime, and biodiversity. This impact increases with the scale of petrochemical and mining activities. An analysis of the literature shows that various sorbents and mobile solutions are used to eliminate spills, but there are still challenges with high transportation costs, limited shelf life, difficulty in selecting the right material for a specific type of contamination, and a lack of technological modules that can be delivered to hard-to-reach areas. The aim of this research was to transfer the previously developed technology for producing a composite sorbent to a mobile vehicle, and to determine the design and technical parameters of a mobile technological module (MTM) for the prompt elimination of oil spills. Materials and Methods.  The study was based on a stationary scheme previously developed by the authors for producing a composite sorbent from dichloroethane, cetylamine surfactant, vermiculite, and shredded polystyrene foam. The process involved converting polystyrene foam to a viscous state with a solvent, adding mineral filler, and drying the mixture. To design a mobile technological module, we calculated the production cycle time, the weight of the complex, and the area occupied by the equipment. The calculations took into account elements made of PTFE-4 fluoroplastic according to TU 6-05-810-88[2] , a BYD NYP-3.6 gear pump, a Greenworks G24HG 24V heat gun, a capacitor, containers, mixers, a drying chamber, chutes, and hydraulic fittings. UAZ 23632 was chosen as a mobile vehicle because of its off-road capabilities, cargo capacity, and cargo platform dimensions. Results.  It was established that the composite sorbent could be produced in mobile conditions using a previously developed technological process, which included dissolving polystyrene foam, adding a filler, and drying the formed mass. The production cycle for a batch of 20 sorbent sheets measuring 210×297×5 mm took five hours when drying at a temperature of 22°C, and was reduced to four hours by using a heat gun. The total mass of the main elements of the mobile complex, excluding the sorbent components, amounted to 70 kg, and the working mass of the module with precursors reached 78 kg. The area occupied by the main equipment elements was 8900 cm[2] , which corresponded to the area of a EUR-pallet (approximately 0.9 m[2] ). The calculations confirmed that it was possible to place all components of the mobile technological module on a UAZ 23632 vehicle. During the study, it was also taken into account that the mineral filler could be reused for up to three cycles, after which the loss of sorption properties amounted to 35%.  Discussion.  The research results demonstrated that converting the stationary production process for a composite sorbent into a mobile format was technically feasible and met the goal of providing a rapid response to emergency oil spills in hard‑to‑reach areas. Unlike solutions focused on delivering ready‑made sorbents, the proposed approach involved transporting the components and producing the material directly near the spill site, which reduced the dependence on logistics and storage conditions. The comparison with literature data confirmed the relevance of this approach. Mobile technologies made it possible to customize the properties of the sorbent, reducing transportation costs and minimizing waste through material recovery. However, the limitations of this study included its design-based nature: the functionality of the module was assessed based on mathematical modeling and comparison with similar equipment. The practical significance of the results was that they confirmed the possibility of installing a compact production complex on an off-the-road vehicle without changing the basic process flow. Conclusion.  During the study, the key parameters of the mobile technological module were calculated: duration of the production cycle, weight of the equipment, and the occupied area. It has been shown that a module weighing 78 kg and with an area of approximately 0.9 m[2] can be mounted on a UAZ 23632 vehicle and used to produce a composite sorbent directly at the site of an emergency spill. This solution makes it possible to increase the efficiency of pollution cleanup, reduce logistics costs, and lower the environmental impact by reducing the number of transport trips and the amount of recycled polystyrene foam waste. A mobile technological module can be recommended as a component of equipment for eliminating emergency oil spills in hard‑to‑reach areas.