Synthesis and characterization of biocompatible and biodegradable surfactant from orange peels waste for oil spill remediation

Chemical dispersants used for oil spill remediation are toxic and harmful to marine lives. This results in an extensive search for a biocompatible and biodegradable surfactant formulation. In recent years, orange peel waste has gained much attention for its potential in various industries. One of the potentials is its application as a low cost and environmental-friendly adsorbent for removal of oil. Studies and research in surfactant synthesis from fruit waste is significant as offshore and onshore exploration and production (E&P) activities are actively going on for the past decades. Hence in this study, we synthesized surfactant from orange peel (OP) with ionic liquid (IL) 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl) as reaction medium. Interfacial tension decreases as dispersant-to-oil ratio (DOR) increases. Its emulsion stability in light, medium and heavy crude oils was observed too. It was observed that as oil viscosities increased, time taken to form unstable emulsion decreased. Optical microscopy was used to determine the distribution of dispersed oil droplets size at various dispersant-to-oil ratios (DOR). The findings proved that as DOR increased, the size of dispersed Arab crude oil decreased.