Adsorption of hydrocarbons on modified nanoclays

In this study organically modified nanoclay were prepared by exchanging of the cetyltrimethylammonium (CTAB), with inorganic/metal ions/cations in montmorillonite structure. To investigate the influence of the amount of modifier on basal spacing and subsequent removal efficiency of hydrocarbon, different amount of modifier was used. The modified and unmodified nanoclays characterized by XRD, CHN and FTIR techniques. The X-ray diffraction results showed that the interlayer spacing of CTAB-modified clays increased from 12 to 22Å. The effectiveness of the sorbent materials for sorption of a range of products was investigated using crude oil, kerosene, gasoline and toluene. The process parameters such as sorbent dosage and contact time were reported. The results showed that the adsorption capacity was in the range of 2 to 8 gram per gram of adsorbent. Results also showed that adsorption capacity of the organoclay was clearly higher than of the unmodified clay. These results were confirmed by CHN analysis.