Sorption of heavy oil onto Jiaozhou Bay sediment.

The sorption of heavy oil onto sediment collected from Jiaozhou Bay was studied in a series of kinetic and equilibrium experiments using NaCl solutions. The effects of temperature, salinity, and pH of the medium on sorption behavior were investigated. Sorption equilibrium of the heavy oil and sediment was established within 60 min. The process was shown to follow a pseudo-second-order kinetic rate model. The sorption rate decreased with increasing initial heavy oil concentration in the solution. Batch equilibrium experiments showed that the sorption isotherm could be described by the Freundlich model. The standard free energy change and enthalpy change at the temperatures studied (283, 288, 293, and 298 K) were negative. These findings indicated that the process was spontaneous and exothermic. Salinity, pH and temperature influenced sorption performance. Sorption was favored by higher concentrations of NaCl, by lower pH values and by lower temperatures.