An Attractive Solution: An Innovative Way to Clean Up Oil Spills

My name is Max Comstock and I am from Bridgewater Nova Scotia

The purpose of this project is to experiment with a new innovative way to help clean up oil spills.  Ferrofluid is a mixture of magnetite(Fe3O4),a carrier liquid (oil or water) and a surfactant to prevent clumping. It is considered low in toxicity but you still need to be careful with handling. Ferrofluid has a wide range of applications. It has been used at NASA to help with moving rocket fuel to the pumps, loud speakers to absorb heat, vehicle suspension systems also aiding in sealing areas in the engine, and many medical uses like targeted drug delivery and destroying tumors. When it is mixed with oil it has the same carrier liquid and will mix with the oil, making it magnetic.

Oil spills have a serious negative impact on our environment and searching for alternative

ideas can provide effective and efficient solutions to assist in cleaning them up. These spills kill thousands of wildlife, destroy shorelines and wetlands. While there are many ways we are cleaning oil spills up, finding the most effective and efficient method is important. Research was conducted to see how magnetic material could assist in clean up and to see the feasibility of it. Then additional questions around how or if it could work on land, or if it could be used in smaller kits for personal use were raised.

Materials:

Ferrofluid purchased online

Vegetable oil

Magnet that came with the ferrofluid

River magnet (holds up to 100lbs)

Table salt

Scale

Plastic container

PASCO wireless conductivity meter and SPARKVUE site

Step 1 - Add 25ml of salt to 710ml of water into a plastic container and mix to simulate ocean water.

Step 2 - Add 118ml of oil to 750ml of salt water.

Step 3 - Weigh the container on the scale for a baseline weight.

Step 4 - Add 2 pipettes of ferrofluid (1ml each) to the mixture.

Step 5 - Use a magnet and move it over the top of the water to pick up the oil/ferrofluid mixture using a paper towel to wipe off what the magnet removed. The magnet can be submerged up to 1inch as you continue to remove the mixture.

Step 6 - Repeat step 5 over a 5 minute window. Moving the magnet from the surface of the water, to the bottom to retrieve as much of the mixture as posisble.

Step 7 - Weigh the container on the scale again to see if there is a difference in weight and observe differences in oil levels visually.

Step 8 - Repeat the experiment again, putting the conductivity meter in the oil/ferrofluid/salt water mixture before using the magnet for 1 minute and record the number.

Experiment 1 was a test experiment to see if it would work at all so no  specific numbers or measuring was done as it was done to see if it would even work. When the magnet picked up the fluid instantly and it was confirmed that this method could work, we started experiment 2. Experiment 2 was created using a longer, and bigger container to be able to move the magnet around and see better how much oil could be removed from a larger, and flatter surface. After doing the best we could to remove the mixture for 5 minutes, it did mostly get rid of all the really dark areas, but the container still had lots of dark particles on the top, and bottom of the mixture. Questions if maybe a stronger magnet may have faster and better results were discussed since the magnet used was the one that came with the ferrofluid purchased online.

Experiment 3 involved ordering a river magnet online that can lift up to a 100lbs, and using precise measurements for the salt/water ratio and oil/water ratio, including weighing the mixture with just water, and water and oil together. This stronger magnet was much better at picking up the mixture and picked up much more in the same 5 minute window. The magnet was able to be used on the bottom of the container to see if it would lift up the ferrofluid/oil that had sunk to the bottom of the container and it easily lifted the sunken material as well. In the end, not only did the container look like it had less oil in it but also weighed less by 22 grams.

In Experiment 4, the same experiment as in number 3 was performed, but this time a conductivity meter was used to test the water with the oil/ferrofluid mixture before and after the magnet was used. This was done to measure the water's ability to conduct electricity.  Minerals and pollutants in the water allow electricity to flow better.  The measurement of oil/water and ferrofluid with out being cleaned was 14 340Us/cm. This was measured for 1 min and then recorded. After the magnet was used for 5 minutes to clean up as much oil/ferrofluid as possible, the measurement was taken again for 1 minute. The number was then 20 096 Us/cm. Oil does not conduct electricity well, so it made it difficult for the sensor to read what was in the water, when the number went up, it meant there was less oil in the water, and the probes could read more of the salty water, meaning with our results oil had clearly been removed.

Visually, oil had been removed from the water after the magnet had been used for 5 minutes. Weight in the container went from 0.846g to 0.824g. The container had lost 0.022g of oil. The conductivity meter read the oil/ferrofluid and salt water mixture at 14 340Us/cm. After the magnet was used for 5 minutes to remove as much of the mixture as possible, the conductivity meter was placed in the mixture again and the number was recorded at 20 096 Us/cm. Oil does not conduct electricity so the number had a lower reading because there was a higher concentration of oil in the mixture and the electrodes could not read as much of the salt water mixture. Once oil/ferrofluid had been removed, the number increased because the electrodes were able to read more of the salt water, meaning oil had been removed.

Based on the visual findings, the scale readings, and the conductivity meter readings, it can be concluded that ferrofluid has implications for removing oil from water on surface water and oil found under the surface.

Tests would need to be done to see how much ferrofluid would need to be added to the oil to make it cost effective but also efficient for ocean use. Additional testing to remove oil found on the bottom of the ocean is also an important next step. Using ferrofluid for land spills and creating personal kits would also be next steps. People work on cars and machines, and spills happen that sink into the ground. If ferrofluid could be added to those spills and a magnet used to lift it up, it could help prevent ground contamination.

I would like to thank my mother, Megan, who helped me with the experiments and was my photographer. She was a great person to run ideas by and kept me on task.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/EnvEng_p036/environmental-engineering/can-nanotechnology-help-clean-up-ocean-oil-spills

https://www.nasa.gov/history/novel-rocket-fuel-spawned-ferrofluid-industry/

https://isef.net/project/eaev049-magnetizing-oil-to-clean-up-aquatic-oil-spills

https://www.nasa.gov/history/novel-rocket-fuel-spawned-ferrofluid-industry/

https://news.mit.edu/2012/how-to-clean-up-oil-spills-0912

https://chat.openai.com/chat

https://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/media/1163/scienceathome_oil_spill_grade9.pdf

https://youtu.be/ZaP7XOjsCHQ?si=gk2gfNLNzUBV6SFl