The Use of Nanotechnology in the Aftermath of Oil Spill

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of my project was to experiment the use of magnets and ferrofluid (to make the oil magnetic) as a viable oil spill cleanup method. Methods/Materials The procedure began with two petri dishes in which a set amount of oil and water was present. During the tests different amounts of ferrofluid (0.5 mL and 1 mL) were added to see the effects of the amount of ferrofluid on the results or the volume of the solution after the magnet was hovered over the solution. The remaining solution was then poured into the graduated cylinder, measured for volume in mL, and then recorded as the results. Results The efficiency was measured in a ratio of the altered volume divided by the original volume of the oil-water solution. Adding 1 mL of ferrofluid to the oil proved to be more potent as a cleanup method than adding 0.5 mL shown in the average efficiency of 0.75 rather than 0.53. Conclusions/Discussion The results achieved by the experiment supported my hypothesis. Using magnets and nanotechnology (the study of particles the size of 1 billionth of a meter) can magnify the success of the cleanup of oil that sinks beneath the surface and later allow companies to sell their oil in the future. With more research and study, the possible pollutions can be found and the 40 billion dollars of profit lost by BP in the gulf oil spill could be avoided.

Competition history

• CSEF 2014 Environmental Engineering (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1025

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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