Evaluación de la eficacia de la fibra de coco (Cocos nucifera) y pseudotallo del plátano (Dominico harton) como barreras naturales adsorbentes oleofílicas.

Abstract

Orellana province has faced several problems in recent years due to non-compliance with environmental regulations, on average, a spill is suffered every three days, most of which are leaks in pipes and often are not discovered in time; therefore, the objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of coconut fiber (Cocos nucifera) and banana pseudostem (Dominico harton) as natural oleophilic adsorbent barriers for the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbons in water. The methodology implemented was exploratory, experimental, and explanatory, a pure bifactorial design without blocks was used, where the first factor was coconut and banana fibers in two types of adsorbents (II: loose fibers, III fibers contained in nylon) together with two application times, 15 min and 24 h; also, the lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose of the fibers were characterized, the adsorption capacity and their effectiveness in the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) were determined. As a result, the coconut presented a higher percentage of lignin (41.381) and cellulose (45.253) was obtained. Banana fiber type III+24 h presented higher TPH absorbance with 2.34 cm3/cm3 in contrast to coconut fiber type II+15 min, which was 0.822 cm3/cm3. In addition, type II+24h banana fiber obtained higher efficiency for TPH removal with 98.29 percent, but, consequently, this fiber increased the percentage of electrical conductivity by 829.18 and turbidity by 289.75. It was concluded that the high lignin content interferes in the adsorbent action of cellulose, for this reason the coconut fiber, with high levels of lignin, did not present better adsorption capacity and removal of TPH present in water compared to banana pseudostem.