Last year, an oil spill in a tidal lagoon in Puerto AsÃs, in the department of Putumayo, Colombia, consisting of a few liters of diesel, caused an ecological debacle. To fix this debilitating situation, expert petroleum engineer Duvanis Herazo Navajas, a graduate in Sciences and Biotechnology from the National University of Colombia (UNAL), developed a 100% natural substance made of plants to clean the water. The surfactant he created could reduce the contamination caused by spills of hydrocarbons by up to 90% in about two weeks.
Navajas said:
It is a mixture of surfactants and solvents that, when in contact with oil, helps it to decompose into simpler structures, and there the native bacteria present in the environment degrade it. Surfactants, also called surfactants, are extracted from plants such as quinoa and coconut.
The product, created from plant extracts, breaks down the hydrocarbons so that they are degraded or consumed by bacteria present in nature. The decomposition time of oil depends on the quantities. In the Bloque Pantanillo lagoon, in the municipality of Puerto AsÃs, almost complete degradation was achieved in two weeks – a fairly quick time compared to using other non-natural chemicals.
It should be noted that usually when there is an oil spill, two methods are used to control it: one is the mechanical collection of the oil, and the other is the use of chemical surfactants, most of which are imported and manufactured with of hydrocarbons, which means that they are more difficult to degrade.
Navajas has used his creation in other oil spills around the country. One was in the Amazon rainforest, where the soil was restored in a matter of weeks. Another was in an area near the country’s capital. That spill was interesting because the water is cold there. In such conditions, the hydrocarbon emulsifies more, making it more difficult to degrade or decompose. Still, the results with his biotechnology were good.
Other natural methods of soaking up oil spills have been developed in recent years. Among them include reusable wooden sponges and biodegradable sunflower pollen sponges. Hair also works well, so a barbershop chain in Sydney collects all the clients’ cut hair, then donates it to institutions that make oil-absorbing hair stuffed stockings.
