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Nonwoven cotton expert Seshadri Ramkumar believes raw cotton is a better material for oil absorbency.
Written by John Davis
Cotton could be a better absorbent than the oil-containment booms (pictured above) that are currently being used to absorb the oil spilling into the Gulf. Photo courtesy of Deepwater Horizon Response.
The same Texas Tech-created nonwoven cotton technology that keeps soldiers safe from chemical and biological warfare agents may also serve as the perfect sponge for sopping up oil that has polluted the Gulf of Mexico.
As oil continues to gush from the exploded Deepwater Horizon oil rig, a Texas Tech expert in nonwoven cotton technology says the “fabric of our lives” may do a better job to absorb the oil spill than the booms made of synthetic material.
“Already, several million feet of the oil-containment booms have been used to capture the oil spilling into the Gulf,” said Seshadri Ramkumar, associate professor of Nonwoven materials at The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH). “They are made of synthetic materials, don’t biodegrade and absorb only a third of what raw cotton can do. The properties of raw cotton allow it to soak up 40 times its weight. With chemical modifications, it can soak up to as much as 70 times its weight. And it won’t just stay in a landfill forever.”
Ramkumar’s research focuses on developing value-added materials using nonwoven materials and nanotechnology. He supervises the Nonwoven and Advanced Materials Laboratory at TIEHH.
He is the creator of several nonwoven cotton technologies including FibertectTM, which is used in the U.S. military’s decontamination kits. He and a small group of his graduate students are researching ways to use lower-quality cottons that don’t make apparel grade for uses such as this.
“The nonwoven industry in the United States is well equipped with technologies that can develop oil-absorbent pads from natural fibers like cotton,” Ramkumar said.
Read more here.
Ron Kendall, director of TIEHH, demonstrates how Texas Tech-made Fibertect could help clean up oil in the Gulf.
8 Responses to “Cotton Could Serve as Cleanup Medium for Oil Spill”
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TIEHH
The Institute of Environmental and Human Health develops environmental and health sciences research and education at Texas Tech and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
The institute's goal is to position Texas Tech as an internationally recognized force in the integration of environmental impact assessment of toxic chemicals with human health consequences, framed in the context of science-based risk assessment to support sound environmental policy and law.
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May 19th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Great story, I wonder if there’s any video evidence of raw cotton’s performance? Check out what these good ol’ boys are doing with straw & hay-
http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/
June 2nd, 2010 at 2:11 pm
This is great, but take this to the highest possible authorities or it may take longer to get noticed by the main companies in charge of clean up.
June 8th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Hello Ron
Congratulations.
The short list must have been really short…..ha
Just kidding of course. How the heck are you….??
Send me a note and we can swap lies…..
Cheers
Bill
June 8th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
This is nothing new. This was proposed by other TTU researchers over 20 years ago.
June 8th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
This application seems to be good for small scale oil spills in industries. I wonder if this can used to control the on-going spill.
June 8th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
This is another example as to how natural fibers can solve some complex issues when the proper technology is applied. Hopefully this is actually taken serious and truly tried.
June 10th, 2010 at 9:53 am
[...] Cotton Could Serve as Cleanup Medium for Oil Spill [...]
June 18th, 2010 at 11:01 am
[...] Cotton Could Serve as Cleanup Medium for Oil Spill [...]