A Mobile Technical Module for the Production of Composite Sorbents for Petroleum Products

Introduction. Every year, thousands of oil and petroleum product spill incidents are recorded in the Russian Federation [1], most of which occur in hard‑to‑reach regions of Western Siberia, the Arctic, and the Far East [2]. These spills are difficult to clean up due to the remote location of these sites, poor transport accessibility, harsh natural conditions, and high costs associated with delivering specialized materials and equipment. This makes it a significant ecological, technological, and organizational challenge to respond quickly to oil spills.

Oil production at all stages of the life cycle, from geological exploration and the construction of drilling facilities to well drilling, intensification of production, fluid lifting to the surface, and preparation of hydrocarbons for storage and transportation, has a negative impact on the environment [3][4]. The intensity of this impact depends on the scale of production activities, characteristics of the technologies used, and resilience of natural ecosystems to anthropogenic pressure. The main consequences of oil use on the environment include degradation of the lithosphere, disruption of hydrological balance, and damage to biodiversity.

Degradation of the lithosphere is manifested in the mechanical disruption of the soil cover, soil compaction, formation of anthropogenic landforms, creation of quarries, sinkholes, and overall transformation of the natural landscape. This disruption of the hydrological balance leads to the pollution and depletion of aquifers, flooding of territories with industrial wastewater, and deterioration of surface water quality due to increased mineralization and higher content of dissolved impurities. Damage to biodiversity is evident in changes to the species composition of ecosystems, decline in their productivity, shift in the ranges of individual species, and development of ecological degradation processes.

Emergency spills of oil and petroleum products pose a particular danger, as they can create short-term but intense peaks of anthropogenic impact, localized in the area of an incident. In remote areas, negative consequences of these accidents are exacerbated by the difficulty in timely delivery of sorbents and specialized equipment to the site of pollution [5]. Under these conditions, the traditional response scheme, which relies on transporting pre-made sorption materials from stationary production facilities or warehouses, may not always ensure the necessary speed and cost-effectiveness.

One promising approach to solving this problem is to produce sorbents close to the site of an accidental spill [6]. This allows for a faster response time, reduced logistics costs, and the possibility to adapt the sorbent’s properties to specific contamination conditions. This approach is especially relevant for remote areas, where delivering pre-made materials requires a significant amount of time and financial resources.

The scientific literature provides a detailed discussion on the development of various sorbent materials, including biosorbents [7], modified polymer materials [8], composite sorbents, and materials for absorbing light hydrocarbons, heavy oils, emulsions, and multicomponent wastewater [9]. However, the analysis of current methods for producing and transporting finished sorbents reveals several limitations. These limitations include high transportation costs, which can account for 60–80% of the total cost of the material in some cases, a limited shelf life for some sorbents, particularly biosorbents and modified polymers, difficulty in selecting a suitable material for a particular type of contamination, and the risk of secondary pollution during storage, transport, and handling of spent sorbents [10].

An alternative to the traditional approach is mobile sorbent production. Instead of delivering the finished material to the site of application, the initial reagents or precursors are transported, from which the sorbent is produced directly on-site. This method allows for a reduction in the volume of materials transported, increased flexibility in the technological process, and the ability to produce material with specific characteristics based on the type of oil product, ambient temperature, characteristics of the contaminated surface, and requirements for subsequent regeneration or disposal.

The authors of several studies propose technical solutions for producing sorbents in conditions close to those encountered in the field. For example, L. Khimenko and co‑authors describe a method for creating sorbent using thermally expanded graphite in their work. This method involves a sorbent block consisting of two sealed, interconnected containers [11]. One of them contains intercalated graphite and a heating mixture that ensures rapid heat release due to a highly exothermic reaction and the subsequent expansion of the graphite. The other container contains an initiation element connected to an independent or portable power source. This setup allows for the production of sorbent at the site of application, which reduces the dependence of the spill response process on centralized supplies of the ready-made material.

The production of polyurethane sorbents is a promising area of research, as the initial liquid components used during the foaming process result in a significant increase in the volume of the final product: 30–50 m³ of polyurethane foam can be produced from one ton of liquid ingredients [12]. In addition, the process of producing polyurethane sorbents allows for the modification of their key properties, such as density, the ratio of open and closed pores, hydrophobicity, oleophilicity, and mechanical strength. These characteristics can be customized by adjusting the formulation, including varying the amount of water, catalyst, and by introducing organosilicon modifiers or fluorinated additives.

A similar approach was implemented in the work of A.V. Mukhamedshin and co-authors, who proposed a sorbent based on a polyurethane matrix and vegetable filler [13]. The combination of these components provided high sorption capacity of the material, the ability to rapidly absorb petroleum products and retain the absorbed volume for long periods of time, ranging from 15 minutes to several days. This made it easier to transport the saturated sorbent to a processing facility. Additionally, the increased mechanical strength of the material creates the potential for. The authors also noted the possibility of organizing production not only at an enterprise, but also a mobile complex located at the site of an accident, which reduced response times and logistical costs.

Therefore, the mobile process module can be used to produce sorbents with various physical, chemical, and operational characteristics that are adapted to specific types of petroleum products and working conditions. The ability to quickly change the formulation and technological parameters is a significant advantage of this approach compared to using pre-manufactured and stored materials.

Practical feasibility of mobile sorbent production has been confirmed through studies on the production of sorption material using a mobile generator [14]. According to the authors of these studies, this equipment can be used to clean up oil and petroleum product spills, both on water surfaces and on land. In addition, mobile modules can be equipped with sorbent regeneration units, including systems for mechanical extraction, centrifugation, cyclic steam desorption, and drying of a sorbent [15].

The authors of article [16] propose an installation for the regeneration of oil-soaked sorbents such as zeolite and silica gel. The installation consists of a sorbent with heating elements, a vacuum pump, a working fluid tank, an oil storage tank, and a cooling radiator, all combined in a single metal casing. This design allows for the extraction of petroleum products from the sorption material and creates conditions for its reuse. The use of such technical solutions can reduce the amount of waste to be disposed of by up to 90%, which increases the environmental and economic efficiency of liquidation measures.

Despite the availability of advances in the field of mobile sorbent production and regeneration, their analysis shows that the problem of developing an effective mobile complex for work in hard-to-reach areas remains understudied. In particular, there is limited literature on transferring technological schemes for producing composite sorbents onto a mobile platform, as well as on the design and technical parameters of these systems. Many existing solutions are complex and difficult to manufacture, and do not involve the use of a passable wheelbase capable of transporting equipment and materials to the site of a spillа.

Thus, it can be concluded that there is a lack of scientific knowledge regarding the development of constructive and technological solutions for the mobile production of composite sorbents to quickly eliminate oil spills in hard-to-reach areas. To address this gap, it is necessary to adapt existing technological schemes for mobile use, determine the parameters of equipment and assess its feasibility in the field.

The aim of this research is to adapt the previously developed technology for producing composite sorbents into a mobile vehicle, as well as to determine the design and technical specifications of a mobile unit for rapid elimination of oil spills.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

1. Analyze the previously developed technological process for the production of composite sorbents (dissolution of expanded polystyrene, introduction of filler, drying), and adapt it for a mobile design — select optimal process parameters (temperature, time of stages, component ratios), considering restrictions on energy consumption, equipment size and field operating conditions.
2. Form the composition and layout of the mobile technological module — determine the list of equipment, its placement, requirements for the support frame and fasteners, and ensure that the module's dimensions comply with the standard EUR-pallet for ease of transportation and installation.
3. Determine the MTM design and technical parameters — calculate and justify the load distribution on the vehicle, the maximum allowable weight of the module, the area for placement, as well as the requirements for the vehicle (using UAZ 23632 as an example) for safe integration and operation of the equipment.
4. Validate the proposed solution through mathematical modeling and comparison with data from similar installations in order to confirm the reproducibility of the technology on the equipment with similar characteristics, as well as to evaluate the possibility of scaling and replicating the module for use by other research and operational teams.

Materials and Methods. In their previous studies, the authors developed an algorithm [17] and a stationary process for producing a composite sorbent [18] (Fig. 1).

The following components were used to produce the composite sorbent: dichloroethane, surfactant (cetylamine), vermiculite, and crushed polystyrene foam. After the composite sorbent was disposed of, the mineral filler was reused. The number of reuse cycles was three. It was established that after the third cycle, there was a significant loss of sorption properties, amounting to 25 %.

To determine the area needed to accommodate the module's components, several calculations were performed. These included the production cycle time, the total mass of the module, and the area occupied by the mobile technological module:

1. The production cycle time was calculated using formula 1. The formula for the sequential production method (when operations were performed one after another) was chosen:

(1)

where n — batch size (number of products); t₁, t₂, ...; t_n — time to perform each operation, min; Т_обсл. — module maintenance time, min.; Т_прост — downtime, the time spent changing operating fluids, consumables (replacing filters and etc.).

Thus, T_ц = 1×(20 + 20 + 40 + 180) + 20 + 20 = 300 min., or 5 hours.

The calculation was conducted for a batch of 20 sorbent sheets with dimensions of 210×297×5 mm. The duration of the drying process was calculated at a temperature of 22°C. When a heat gun was used to dry the composite sorbent sheets, the time required was reduced to four hours.

2. Calculation of the total mass of the module. Its components were assembled from fluoroplastic (PTFE) and plates measuring 2×300×300 mm, grade F4, according to TU 6-05-810-88. Tables 1 and 2 list the characteristics of these plates as provided by the manufacturer.

The number of sheets used in the MTM assembly is provided in Table 3

In addition, the weight of pumps for supplying the mixture (BYD NYP‑3.6 gear pump) and heat gun (Greenworks G24HG, 24 V, without battery and charger) as well as the condenser were also taken into account. The total weight of the main components of the mobile technological module excluding the composite sorbent was 65 kg.

The weight of composite sorbent components, based on the volume of a five‑liter container: dichloroethane — 6.25 kg, vermiculite — 0.6 kg, crushed polystyrene foam — 0.6 kg

Thus, the MTM working weight was 78 kg.

3. The area occupied by MTM was the sum of the areas of the individual module components (Table 4) plus the tolerances for the positioning of the troughs and hydraulic fittings.

In order to solve the problem of quickly localizing and eliminating oil spills in difficult-to-reach areas, it was crucial to not only select an effective sorption material, but also to ensure its delivery. To this end, the authors considered using a UAZ 23632 pickup truck as a mobile technological module. This type of vehicle was chosen as optimal due to its combination of operational characteristics. Its increased off-road capability allowed it to navigate through areas with difficult terrain and soil conditions typical of remote and hard-to-access territories. At the same time, its load capacity and cargo area size made it possible to accommodate the necessary equipment for producing a composite sorbent on-site.

Research Results. During the experiments, we produced a composite sorbent in accordance with the previously developed technological scheme. The process consisted of the following stages: converting expanded polystyrene into a viscous‑flow state by applying a solvent, adding mineral filler to the formed polymer gel, and then drying the resulting mixture until the mass stabilized and the required physical-mechanical characteristics were achieved.

The production cycle for a batch of 20 sorbent sheets with a nominal size of 210 × 297 × 5 mm, took four hours using a heat gun as a heating source. This time included the total time required for dissolving the expanded polystyrene, evenly distributing the filler in the matrix, forming the sheets, and drying them. To ensure that the drying process was complete, gravimetric analysis was used to monitor the samples' mass after holding them for 15 minutes until stabilization.

The mass of the mobile technological module, including structural elements, technological equipment, consumables, and the precursors necessary for sorbent production, was 78 kilograms. This figure included the mass of the supporting frame, heating devices, containers for solvent and precursors, and means for fixing and transporting equipment. The weight distribution across the axles of the UAZ 23632 vehicle when MTM was placed on the cargo platform met the permissible standards and did not exceed 30% of the vehicle's maximum load capacity.

Additionally, several auxiliary parameters of the technological process were monitored: the heating temperature during the drying process was maintained between 60 and 70°C, which prevented thermal degradation of the polymer matrix and ensured uniform solvent removal. The degree of uniformity in the distribution of filler within the polymer matrix was assessed both visually and using optical microscopy. No large agglomerates were observed, and the mineral filler particles were evenly distributed across the cross-section of the sheet.

Discussion. The results obtained during the study confirmed the feasibility of the method proposed by the authors for producing a composite sorbent in a mobile configuration, and also demonstrated that the characteristics of MTM met the requirements for transportation and operation in conditions of limited space and complex road infrastructure.

The technical feasibility of installing all components of the sorption complex onto the platform of the chosen vehicle (UAZ 23632) has been established. During the design process, not only were the overall dimensions of the equipment taken into account, but also the requirements for stability during transport, load balancing on the vehicle's axles, and ensuring accessibility for servicing units in a confined space. The calculations showed that the total weight of the equipment, including consumables and fasteners, did not exceed the maximum load capacity of UAZ 23632, and the distribution of weight met the requirements for safe operation.

An important aspect of the research was the validation of the MTM to ensure its reproducibility and scalability. We verified the possibility of using the module in two stages. First, we used mathematical modeling to simulate the equipment's operating modes. Then, we compared the results with data from similar equipment. The simulation allowed us to assess the stability of technological parameters, including productivity and sorbent quality. This information will help us consider various operational options for different climatic conditions and road surfaces in the future.

The comparison with experimental data on existing installations confirmed the reproducibility of key process indicators when using the equipment with similar technical specifications.

The calculated data showed that to achieve the desired performance indicators of MTM, it was sufficient to replicate the installation, while maintaining the specified technical parameters — productivity, energy consumption, temperature-time regimes, and ratios of raw material components. At the same time, it was established that the technological process for producing a composite sorbent was not critical to the design features of individual units that make up the module. The determining factors here are the output parameters of the equipment, such as flow rate, temperature, pressure, and phase contact time, rather than their specific implementation. This significantly expands the replication potential of the proposed scheme, as researchers and operational teams can adapt the equipment composition to available resources, as long as regulated technological modes are maintained.

The authors have proved that the choice of the UAZ 23632 platform, combined with the modular principle of equipment layout and reproducibility of the technological process, provides high operational flexibility of MTM and confirms its suitability for use in conditions where traditional spill response methods are ineffective or technically impossible.

Conclusion. In the course of our research, we have calculated the production time for the composite sorbent, the total weight of the mobile module, and the area occupied by the technological equipment. The use of MTM in practice will ensure mobility, eliminate the cost of sorbent delivery, reduce logistical costs, and minimize the environmental burden by reducing the number of trips and associated CO₂ emissions. Recycling of polystyrene foam waste will further reduce the negative impact on the environment. These conclusions confirm the result obtained: the mobile technological module developed by the authors can be used to eliminate oil product spills in hard-to-reach areas and can be recommended as equipment for emergency response.