A team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), U.S., has developed a system to separate oil from water. Basically used a water repellent substance ferrous-based nanoparticles that are mixed with the oil. The oil "sticks" to these ferromagnetic particles, which can be retrieved later using magnets. When reseparated oil nanoparticles, it is pure enough to be reused. That is, the process not only cleans the spill but allows recovery of spilled oil, which the authors of this work could be taken to offset the cost of cleaning. The MIT team that participated in this development consists of Shahriar Khushrushahi (Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), Markus Zahn (Professor of Electrical Engineering) and T. Alan Hatton (Professor of Chemical Engineering).
Zahn explained that he knew "several previous works related to the problem of separating water ferrofluids. In general, this is accomplished by pumping the mixture through a pipe while a group of magnets positioned outside the pipe to divert a channel ferrofluid or outer side, through a perforated wall. "But this system only works when you know in advance the concentration of ferrofluid and if this is constant, something almost impossible to achieve in the case of an oil spill occurs at sea. In these cases, the concentration can vary greatly. "Let" says Zahn, "the separation system comprises a bypass channel with magnets along one side. If the concentration of the mixture oil-ferrofluid were zero, the water would flow naturally by both branches. For the same reason, if the concentration was low, much of the water would end up in the intended branch oil, whereas if the concentration is high, most of the oil will flow into the branch devoted to water. "
MIT investigators modified this scheme two ways magnets placed perpendicular to the current flow, and immersed in the liquid (rather than placed outside the pipe). Thus, the mixture is processed aboard an oil recovery vessel, passes through these permanent magnets, Cylindrical, and can be separated with high efficiency even when the concentration of oil is highly variable. In the experiments that were conducted in the laboratories of MIT rates were achieved excellent separation of oil and water. Khushrushahi ensures simplicity of this system is a great advantage, since it can be manufactured on a large scale and deployed at sea for days or weeks with little power (only the need for pumping, magnets are permanent) or tasks maintenance.
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