TITLE BANANA FIBRE CAN FIX MARINE OIL SPILLS, SAYS STUDY

GENERAL RESEARCH CONTENT (S) Use of the banana fiber as a useful resource to processes of bioremediation of polluted coastal waters with oil threatening marine life.

SPECIFIC RESEARCH CONTENT In this process that you want to carry out of bioremediation, they want to search for a chemical property that will help control those levels of absorption to avoid losing its effectiveness. 5828966 in this process of bioremediation to search for a chemical property that will help control those levels of absorption to avoid losing its effectiveness.

TYPE OF RESEARCH PROJECT BUILD& TEST

BACKGROUND INFORMATION This article discusses the implementation of fibre of banana, as agent of bio-remediation, chemically altering their characteristics to take advantage of its chemical properties, to get as benefit, the purification of polluted coastal waters by oil.

IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH Because it raises a new form of bio-remediation based on natural, therefore biodegradable elements, offering benefits greater than the synthetic methods, improving the process of purification of water contaminated with agents such as the oil and offering green alternatives.

VARIABLES ID: Banana fiber DV: water purification BECAUSE: Their relationship is specified, since the banana fiber, able to play a bio-remediation process, therefore with the effect of this contaminated water features with oil, it can be purified by the fiber.

PROCEDURE

When banana fibres were 'acetylated' with acetic anhydride, their oil absorption capacity improved dramatically. The acetylation process was catalysed using N-Bromosuccinimide. "Banana fibres water absorbing property is because of the hydroxyl groups in the chemical structure of cellulose. When treated with acetic anhydride, the hydroxyl groups get converted into acetates, which do not attract water," Teli told SciDev.Net

ANALYSIS The search for new methods, which are friendly to the environment, apart to solve a problem that can affect a marine ecosystem, is helpful, because the fact of the presence of substances toxic into a way of life, may alter and even extinguish the life of living beings there present, so this is a way to practice and useful to deal with this problem.

MAJOR RESULT Removal of pollutants from water such as the oil through the manipulation of the chemical characteristics of banana fiber, for the purification of coastal waters as a result.

ERROR IN REPORT Banana fibres may not be effective in dealing with oil spills that contain certain chemical pollutants. "Banana fibres will not be able to withstand the corrosive effect of some chemicals. That the fact that there was no organized collection of banana fibre could prove to be a deterrent in its use.