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Sponge-Like "Swelling Glass" Absorbs Toxins in Water
MikeChino writes "A company called Absorbent Materials has created a new kind of 'swelling glass' that can clean up contaminated groundwater by soaking up volatile molecules like a sponge. Dubbed 'Obsorb,' the material can hold up to 8 times its weight in fuel, oil, and solvents without sucking up any of the water itself. Once the material is full it floats to the surface and the pollutants can be skimmed off."
Was that just a short press release with some random unrelated photos, or did I completely miss the boat on this one?
Does it all magically disappear?
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A material wich can absorb all the toxens out of the water and when it is full all we need to do is grind it back into little pieces and flush it down the toilet and all our problems are solve.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
TFA refers to the material as Obsorb, but a linked page refers to it as Osorb.
So which is it?
Holds up to 20 TIMES its weight in fuel, oil, and solvents. Doesn't drip, doesn't make a mess. Contaminated antarctic penguins use it as a towel.
has it been taste tested by a Nibblonian?
NSF Grant to Aid in Further Development of Water Purifying Substance
Looks somewhat legit, let's hope for their success...
Sponge-like Bobsorb Swelling Glass
If taxation is legalized theft, then Capitalism is a prolonged rape followed by a slow death.
Cost is an excellent question, since there is already a product that does something similar that has been around since at least 2007.
PRP (Petroleum Remediation Product) is made from beeswax and soaks up oils as well. Since it is so light, it floats on water and only absorbs the oils. The bee's wax encourages naturally occurring micro-organisms to eat. The microbes feast on the bee's wax and don't stop eating until all the oil is gone, safely, naturally bio-degrading the petroleum and the PRP itself.
I understand that they mix ground up corncobs into the PRP to make a version that works without water and can bio-degrade oil on land.
I can see only three reasons for the glass version.
1. If it is cheaper to make
2. Since you clean it rather than let it decompose, it is reusable. But the costs of making and cleaning still have to be cheaper than the cost of PRP.
3. If the glass version will absorb chemicals that cannot be degraded by the micro-organisms that feed on the beeswax.
Great civilizations have lived and died on false theories. Don't mess up mine with a few facts.
Glass - Silica.
Silica Gel - absorbent glass.
Easy, huh?
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
Google is your friend. Apparently, this all centers around the use of zero-valent iron (which seems to merely be atomic iron without any binding).More info here: http://www.clu-in.org/download/remed/542-f-08-009.pdf Warning: PDF. Apparently, this is a hot topic, and Osorb isn't the only material out there using nanoZVI for cleaning purposes.
Interesting stuff. Hadn't heard of it before.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
It might fill up with water. If that happens, then clearly the water was the contaminant.
Now you have considerably purified your water slick, leaving only pure environmentally-friendly petroleum in your bays. Think of how happy* the salmon, the seabirds, and the plankton will be!
*Claim void if it turns out that ocean life live in water, not petroleum. You mileage may vary.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
This seems to be based on atomic iron in some form of nanoscale dust. As a result, its application seems to be much wider than just absorbing hydrocarbons. As an example, there are a few papers that studied the decomposition of atrazine in the presence of nanoZVI. Apparently,it's pretty successful.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
I would assume that this would be used in an above-ground treatment plant, given that water wells can be a thousand feet deep, but only a couple inches wide. This process is generally refereed to as "pump and treat", because you pump the water out of the ground, treat it and discharge to some surface body or use it for another application. As you draw down the water table, it causes the surrounding water to be drawn into the system as well, this prevents the contaminated groundwater from migrating down-gradient.
Typically you may use a carbon adsorption system for this application, since carbon will adsorb any kind of organic compound. Once the carbon is full, you treat it and reuse it, or you dispose of it by some other means. Granulated activated carbon is the material they would have to beat in order to make a good business case.
They may be "toxic" but they are not "toxins". Example of toxin: Botox(TM), which stands for botulic toxin. A toxin is a toxic substance created by an organism.