Abstract:
Oil spilled at sea spreads producing extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and tourism industries as in the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, or the Macondo blowout) an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Use of dispersants can be a rapid response method because they remove spilled oil from the surface and dilute it into the bulk of the water column as droplets at a faster rate than occurs naturally. Chemical dispersants have the potential to bioconcentrate, and they cause damage to the marine life and environment. This study investigates the use of natural dispersants extracted from the Opuntia ficus-indica cactus (also known as the Nopal or Prickly Pear) plant to formulate oil-in water (O/W) emulsions. Through simple extraction processes, three fractions of mucilage gum have been obtained from fresh cut Opuntia ficus-indica pads including a Gelling Extract (GE) and Non-Gelling Extract (NE) and combination of these two fractions. We estimated the properties of O/W emulsions in terms of droplet size distribution, and stability of the formulations comprised of three fractions of the Opuntia ficus-indica cactus mucilage as function of gum concentrations. This dataset reports particle size distribution data for various concentrations of gelling and non-gelling extracts, and combinations of gelling and non-gelling extracts exposed to different salt concentrations.
Suggested Citation:
Norma Alcantar. 2016. Dispersant efficiency comparison between cactus mucilage and commercially available dispersants. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7M906PJ
Data Parameters and Units:
(N1)diameter vs salt and emulsifier concentr.xls:% p/v = cactus mucilage concentration (1.0, 0.7, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, 0.09 %w/v) , d(nm)NE = average diameter of droplets non-gelling extract (nanometers), d(nm)GE = average diameter of droplets gelling extract (nanomters), d(nm)com = average diameter of droplets combined gelling and non-gelling extract, Salt concentration (0%, 6%, 9%, 15%). (N2)DSD 0.5% combined vs salt concentration.xlsx: Droplet size distribution of emulsion (mineral oil/opuntia ficus-indica cactus 0.5% w/v/water), number based droplet size distribution; Salt concentration (0%, 6%, 9%, 15%); Diameter (nm). (N3)stabilidad.xls: Stability of non-gelling extract cactus mucilage Time (min); Coalesced volume (mL); Non-gelling extract concentration (%w/v, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5%, 0.7%, 1%); Salt concentration (0%, 6%, 9%, 15%). (N4)particel size distribution con salt(Ge 0.5%).xlsx:Sheet2: Droplet size distribution for emulsion (mineral oil/opuntia ficus-indica 0.5% w/v/water). Number based droplet size distribution; Gelling extract concentration (0.5% w/v); Non-gelling extract concentration (0.5%); Diameter (nm)Sheet3: Droplet size distribution for 0.5% gelling extract at different salt concentrations. Number based droplet size distribution; Salt concentration (0%, 6%, 9%, 15%); Droplet diameter (nm). (N5)DSD of function N econc and with salt.xls: Sheet3: Droplet size distribution for 0.5% w/v Non-gelling extract at different salt concentrations. Salt concentration (0%, 6%, 9%, 15%); Number based droplet size distribution; Droplet diameter (nm). s4a_psd: Droplet size distribution of emulsion (mineral oil/opuntia ficus-indica non-gelling extract/water) as a function of the non-gelling extract. Non-gelling extract concentration (w/v, 0.5%, 0.1%, 0.7%, 0.2%, 1%); Number based droplet size distribution; Diameter (nm). (N6)DSD as function Ge concentrations.xlsx: Droplet size distribution of emulsion (mineral oil/opuntia ficus-indica gelling extract/water) as a function of gelling extract. Gelling extract concentration (%w/v, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5%, 0.7%, 1%); Number based droplet size distribution; Diameter (nm).
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