Organic Oil Absorbent:

Bogus Claims: An organic oil absorbent  will absorb up to 10 x its own weight in hydrocarbons (oil, diesel, fuels, coolants, etc.).

Fact: A good organic absorbent will absorb about 4 times its own weight on average.

Organic absorbents absorb (soak up) and adsorb (attach to) liquids such as hydrocarbons. Because an organic oil absorbent does adsorb (oil will stick to oils trapped in the organic absorbent) quite a lot, an organic oil absorbent may collect 10 times its own weight in oil or fuel it would be very wet and sloppy and as such would likely create a secondary containment issue.

Some organic oil absorbent products (Absorbent 15 and Road Grip) are run through a kiln or utilize very dry materials. There are limits to just how dry you can go with any organic absorbent. If you do create an ultra dry absorbent you run a very real risk of creating a product that is too dry and dusty to use in even the lightest of winds.

Mostly the good oil absorbent products are between 2-4% moisture content. The dryer an oil absorbent material is the more it will absorb but in the ‘real world’ not enough that the end user would notice. Some imported products such as ‘coco peat’ (derived from coconut husks) and ‘sphagnum moss’ are not particularly well screened so contain a lot of very fine dirt particles which is both messy and represents an asthma concern to some spill response workers.

Regardless of which organic absorbent is used in the oil absorbent product one thing remains rather constant and that is they are all made from plants. The basic cell structure of all plants is somewhat similar. So if you think about it the absorbency capacity of one plant cell will be very similar to any other plant (i.e. all plants have much the same cell size and shape). What is very clever is that by using different plant based materials you can create a whole variety of oil absorbent products that all serve very different purposes.

Absorbent 15:

• light weight 4% moisture content,
• small particle size maximises the surface area making this product very fast acting absorbent.
• very complete clean ans spill containment on most paved surfaces.
• ideal for small workshops, vehicle spill kits and general day to day spill clean up.
• very good for spill containment and at suppressing vapours thus reducing vitalisation of liquids.
• a safe absorbent to use on most common liquids including hydrocarbons (oil & fuel), paint, most mild acids (including pool chlorine & battery acid), coolants, cooking oils etc.

Road Grip:

• a blend of organic and inorganic absorbent materials.
• designed to leave roadways clean, gritty and dry,
• very fast acting to ensure spill containment,
• designed for councils and road cleanup teams,
• easily collected using mechanical street sweepers,
• safe to use on most common liquids including hydrocarbons (oil & fuel), paint, most mild acids (including pool chlorine & battery acid), coolants, cooking oils etc,

Absorbent 30:

• much slower and heaver than either Absorbent 15 or Road Grip.
• designed to meet the needs those who operate in the field (e.g. mining companies, trucking companies, armed services, earthmoving operators, road construction etc),
• does not blow around easily,
• has a higher number of naturally occurring bacteria that eat oil,
• resists thermal attack which means it markedly reduces the chance of a fire in and around expensive machinery that might be undergoing repiars from workers using oxyacetylene,
• for spill claen up on non-paved surfaces (e.g. dirt roads, open fields or work sites),
• a safe absorbent to use on most common liquids including hydrocarbons (oil & fuel), paint, most mild acids (including battery acid), coolants, pesticides etc.

In summary a good organic oil absorbent product:

• will biodegrade over time.
• many organic oil absorbent products can also be loaded with harmless naturally occurring bacterial that ‘bioremediate’ (eat) hydrocarbons.
• when placed in a landfill or dump the whole waste steam (absorbent and hydrocarbon) biodegrades over time.
• the time taken to biodegrade depends on a variety of things including the amount of oxygen and the moisture content in the landfill.
• most often the entire waste stream will biodegrade in less than 6 months.