Application of metal-oxide nanoparticles for oil-spill remediation in cold and Arctic Environments.

1. The project PETROCLEAN evolves on developing an environmental remediating agent for petroleum pollution in environmental disasters, as these are a central part associated with risks in the petroleum sector. The nature of petroleum disasters is long-ter med critical. With current state of the art technologies, surfactants are often applied to disperse oil-spills in the open sea. However, the dispersed oil-compounds contain a vast multitude of carcinogenic components which cause considerable damage to fis h, animals and mammals, and enter the food chain and reach the human population through the diet. Other state of the art methods, such as microbiological methods show that several toxic compounds from oil are not properly degraded and have been found in e xposed ecosystems more than 20 years after the accident. In this context, the PETROCLEAN project is scheduled for the development of a new beyond-state of the art technology to remediate oil spills in open seas with emphasis on Arctic and cold waters. Th e method applies nanoparticles of earth oxides as a key-component to convert the toxic compounds of raw-oil to less harmful forms and generate eco-friendly by-products such as Magnesium Chloride. Consequently, the environmental consequence of such grave d isasters can be considerably reduced and sensitive environments associated with oil-well excavation activities better protected.