Recycling studies of used engine air filters in the oil leak removal from salt‐water

Abstract This research proposes a practical method for repurposing used car air filters as an oil‐absorbing material for saltwater. The maximum oil removal rate obtained was 99.75% with 3.325 g/g oil absorption capacity. It required 2.5 min of exposure at a sorbent dose of 0.3 g and room temperature (28 °C) to achieve this level of effectiveness. With an R ‐squared value of 0.9796, the Redlich–Peterson model ( χ 2: 0.0308 and β = 1.1325) was discovered to be the isotherm that fit the data the best. This implies that an oil monolayer is in touch with the utilized filters' surface. With an R ‐squared of 0.9855 and χ 2 (0.0200), the pseudo‐first‐order kinetic model obtainable the greatest fit. This suggests that the physical sorption mechanism is driving the process. Studies on thermodynamics suggested that the process of absorbing oil was exothermic (∆ H : ‒157.209 KJ/mol). According to the reusability study, used car air filters can be recycled up to 5 times, which indicates their potential economic significance.