In spite of the impressive development of facilities for mechanical oil products collection in the world, every new accident usually results in that 80-90 percent of oil products happen to be on coasts or in the soil impregnating the latter for a significant depth. Such a situation took place, for example, as a result of a large-scale accident in Komi Republic (Russia) in 1994-95 (over 30 thousand tons of oil products were involved), of two accidents near the coast of Japan in winter and spring of 1997 (20-30 thousand tons of oil products), and in the course of a number of other incidents. The main reason of such a situation is that in 90 percent of cases, accident situations arise under hard hydrometeorological conditions and often at small depths. For these reasons, even the state-of-the art collection facilities cannot be properly applied.

The basis of the new complex technology being created consists in the use of a new preparation group - biosorbents which have not only sorption and physical and chemical activity, but also biological activity in relation to oil products. A technology has been worked through of such products application both in combination with the traditional collection methods and with the help of aircraft. It was established that under bad weather conditions, when modern skimmers, booms and other means merely cannot work (a wave higher than 0.5 m), it is possible to apply new materials with the help of helicopters under a wind force of up to 25 m/sec. With the application of special containers developed for this purpose, it is possible to apply several tons of the products.

What are the advantages of the new technology proposed? First of all, the new biosorbents are developed on the basis of natural chemical compounds and of natural bacteria which can destroy oil products sorbed with the preparation in a wide temperature range, up to 0⁰ - +2⁰ C. Unlike the widely advertised polymer-based sorbents which have very high capacity by oil products (1:15; 1:30, and so on), our preparations do not form multikilogram oil-sorbent conglomerates (and that is typical when supersorbents are used) which in no mechanical way can be picked up from either water or soil surface. Moreover, ordinary sorbents - if they are 100 percent collected - have two more negative effects: oil products preservation in the sorbent and a negative effect of sorbents themselves the polymer basis of which usually brings extra pollutants (pulp, polyurethane, and others) in the nature. In our technology, if the product collection is difficult or impossible, then the process of oil destruction goes till the end. After that, only alumosilicate components remain in the nature which are harmless for the environment.

The new biosorbents are produced in Russia and Bulgaria with the use of an original technology. The possible production volume ranges from several dozens of tons to 5-6 thousand tons annually depending on the requirement. The new preparations (their number is five: two for water, one for coastal zones, and two for soil cleaning) have passed a successful certification in Russia and were appreciated by independent foreign experts in the course of comparative certification testing at the State Technological Center of Finland in 1994-97. In those works, our biosorbents surpassed all the foreign analogues in effectiveness, particularly under low temperature conditions (-1⁰ C; +5⁰ C; +10⁰ C). It was established that biosorbents can: make more active (by 15-20 times) the own water and soil self-cleaning mechanism in their application place.

The new technology was used in a number of significant incidents. In July 1996 the “Baikal” ship ran aground in the Vyborg Gulf. 7-10 tons of diesel fuel were brought in at small depths. For a few days, the overflow was liquidated with the application of a biosorbent. In spring 1997, several dozens of tons of oil products were collected mainly with the use of the new technology. At the beginning of June 1997, 30-40 km of the Ladozhskoye Lake were polluted with oil products. With the help of a helicopter, the spot was processed and to a great extent (up to 60-70 percent) destroyed.

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