Google Science Fair Summary

THE ROLE OF INTERFACIAL TENSION IN CONTROLLING THE DETERGENCY OF DISHWASHING LIQUID IN REMOVING CRUDE OIL FROM OIL SOAKED BIRDS

ANDREW CHEN

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico released 208 million gallons of oil into the environment. Oil affects the plumage of birds, leaving birds unable to insulate themselves or fly effectively. Oil can also lead to severe damage to internal organs with if accidently ingested. To clean birds, environmentalists use store bought dishwashing detergents most exclusively and notably Dawn Dishwashing Detergent. Detergents are used because of their surfactant abilities which remove the interfacial tension between oil and water, letting the water clean the oil. However, does interfacial tension have a role on the detergency of oil on feathers? In literatures, studies have only done work on interfacial tension on soil or fabrics, but not feathers. It has been shown that lower interfacial tensions improve the detergency of oil on clothes and soils. It is hypothesized that since lower interfacial tensions in the oil and water interface improve the efficacy of detergents in oil removal from soil and fabrics, then the detergent that provides the lower interfacial tension will have better efficacy in oil removal from feathers. Results from this experiment could be used to help companies to develop a specific soap or detergent for cleaning birds or help environmentalists find alternative detergents if Dawn is not available.

To test this, 5 detergents were used to clean oil covered feathers. These tests were conducted in the same manner that environmentalists use to clean the feathers of actual oiled birds. This procedure included creating a 1% solution of a detergent, finding the interfacial tension that it would produce, stirring the solution at 600 rpm and cleaning a single oil covered feather for 15 1 minute trials. After each trial, L values and photographs were taken to measure the cleanness of the feather. Results showed that the detergents with lower interfacial tensions did clean feathers more effectively, which in turn supports the hypothesis. The results from this experiment are consistent with the theory of how interfacial tension helps in removing oil from a surface.

ABSTRACT

• April 20th , 2010 Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill occurred affecting over 34,000 birds

• Oil has a severe effect on birds-– Affects the plumage of their feathers– Birds will accidently ingest oil, leading to

serious internal damage• Oil does not mix with water because of their

high interfacial tension and therefore cannot simply be washed off by water

• Interfacial tension is free energy between two different interfaces

• The International Bird Rescue Research Center uses detergent to clean birds

• Detergents contain surfactant properties, which is why they are so effective for cleaning

INTRODUCTION

• Surfactants have hydrophilic and hydrophobic components.

– Hydrophilic head group will attach to water

– Hydrophobic chain hates water, but is attracted to oil

• As more surfactant molecules attach to the water-oil interface, the interfacial tension between the water and oil will be reduced

• Studies conducted by Unilever Research Laboratory  and the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute have tested the different effects of interfacial tension on different fabrics and soils.

– Their results have shown that lower interfacial tensions in the oil and water interface improve the efficacy of detergents in oil removal from soil and fabrics. However, there have been no studies on the effect of interfacial tension on the oil removal from feathers

INTRODUCTION

• Does interfacial tension have a role on the detergency of oil on feathers?

• It is hypothesized that since lower interfacial tensions in the oil and water interface improve the efficacy of detergents in oil removal from soil and fabrics, then the detergent that provides the lower interfacial tension will have better efficacy in oil removal from feathers

RESEARCH QUESTION / HYPOTHESIS

• IV: Detergents with different Interfacial Tensions

• DV: Detergency of oil on feathers

• Control: No detergent/ tap water

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE / DEPENDENT VARIABLE / CONTROL

Materials• Kruss Drop Shape Analysis System DSA100• Konica Minolta Chroma Meter• 3.5 ml Crude Oil (50:50 mixture of light and heavy

crude oil, purchased from Onta Inc., Toronto, Ontario. – Light crude oil produced from Appalachia has a

density of 0.827 g/ml – Heavy crude oil produced from Venezuela has a

density of 0.968 g/ml• Natural white feathers (GWW Goose Wings Complete

10"-13", purchased from The Feather Place, New York, NY)

• Dawn Classic Non-Concentrated Dishwashing Liquid• Dawn Classic Ultra Concentrated Dishwashing Liquid• Palmolive Original Dishwashing Liquid• Stop and Shop Pure Power Dishwashing Liquid• SunSations Dishwashing Liquid (Purchased from

Family Dollar Store)• Tap Water

MATERIALS

• 1% solutions created with each detergent• Interfacial tension found between detergent

solution and crude oil • Results will be measured using L values (Higher

the L value, cleaner the feather since feathers are white: refer to figure 1) and a % clean taken from L values

Washing• Feathers coated in 0.5 mL of oil• L values taken at 2 in from tip, 4 in from tip, and

5 in from tip to assess cleanness • Solutions put in magnetic stirrer

– Stirred at 600 rpm to create a clockwise current

• Oiled covered feathers dipped in 1% detergent solution (against current) for 15 one minute washing

• Pictures were taken for qualitative observations after each washing trial

• L values were taken for quantitative observations, and then used to calculate % clean after each washing trial

• Repeated for each of detergent and 2% Dawn Classic and the control

PROCEDURE

Figure 1

DATA: FIGURE 2

1%

Da

wn

Cla

ssic1

% P

alm

olive

Orig

ina

l1

% S

top

an

d S

ho

p1

% D

aw

n U

ltraC

on

cen

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d1

%S

un

Sa

tion

s2

% D

aw

nC

lassic

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Washing Time (minute)

• h

DATA: FIGURE 3

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1530

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Detergency Average (2 in, 4 in, 5 in)Tap water

1% Dawn Classic1% Palmo-live Original1% Stop & Shop1% Dawn Ul-tra Concen-trated1% SunSa-tions2% Dawn Classic

Immersion Time (minute)

% C

lean

(L V

alu

e)

LLwhite feather (untouched by oil)

x 100% clean =

Dishwashing LiquidBrand

Dishwashing Liquid

Concentration (in water)

Interfacial Tensions(mNm)

Dawn ClassicNon-Concentrated

1% 1.65

Dawn ClassicNon-Concentrated

2% 1.39

Dawn Original ScentUltra Concentrated

1% 1.62

Palmolive Original 1% 6.20

Stop and ShopPure Power

1% 14.70

SunSations 1% 22.68

Tap Water 0% 38.51

DATA: FIGURE 4

• Qualitative– Based on qualitative observations from figure 2, the 1%

Dawn Ultra Concentrated solution cleaned the fastest as there is no visible oil by the 3rd washing.

– This is followed by the 2% Dawn Classic which had no oil visible by the 4th-5th washing and the 1% Dawn Classic which had no oil visible by the 11th-12th washing

– The 1% Sunsations (Dollar Store brand) and the 1% Stop & Shop brand did not visually show much washing, as the oil seems to have visually been spread around instead of washed off

• Quantitative– Based on quantitative observations from figure 3, the 1%

Dawn Ultra Concentrated solution cleaned the fastest, reaching a high percent clean (93%-95%) by the third washing, followed by 2% Dawn Classic and then 1% Dawn Classic

– Palmolive also exhibited an upward slope, indicating cleaning, however it did not reach the same % clean as the previous brands

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

• Qualitative Continued– The Sunsations and Stop & Shop solutions did not seem to

have any upward trend, with the % clean fluctuating up and down between 40% and 50% clean

• Interfacial tensions– Based on figure 4, the 2% Dawn Classic actually produced

the smallest amount of interfacial tension at 1.39 mNm, followed by 1% Dawn Ultra Concentrated and 1% Dawn Classic which produced interfacial tensions of 1.62 mNm and 1.65 mNm respectively.

– SunSations produced the highest interfacial tension at 22.68 mNm, and Stop & Shop produced the second highest at 14.70 mNm

• This shows a correlation between interfacial tension and detergency of the oil on the feathers, as lower interfacial tensions were able to clean more efficiently than higher interfacial tensions

RESULTS & DISCUSSION CONTINUED

• In conclusion, the hypothesis is accepted because 1% and 2% Dawn Classic and Dawn Ultra Concentrated had the lowest interfacial tensions and also had the best percent clean

• However, interfacial tension does not tell how fast the detergents will clean as detergents with lower interfacial tensions seemed to clean faster than some detergents with slightly higher interfacial tensions

CONCLUSION

– Not enough feathers– Variation in L values

because it was hard to position in the exact same location

– Spreading of oil not controlled as possible

– Temperature not controlled as well as possible

– Is the surfactant concentration different?

ERRORS/ FUTURE WORK

• "Detergent Chemistry." Detergent Chemistry. Chemistry and New Zealand. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. <http://www.chemistry.co.nz/deterginfo.htm>.

• "IBRRC: How Oil Affects Birds." How Oil Affects Birds. IBRRC. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <http://www.ibrrc.org/oil_affects.html>.

• "IBRRC: Oiled Bird Procedures." IBRRC Home. International Bird Research Rescue Center. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <http://www.ibrrc.org/oiled_bird_procedures.html>.

• "Interfacial Tension." INTERFACIAL TENSION. MIT. Web. 18 Dec. 2010. <http://web.mit.edu/nnf/education/wettability/interfacial.html>.

• Jůza, J. "The Pendant Drop Method of Surface Tension Measurement: Equation Interpolating the Shape Factor Tables for Several Selected Planes." Czechoslovak Journal of Physics, 19-24 June 1994. Web. 16 Dec. 2010. <http://www.springerlink.com/content/n510973p8675h585/>.

• Lindbloom, Bruce Justin. Welcome to Bruce Lindbloom's Web Site. 2003. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.brucelindbloom.com/index.html?UPLab.html>.

• "Surface Tension." Test Page for Apache Installation. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/surten.html>.

• "Surfactants: Detergent Chemistry." Chemistry and New Zealand. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. <http://www.chemistry.co.nz/surfactants.htm>.

• "USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal." Answers.USA.gov. Web. 30 Dec. 2011. <http://answers.usa.gov/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1000&PARTITION_ID=1&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=12057&USERTYPE=1&LANGUAGE=en&COUNTRY=US>.

•  "USFWS - FWS Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response." Bird Impact Data from DOI‐ERDC Database. Www.fws.gov. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/collectionreports.html>.

• Miller, Clarence A., and Kirk H. Raney. "Solubilization-emulsification Mechanisms of Detergency." Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 1993. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.firp.ula.ve/archivos/cuadernos/93_COLSUA_Miller_Detergency.pdf>.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCE

Water

Untreated 0 1 2 3 4 5

Washing Time (minute)