Publications

Environmental pollution due to spills of crude oil and petroleum products can threaten ecosystems and human health. Oil that pollutes waters has a negative impact on the survival of organisms in them. The use of corncob waste (Zea mays L.) as a natural absorbent has attracted attention because it is abundantly available, cheap, does not affect water characteristics, and is environmentally friendly. This research aims to determine the effect of variations in contact time and type of absorbent and to determine the best type of absorbent treatment on the absorption capacity of the absorbent and the effectiveness of absorption of aquatic crude oil spills at PT Pertamina EP Cepu Zone 11-Field Cepu. This research method used a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 2 factors, namely the type of absorbent (synthetic absorbent and natural corncob absorbent) and contact time (15, 30, 45 minutes). The results showed that the type of absorbent and contact time influenced the capacity and effectiveness of crude oil absorption. Synthetic absorbents have the highest capacity at 15 minutes, while natural absorbents are best at 30 minutes. The highest absorption effectiveness also occurs in synthetic absorbents at 15 minutes and natural absorbents at 30 minutes. Corn cobs show potential as an alternative substitute for commercial synthetic absorbent materials in handling oil spills which shows great economic and environmental potential.