a b s t r a c t
This work deals with the use of chemically modified wheat straw as efficient low-cost adsorbent for combating oilspills
in aquatic environment. The autohydrolyzed wheat straw was produced from the corresponding raw material
by autohydrolysis in a PARR batch reactor (autoclave) at 160–240 ◦C for 0–50min isothermal reaction time (following
a non-isothermal preheating period). Oil adsorbency tests were performed, using diesel and crude oil spills
in freshwater and seawater. Diesel and crude oil adsorbency values were found to increase up to a maximum by
intensifying the autohydrolysis conditions, i.e., time and temperature. The adsorbency values were estimated by
a proposed novel model incorporating the autohydrolysis severity factor R0. Optimal modification conditions were
found for log R0 = 5.15 (i.e., 200 ◦C, 10min isothermal time period) giving diesel adsorbency up to 6.65 g g−1 and crude
oil adsorbency up to 6.91 g g−1. The maximum adsorbency values were comparable to those of the commonly used
commercial adsorbents.