Sorptive substance for recovering oil on water - produced by rendering comminuted cork oleophobic and hydrophobic by heating with steam under pressure

Improved substance for the recovery of oil and similar compounds from the surface of water, and other substrates is produced from a naturally occurring arborial material, typically the cork of the cork tree (Quercus Suber.), which is subjected to a process to improve the sorptive character of the raw material, by heating under pressure for a time. Specifically, the substance is heated at 150-350 deg.C for a period of time with the application of steam at a pressure of 0-1.5 megapascals in an autoclave or similar apparatus, comminuted in size below 5 mm mesh to give a sorptive capacity for oil and related compounds of 5-10 times its own weight. ADVANTAGE-The improved material exhibits ease of collecting sorbed oil from water using a strainer of nominal mesh size to effect 100% recovery with little uptake of water. The oil and related compounds can be separated from the sorbate by the application of pressure, centrifugal force, or by solvent extraction and/or distillation.