Surfactants, Magnetic Field, Cleaning up Oil on Birds' Feathers

Surfactants that have magnetic fields and magnetic properties that can clean oil off the bird's feathers

Surfactants (also known as the surface-active particles) are chemical compounds used in lubricants, soaps, detergents, or any other emulsifiers to reduce the surface tension and encourage active solid-liquid adsorption or mixing between the insoluble liquids (Wright, 2017). The surfactants are made up of two parts; hydrophilic and lipophilic parts to enhance the attraction of both water and oil particles. Due to this property, surfactants enhance the removal of particles from surfaces through the modification of surface-particle forces of interaction. The adsorbed particles of surfactants change the hydrophobic force, van der Waals force, electrostatic force, and also offer steric hindrance to contact. Surfactants enhance efficient and effective removal of particles especially those with a magnetic field and magnetic properties can clean oil off birds' feathers thereby, saving them from the oil spill on the sea water.

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Despite other methods of cleaning oil off birds' feathers such as soap baths, the use of surfactants with magnetic fields and magnetic properties would be kinder not only to the birds but also to the environment. In this process, fine iron powder, or the magnetite dust of about two microns in diameter, and magnets are used. Magnets are not likely able to harm birds during the oil removal process as opposed to the application of a soap bath. Oil has a sufficiently inherent viscosity, adsorbs well with magnetite dust particles, and form very nice bonds thereby, making it easier to be magnetized and then removed using the magnetic force.

The magnetic surfactants have been proved to remove more than 95% of oil contaminants sticking on feathers of the marine birds such as mallard ducks and penguins. Apart from that, the process is very safe and efficient to the sustainability of the environment, providing the most appropriate means of clearing off the messy oil on birds' feathers as well as protecting the surrounding water bodies. The magnetic dust used in this process can be recycled and re-used for further oil removal as many times as possible. The process is, therefore, cost-effective since the materials used are not completely consumed in the process but re-used instead. The magnetite dust is easily accessible, cheap, and has no harm to the environmental water bodies, thus, more appropriate means of removing oil off birds' feathers. The other methods of removing oil from the feathers of birds use physical force which causes stress to the birds being washed. However, the application of surfactants with magnetic fields and magnetic properties makes use of the magnetic force to pull oil off the birds' feathers thereby, causing neither harm nor physical stress to the birds. The addition of magnetite to water is very natural hence, cannot be substituted with chemicals which do more harm than good. Therefore, improvements in this process will help sustain the welfare of marine birds by saving them from unnecessary deaths due to accidental oil spills in the major oceans and seas which forms the major sea routes for ships transporting oil.

How to measure or record the magnetic field cleaning off the oil

To measure the magnetic field cleaning the oil, mix some magnetite powder with oil. Introduce a magnet into the solution and try to move it. When the magnet is moved within the solution of oil and the magnetite dust, the particles of the magnetite dust are seen to be aligned in the direction of the magnetic field. The magnetic material put in a solution is attracted by the moving magnet within the solution and arranged by the magnet's field. As a result, the magnetite dust particles are seen lining up along the direction of the magnetic field. Another significant observation from this experiment is that the fluid becomes very rigid that it can easily be manipulated or moved in any direction since the oil, under the influence of the operating magnetic field behaves similarly as if it was magnetized. The magnetite dust particles adsorb perfectly with the oil molecules thereby, making the process and observation possible.

The DC magnetometer can be used to record the operating magnetic field of oil removal. The magnetometer is connected to the PC, and the sensor is placed on the face of the magnet to measure the operating magnetic field. The magnetometer can record even the very small variations in the magnetic field and display it on the computer screen.

Recent applications of the magnetic particle technology in removing oil from the birds' feathers

The oiled wildlife care network has, over the recent past, been using the magnetic particle technology and the magnetic soaps to clean the oiled mallard ducks found desperate and vulnerable along the beaches in California. The technology uses the iron dust to adsorb oil molecules which can then be pulled off the birds' feathers with a powerful magnetic field. The process is very efficient and effective since it causes no harm to the birds. The magnetic particle technology causes very minimal disruption to the microstructure of the feathers as compared to the application of the physical washing of the birds with ocean water (Wright, 2017). During the rehabilitation, magnetic particle technology treatment process proved substantial for sustainable capture and rescue of the oiled birds.

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