science

Petroleum Remediation Product

Petroleum Remediation Product is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Petroleum Remediation Product rather than just read about it. In short: Petroleum Remediation Product (PRP) is a registered trade name of United Remediation Technology for a line of biodegradable wax-based hydrocarbon adsorbents and bioremediation agents. PRP was created in the 1990s by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and has been used to assist in remediating oil spills such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Key takeaways

Petroleum Remediation Product belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Petroleum Remediation Product to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Petroleum Remediation Product from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Petroleum Remediation Product (PRP) is a registered trade name of United Remediation Technology for a line of biodegradable wax-based hydrocarbon adsorbents and bioremediation agents. PRP was created in the 1990s by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and has been used to assist in remediating oil spills such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. PRP is a powder composed of microscopic hollow spheres of wax up to 150 microns in size.

Properties PRP is a loose dry powder composed of hollow microspheres of beeswax, soy wax, and other natural waxes. PRP microspheres range in size from 10 microns to 150 microns. The waxes that comprise PRP are natural hydrocarbons making them oleophilic (having a strong affinity for oils rather than water) and hydrophobic. The high surface area and oleophilic properties of PRP allow the microspheres to adsorb at least twice PRP’s weight in hydrocarbons such as crude oil or diesel. PRP stimulates the growth of hydrocarbon-metabolizing microorganisms such as Yarrowia lipolytica that are included along with additional nutrients in the wax microspheres. In scientific studies PRP has been found to biodegrade hydrocarbons several times faster than natural attenuation.

History In the early 1980s, NASA engineers and researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as well as the Marshall Space Flight Center were researching methods for the creation of hollow, spherical, latex microcapsules capable of containing live cells for use in time-released antibiotics or targeted doses of medication. Due to Earth's gravity, NASA’s initial experimentation failed to produce spherical microcapsules larger than 10 microns. Subsequent experiments aboard the Space Shuttle yielded microspheres up to 30 microns in size. Later in the early 1990s, independent researchers proposed that beeswax and other natural waxes could be used instead of latex, and that they may have oil adsorbing properties. This led to NASA’s earlier experiments being refined by independent researchers and Pittsburgh based company “PetrolRem” in partnership with JPL and Marshal Space Flight Center scientists. These experiments were able to improve on earlier NASA techniques and developed proprietary methods to counteract the effects of gravity that yielded microspheres up to 500 microns in size. In the mid 1990s PRP was tested and evaluated by the National Environmental Technology Applications Corporation in partnership with the EPA and the University of Pittsburgh and found to be “capable of significantly accelerating the natural rate of diesel oil degradation in near-environmental conditions.” PRP microspheres were found to be highly oleophilic as well as hydrophobic making it an ideal solution for hydrocarbon spills that contaminate water such as ocean spills, mangroves and marshes, and in groundwater aquifers. As a result, the powder was named “Petroleum Remediation Product.” At the time PRP was the only biological product approved for use in the Chesapeake Bay. In 1994 PRP was officially recognized as a NASA spinoff technology. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill multiple PRP based products were developed, to assist in the later remediation of contaminated sites, such as PRP filled containment booms, bilge socks, and a PRP slurry that could be sprayed from a hydroseeder. In 2004 PetrolRem and its assets, including PRP were acquired by Universal Remediation Inc. Universal Remediation broadened production and availability of PRP making it accessible to more clients in more varied forms. Universal Remediation also developed a variant of PRP that could be used on hard surfaces called “Oil Buster.” “Oil Buster” was initially used primarily by the railroad industry to remediate tracks that were saturated with diesel fuel and oil. Universal Remediation also developed the Wellboom, a thin weighted PRP filled sock that could be used in petroleum storage facilities, gasoline stations, and to remediate groundwater contamination. In 2007 PRP was featured in the History Channel’s “Modern Marvels” episode “It came from outer space” In 2008 PRP was inducted into the Space Foundation's Space Technology Technology Hall of Fame. In 2010 PRP and its derivative products were used to assist in the remediation of the Deepwater Horizon spill. In 2019 Universal Remediation and its assets including PRP were acquired by United Remediation Technology, LLC.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Petroleum Remediation Product

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Petroleum Remediation Product claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Petroleum Remediation Product before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Petroleum Remediation Product ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Petroleum Remediation Product

In research: Petroleum Remediation Product appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Petroleum Remediation Product in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Petroleum Remediation Product is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bioremediation, Oil spill remediation technologies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Petroleum Remediation Product outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Petroleum Remediation Product in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Petroleum Remediation Product means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Petroleum Remediation Product out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Petroleum Remediation Product in simple terms?

Why does Petroleum Remediation Product matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Petroleum Remediation Product?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Petroleum Remediation Product.