Patent ID: 8702989

Claim:
An absorbent material for the removal of petroleum-based products from water with little to no water absorption, the absorbent material comprising: a sheet of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymer-based plastic, the sheet of PVC polymer-based plastic comprising at least approximately seventy percent PVC polymer with the remainder including a non-zero percentage of both inert filler and a process aid which is an acrylic compound, wherein the sheet of PVC polymer-based plastic has a thickness of between approximately one inch and approximately two inches and is configured to float on water, and the sheet of PVC polymer-based plastic further comprising particulates having sieve sizes between approximately sixteen and approximately one-hundred such that when the sheet of PVC polymer-based plastic is deployed on top of a body of water containing a petroleum-based product, the sheet of PVC polymer-based plastic will absorb the petroleum-based product from the body of water with little to no water absorption and retain the petroleum-based product for at least approximately thirty minutes before the sheet of PVC polymer-based plastic will lose buoyancy to allow for recovery of the sheet of PVC polymer-based plastic from the body of water.