Characterisation and Purification of Used Motor Oil

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passionpaco Participant Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Québec, Canada Posts: 4	Characterisation and Purification of Used Motor Oil 04/13/2010 2:05 PM
	Anyone who could help me in the field of used motor oil purification would be really apreciated. Here are my questions: Q-1: What are the composition of used motor oil in general ? Is there a particular compound (ex. a rust inhibitor) that could be removed in order to lower the amount of ash after combustion? Q-2: What would be the best and least expensive way to purify used motor oil beside distillation or centrifugation ? Ex. A pre-treatement with a particular compound followed by adsorption on a resin, a membrane or an adsorbant (ex. Fuller Earth). What kind of resin, membrane or asdorbant would be the most effective ? Then a filtration in serie ( coarse filter to fine one) to achieve the work ? Key points: efficiency and not expensive (is for a really small volume and can't distillate or centrifugate) Thank you for any inside Francois
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jack of all trades Guru Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 8777 Good Answers: 376	#1 Re: Characterisation and Purification of Used Motor Oil 04/13/2010 3:33 PM
	This summary is a bit wordy but may be of help. http://www.nature.nps.gov/hazardssafety/toxic/oilused.pdf The process of cleaning used motor oil (for reuse) is not really a small scale backyard project due to the compound breakdown within the oil due to heat, combustion and engine particle contamination. There is plenty on the internet however on how to recycle and clean (to varying degrees) used motor oil for the purposes of using it as a fuel oil. I cannot see this as being a good fuel alternative however because even new motor oil just burns to 'dirty'. Additionally, if you are wanting to clean and burn used motor oil you will need to check your local environmental and pollution regulations to see if it is even legal in your country and/or state. If it were me I would just send used motor oil to a recycling depot for proper recycling and re-refining and switch to a far cleaner and easier alternative (like used vegetable cooking oils). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable_oil_fuel __________________ jack of all trades
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himart Associate Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Near NYC Posts: 27	#2 Re: Characterisation and Purification of Used Motor Oil 04/13/2010 11:36 PM
	Used motor oil has a lot of nasty stuff in it as a result of heating and combustion residue. In used oil you will find any or all of the following: aluminum, chromium, iron, copper, lead, tin, molybdenum, nickel, manganese, silver, boron, silicon, sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, barium, and carbon besides the petroleum the oil is made of. You might also find antifreeze, fuel and water. Best thing you can do with used oil is recycle and let the pros take care of it.
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standarded Guru Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Southeast US of A Posts: 555 Good Answers: 50	#3 Re: Characterisation and Purification of Used Motor Oil 04/14/2010 12:17 AM
	Small scale oil recycling isn't really practical. If you really want to use recycled used oil, I might suggest contacting a company involved in the business full time to see if they will meet your needs. If you're just looking for low cost fuel oil, a solution might be a waste oil heater. Anything beyond that is probably not practical small scale. Far too many impurities and heavy metals to deal with. Safety will be an issue. __________________ Speak softly and carry a big stick.
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jamesw Commentator Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 70	#4 Re: Characterisation and Purification of Used Motor Oil 04/14/2010 10:58 AM
	Cleaning of used motor oil is best left to professionals. Special heating/cracking equipment is needed in order to separate the contaminates out of the used oil. This is not something that lends itself to the "backyard" chemist. Not to mention the EPA violations that would most likely cause some serious fines to be imposed. Best to just go to Walmart and buy the oil you need, definitely a cheaper way to go __________________ God Bless everyone!
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Kiwi_Bloke Active Contributor Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 23 Good Answers: 1	#5 Re: Characterisation and Purification of Used Motor Oil 04/14/2010 4:04 PM
	I don't kniow if this answers your question but if you want to clean the oil while you are using it in your engine you can try these guys. http://www.globaloilsolutions.com/ They use a bypass system that cleans the oil in tandem with your normal oil filter. It has been shown they can extend the life of your oil 5 times in some cases and also remove 99% of any water in the system. From all accounts it works extremely well and I heard they use this process on the TV show "Deadliest Catch". Hope this is of some help. __________________ Life is not a spectator sport or dress rehearsal..get into it.
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