Engine Oil, Antifreeze, Recycling Portable Machine

Flying a machine around to clean oil in different communities does not sound very cost efficient.

How much oil (I know very little about recycling antifreeze, so I'm just going to discuss the oils with you) is at each stop and how often does it need to be cleaned?

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Depending on the amounts, it may be cheaper to have utilize a low tech slower process at each community for continuously purifying the oils.

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Tall insulated heated settling tanks can do much of the process of separating impurities, and requires very little oversight. It might be necessary to bring more oils to the communities initially to establish a reserve that may be processed while the other is being utilized.

Thanks for your reply......

Each community has an Overstock of oil to last at least 2 years; We would have to filter a minimum of about 15 barrels per communities.

From our initial calculations, it would be cost efficient and we would establish new jobs for the workforce for said community.

There are plenty of empty drums available within the towns, to do the job properly.

When you say:

'' Tall insulated heated settling tanks can do much of the process of separating impurities, and requires very little oversight. It might be necessary to bring more oils to the communities initially to establish a reserve that may be processed while the other is being utilized.''

We do bring oil in communities as it is, every year. The supply can be taken care off. How does your process work ? How much heat is needed, how much additive must we put in the processed oil....? More details would be appreciated.

Regards

sft

Oil purification is typically focused on removal of sludge, particulates, water, solvents, and gasses.

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When purification is largely time constrained then purification involves more expensive and complicated equipment like centrifuges and vacuum dehydrators. It sounds like your requirements for purification are not very time constrained. That means you can probably get away with some reliable less expensive equipment.

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Settling tanks don't work quickly, but they are relatively inexpensive, reliable, and can be very effective.

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A hypothetical set up could consist of a tall well insulated cylindrical holding tank with a conical bottom which connects to a drain. The tank has openings large enough that the interior (specifically the bottom) can be easily wiped down. In the upper 1/2 of the tank (too low and convection currents will disrupt settling), some low intensity heaters are installed (below 5W/in²). Connections to the top of the tank allow blowers to circulate warm dry air (or possibly nitrogen) over the surface of the oil and then through drier desiccant. Piping allows a transfer pump to move the oil to and from the tank, including through a filter.

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Operation specifics will depend on the oil, but could generally be as follows.

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Batch of oil is transferred through a strainer or high flow filter into the tank. The heaters are not initially turned on, and the oil is allowed to sit cold (though it is probably best if it is kept just above freezing, as ice will not move out the drain when opened). This lowers the saturation point of the oil, and any water is forced out, being heavier than oil, will eventually settle to the bottom. Some particulate may settle down and drop through the water layer.

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After a day or two someone cracks open the valve on the bottom of the tank to drain out any water, and shuts it again as soon as any oil comes out. This is done again in a couple days and repeated until no more water drains.

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After that the heaters are turned on as well as the blowers to recirc the dry air over the surface. Temperature is increased to a point typically determined by the type of oil being processed. Higher is generally better (to a point) but not so high as to significantly degrade the oil. Having a tank that is well insulated will insure that this does not require an inordinate amount of energy. Good insulation will also allow temperature to be relatively uniform and minimize circulation due to convection.

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After a few days, the bottom drain valve can be cracked for a moment and that effluent can be compared to a little taken from the middle. Also after the initial few days, any water coming from the desiccant should become markedly decreased. After that time (assuming the tank is reasonably well sealed), the blowers and desiccator only need to be run periodically (so long not much water is evolved when those are run).

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After a period, crack open the bottom drain valve and drain sludge until what is draining looks the same as what is in the middle of the tank. What remains in the tanks will be reasonably pure and can be pumped through filter(s). The filters will likely last a very long time since there should be very little contamination/water in the oil.

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Whether or not, and what kind of additives might be needed depends on the type and use of the oil.

You say 15 barrels per community.In what amount of time is this waste generated?

15 barrels a year,month,week?

Very important factor left out here that will affect solution.

Also, what type equipment is this oil coming from?Diesels,gas engines,aircraft,turbines?

Mixing the fluids is not recommended unless you are going to burn it, because it creates problems,especially the antifreeze, which is a glycol based product.Keep the antifreeze out of the oil.

The best methods may be as TCMTECH suggested, to simply use it as fuel.Oils have a very high BTU content,(higher than diesel fuel per pound) and may provide more than a 1 for 1 replacement value versus fuel oil, on pound-for-pound basis,since the transportation costs are very high in your area.Burn 1 gallon of waste oil in diesel engine, , reduce diesel fuel replacement costs by 1 gallon, bring in 1 gallon of motor oils for same price as diesel (shipping cost),so in effect, get that gallon shipped "free".

Every 100 gallons of diesel,+10 gallons of motor oil =10 gallons of oil shipped free.

What is your current heating fuel?Most fuel oils can accept 10% or more added waste oil with no problem, as long as there is no water in it.Diesel engines can also run on a blend,depending on temperature,that can range from 10% in cold conditions, up to 50% in very hot climates.

There is also the possibility of mixing the filtered,de watered oil with diesel fuel to extend the range of existing diesel stocks.

Check this link for advice on a low-pressure atomizing burner: (http://www.petrokraft.com/wp-content/uploads/PETRO-Low-pressure-Air-Atomizing-Burner-Product-Sheet.pdf - sorry, link no longer available)

More than 1 way to skin a moose!

Good luck

So whats wrong with giving it to the local guy or guys who have used oil burners to heat their shops and what not? One person with one used oil burner per community should have no trouble getting rid of that much mixed used oils.

Personally I am burning around 2000 gallons, about 50 Bbls, a year without difficulty and once my new house and shop are finished I am expecting to double that annual consumption rate.

I agree entirely tcmtech.....

When I was at school (50's early 60's), I worked at the weekends and some evenings in a garage. We burnt all the collected old oil in winter time to heat the building, probably not environmentally friendly, but a modern version should be much better.

Basically the oil was just fine filtered before usage.......the heat produced was tremendous.......it was a column of wrought iron tubes that would glow red hot when running!!

Transporting heavy equipment around in an aircraft is certainly not environmentally friendly either.....I see burning for heating as the far lesser of the two evils......even if some heating oil needs to be mixed in to work properly for example.....also far safer as flying involves always some danger....

I bet there are standard designs of burner available in the USA for example that would cover all needs. If not, someone needs to get designing and fast.....

Well, I see a couple of problems from your statement-you ask for a machine that can recycle three different types of oil and another chemical altogether-your antifreeze.

Well, I don't think you can reliably and economically do that with just one piece of equipment, plus under the constraints you've placed on it. Plus, the environment you are in impacts your ability to recycle this material.

Note that the three oils will have different performance characteristics/requirements, and if you're attempting to recycle them for use in their designed operations, I think you're opening up a mighty big can of worms.

It might be simpler to use the oils as fuel, as was proposed in an earlier post, and recycle the antifreeze.

The problem is that when motor oil, hydraulic oil or antifreeze degrade from usage, only part of the contaminants are solid and would therefore be purified by filtration. Many of the contaminants need to be chemically modified or chemically removed from the contaminated fluid. Don't be fooled by scams that advertise recycling oil or anything else only by filtration.

'....Many of the contaminants need to be chemically modified or chemically removed from the contaminated fluid. Don't be fooled by scams that advertise recycling oil or anything else only by filtration.....'

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This would seem to imply that purification via settling tank or centrifuge would be insufficient to purify lube oil, since no chemical modification or chemical removal is employed by either process. Both processes use differences in density for separation.

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Did you intend to imply that with your statement?

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If so, the US Navy would almost certainly disagree with that assertion. They have years of data on their side as well.

What I am saying is that as the lubricating oil sees the heat and friction of bearing surfaces, and is exposed to oxygen in the crankcase, certain irreversible chemical reactions take place such as oxidation. The byproducts of these reactions renders the lubricity of the oil less than optimum. Other acid products from these reactions makes the lube oil corrosive. I spent several years in lube oil prcessing for a major oil compnay. Opinions of the US Navy set aside, simple filtration will not return used lube oil to its original specifications. Likewise glycol degrades with use and cannot be completely rejuvenated by simple filtration.

In a forum of engineers that are trained to analyze facts, I would hope that we would all deal with facts and not opinions.

Let me clarify from the outset, it takes more than just a filter, because degraded oil isn't just particulates. On the fact that you cannot just use a filter, you and I agree. My point of contention is the need for chemical remediation in most cases.

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The 'opinions' I was referring to were the opinions I suspect most decent analysis of the data available from US Navy lube oil purification over at least the last 40 years.

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I probably shouldn't have used the word 'opinion', as its use can be a hot button for some people. The truth is, although you say fact, what we are dealing with here is your opinion on the subject and my opinion on the subject. You haven't provided any irrefutable facts and neither have I really. So even though I probably shouldn't have used the term 'opinion' it is central to our disagreement.

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It is not surprising that having worked several years at a major oil company you were indoctrinated with the belief that used oil must be replaced with all new oil (preferably from said major oil company), and that any process of recycling would be far to complicated for any non-oil-company-chemist to perform or even understand.

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The thing is, to the extent that those chemical changes occur, they alter the physical characteristic of the oil. Those portions of the oil with altered characteristics present the problem, but those altered characteristics also allow that portion to be separated.

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Makeup oil is definitely needed to make up the portion removed (both damaged and the undamaged oil removed with the damaged). It is highly unlikely that all the oil was 100% degraded in one recommended oil change interval. Despite the desires of major oil companies to have all the oil replaced every change, really only the degraded oil needs to be replaced.

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I have no opinion on glycol reuse.

I in fact did work on processes to recycle or reprocess used motor oil. The goal was always to return the oil to a specified quality soecification. Yes makep oil was required because there was always some net loss. We tried adsorption with various resins, solvent extraction as well as vacumm distilation. All were expensive, energy intensive and did not lend themselves to mobile processing. This ultimately led to transporting the oil to a central location for processing. The gathering and transportation costs make this scheme very difficult economically.

It may be that burning the small amount of oil for heating is the best overall solution.

This is from is Navpers 107788B Principles of Naval Engineering with the chapter on maintaining lube oil within spec.

This procedure has been in place and worked effectively for the US Navy for many decades. This procedure might not have been optimal for your company based on time constraints and other factor, but claiming that it cannot work is over stepping it a bit.

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CARE OF LUBRICATING OIL Lubricating oils may be kept in service for long periods of time, provided the purity of the oils is maintained at the required standard. The simple fact is that lubricating oil does not wear out.-^ although it can become unfit for use when it is robbed of its lubricating properties by the presence of water, sand, sludge, fine metallic particles, acid, and other contaminants. Proper care of lubricating oil requires, then, that the oil be kept as free from contamination as possible and that, once contaminated, the oil must be purified before it can be used again. PREVENTING CONTAMINATION Strainers or filters are used in many lubri- cating systems to prevent the passage of grit, scale, dirt, and other foreign matter. Duplex strainers are used in lubricating systems in which an uninterrupted flow of lubricating oil must be maintained; the flow may be diverted from one strainer basket to the other while one is being cleaned. Filters may be installed di- rectly in pressure lubricating systems or they may be installed as bypass filters. The additive content of an oil may be exhausted as the additive combats the special conditions for which it was included in the oil; but this is a gradual process and is never catastrophic. 115 PRINCIPLES OF NAVAL ENGINEERING The use of strainers and filters does not solve the problem of water contamination of lu- bricating oil. Even a very small amount of water in lubricating oil can be extremely damaging to machinery, piping, valves, and other equipment. Water in lubricating oil can cause widespread pitting and corrosion; also, by increasing the frictional resistance, water can cause the oil film to break down prematurely. Every effort must be made to prevent the entry of water into any lubricating system. REMOVING CONTAMINATION In spite of all efforts, a certain amount of contamination of lubricating oil is to be expected. Aboard ship, centrifugal purifiers are used to remove impurities from lubricating oil and set- tling tanks are provided to permit used oil to stand while water and other impurities settle out. ...'

Interesting text. Is it for stationary pumps, compressors, and steam driven machines or does it include internal combustion engines? Internal combustion engines are generally more difficult to maintain lubricating oil quality.

Okay. We do have some common ground.

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There will typically be one or more diesel generator with lube oil that is handled the same way, but to be fair, with what I am familiar, most run infrequently. There are ships that run large diesels regularly but I cannot tell you with certainty that these do not use some other procedure for lube oil. I don't know of any other procedure, but I'm also not that familiar with those ships.

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Nice to be on common ground.

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GA

Burn the oil and reconstitute the glycol. The wear-out mechanisms of antifreeze are primarily the pH buffers and corrosion inhibitors. The manufacturers obviously don't teach you how to prolong the life of their products, but the information is available.

As several have noted, used oil could be utilized as fuel in some application. Some have also noted that it is probably a good idea for the longevity of the equipment burning the used oil (and probably the cleanliness of the air) for the oil to be somewhat purified; water and sludge and particulates removed.

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I agree that is a viable option. If I were making the decision, I would look at the cost of fuel oil compared to the cost of lube oil and consider the acceptable difference in cleanliness acceptable for oil put in a machine for fuel versus for lubrication. In most cases removing water, particulates and sludge will be necessary. For some equipment you can probably get away with purification not being as thorough when the used oil will be burned as fuel.

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In either case you are going to be bringing a similar volume of oil to the site. It is just the ratio of lube oil to fuel oil that will differ.

As noted above, nearly everything has a calorific value...

The large diesels of trains and trucks are often set up with small cantrifugal units to remove imputiies not removed by filters. Oil refiners can sell you an additive package to restore neutralization buffers and viscosity adjusters to add. This prolongs the life of the lubricant almost indefinitely. That being said, you will accumulate some oil and the best way to make that a usable lubricant is with a centrifuge. De-Laval used to be the standard for centrifuges and will clean up anything short of a batch contaminated by chlorinated solvents. You can also configure a centrifuge to run anti-freeze but does reguire some adjustment between oil and glycol. they used to have packages that were a 36" square footprint that weighed aroud 250 lbs.