RE-using motor oil

[Mark3395]

I've got a centrifuge coming and will be running WMO eventually.

Also will 'fuge and blend in old tacky diesel fuel when I clean tanks. Figure on treating the salvaged fuel with preservative and fuel additives just for the principle of it.

But at the same time, the centrifuge is great technology for cleaning motor oil to treat it and then re-use it. It's more cost effective than burning it.

Anybody out there doing that, and know a good process?

Thanks.

 

[roscoe]

Where did you get the centerfuge system from and how much it cost - if you don't mind me asking?

 

[TexAndy]

ditto. I looked at the dieselcraft stuff, but they seem too expensive for my tastes.

Would you mind posting pics when you get your centrifuge? I've got a few ideas for making my own I'd like to try...

 

[army_nurse]

try looking at these guys. they are a ground up kind of group and have a build you won option. just something to think about if you want a centrifuge. i am thinking about getting one of the center units and building my own i am sure my unk Tim has all the rest of the parts i need. Simple Centrifuge ...putting a centrifuge in every garage!


Hope this helps

God Bless and thanks to all of you who openly share your knowledge and wizdom


Mark

 

[frodobaggins]

Avengeusa is a member here and he sells centrifuges:
Wolverine Technologies LLC Wolverine Centrifuge for WVO, WMO, Biodiesel

 

[Mark3395]

I've ordered the Wolverine system. Just don't have the time to put one together myself.

Besides, I want somebody else to grouse about the first time I fling oil all over myself.

WMO as fuel makes sense, but I have a bunch of deuces that need their oil changed or cleaned, and I think cleaning and replacing additives makes a lot of sense.



-------------------------------------------
Left two, drop one, fire for effect.

 

[atankersdad]

This thread interests me. I have a pair of 18" Merco centrifuges here at work, that I use to get sub-micron sized products, but my interest is about the cost effectiveness of using centrifuges verses filtration. You would have to be processing an enormous amout of WMO to pay for this process while still needing to build a filter system on the feed side of the centrifuge. How much WMO are you processing? How does this clean additives? Are you setting this up as a continious process? You can pm me details. Thanks Mark

 

[TexAndy]

I was thinking about casting an aluminum bowl and machining it down to tolerance myself.

Cost effectiveness for an individual hobbyist for something like this would be around $300 for the entire setup, I think. At that price, assuming you get your oil for free and you don't count your time expenditure as anything, you're at the $1/gal once you've filtered 300 gallons. And that's a reasonable amount to filter over a year or so. With diesel at 2.50/gal, 1/gal CLEAN and RELIABLE used motor oil is a worthwhile deal, imo.

Of course, if you run fleets of commercial trucks for a living and you have a way to USE all the oil that the Wolverine or Dieselcraft centrifuges can put out in a day, and you have a source for that much free WMO, then by all means... $900 or $1500 on one of those systems is money well spent.

 

[frodobaggins]

I have about 800 gallons saved up now, waiting for a way to filter it all. Mine is gonna be fuel though. I could have much more, but I've ran out of storage space. Need to find a source for some cheap 250-300 gallon totes.

 

[Westex]

Okay, I admit it, I'm a neophyte to this centrifuge thing. Just what exactly does a centrifuge do for you that a good pump hooked up to a series of filters in series won't do for you.

 

[TexAndy]

Eliminates the need for filters. Heavy solids are trapped at the base of the bowl while the lighter oil continues to flow towards the outer edge (aka, the lip) and over into the collection pan.

Just clean the bowl between batches.


Also, you can separate much finer particles out than with normal filters. Like less than a micron in diameter size. To do the same with a filter and pump setup, you'd have to do progressively smaller filters. And I THINK that would be alot slower.


eta: I think you could theoretically use this also to separate your algae from water in preparation for loading it into an oil press. If you were interested in trying to make algae oil for your deuce. I don't think it's cost effective right now, but back when petroleum diesel was in the $5/gallon range, I think it was pretty close to being competitive. IIRC, there was an Australian startup company that was using sewage water and sunlight to grow their algae and process it into vegetable oil for biodiesel.

 

[Westex]

Well that brought me up to speed. I presume after centrifuging, you can just then fill 'er up. But what about water in the pre-centrifuged fuel/oil whatever? Or do you have to get rid of the water prior to centrifuge process?

 

[frodobaggins]

Well that brought me up to speed. I presume after centrifuging, you can just then fill 'er up. But what about water in the pre-centrifuged fuel/oil whatever? Or do you have to get rid of the water prior to centrifuge process?

Yes and no. A small amount of water in it will be fine as it will stay in the bowl. If you got a good bit in there, you're gonna want to drain it off. Oil is less dense than water.

 

[tsmall07]

Okay, I admit it, I'm a neophyte to this centrifuge thing. Just what exactly does a centrifuge do for you that a good pump hooked up to a series of filters in series won't do for you.

It does the same thing, but you don't have any filter replacement cost (which can be expensive down to 1 micron), a pump strong enough to pump wmo through filters can be pretty expensive, and from what I've heard a centrifuge will process oil a lot faster.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

I have about 800 gallons saved up now, waiting for a way to filter it all. Mine is gonna be fuel though. I could have much more, but I've ran out of storage space. Need to find a source for some cheap 250-300 gallon totes.

I've got access to some. I'll trade you a few for a tote full of oil.

 

[Mark3395]

But about cleaning, treating and reusing WMO as MO... Any info/hints/docs on restoring WMO for re-use? What additives do I need?

Thanks.

 

[actionpaintball]

I have about 800 gallons saved up now, waiting for a way to filter it all. Mine is gonna be fuel though. I could have much more, but I've ran out of storage space. Need to find a source for some cheap 250-300 gallon totes.

I have been buying 275 gallon liquid storage containers locally for 80-100.00

similar to this but cleaner: 275 gallon plastic tank

 

[TexAndy]

But about cleaning, treating and reusing WMO as MO... Any info/hints/docs on restoring WMO for re-use? What additives do I need?

Thanks.

No go, I think. The molecules get broken down over time, reducing their lubricity.

However, some synthetic motor oils might be worthwhile to do this with. Some of those are supposed to last 10k miles and more before breaking down.

 

[TexAndy]

I have been buying 275 gallon liquid storage containers locally for 80-100.00

similar to this but cleaner: 275 gallon plastic tank

Baffled?

If I was closer, I'd buy it.

 

[tsmall07]

I don't understand how oil can break down over time. It's been sitting in the earth for millions of years, hasn't it?