centerfuge vs. multiple inline filters

[bilbert76]

Hello guys,

Im a new member and have spent hours reading and searching here.. . But I cant not find the answer.

I am starting from scratch and want to know the best way to filter Wmo I will be filtering large volumes found a good supplier so what is the best way to go I am leaning toward centerfuge I dont want to mess with all the filters and pressures and blowing filter base's up that all sounds really time consuming. . .I dont have that much time.

Thanks for the help!

 

[scoutmanadam]

cheapest and easiest is filter socks, that's what i do. Centrifuges are expensive and the oil has to be heated

 

[ElkHunter61523]

I have never heated my oil. I just run mine at close to 1 1/2 gallons an hour. Heating it lets you run it faster.

 

[bilbert76]

have any of you switched from filters to a centerfuge? i will be getting 300 gallon at a time and have my dad and brother filling up there daily drivers weekly. . . so i am going to be filter very large volumes. . . i am looking at ease of filtering and easiest way for large volumes. im pretty sure that with the amount i am using the centerfuge will pay for itself very quickly i just want to know the right path to take?

 

[hunderliggur]

I am interested in this also. I am looking at using 40-50 gallons/week. I may start with WVO/Diesel blend for now, and "upgrade" to Biodiesel (methanol/lye) by the fall. Would a centrifuge be worth it overall, getting the water and gunk out of WVO? I am also considering a solar heater to warm up the oil tank, it would be very simple to make a thermo siphon setup with a coil in the tank (or just store the stuff in the sun with a glass panel and insulation).

 

[silverstate55]

I'm saving for a centrifuge; my current filtration setup (down to 1 micron, and through 2 water-blockers & separators) still can't remove all the water & antifreeze that is present in my UMO/WMO. YMMV.

 

[GreenBull]

I'll tell you how I do mine and I'll do some pictures one of these days.

Mine is a steel 55 gallon drum upflow with a common 10 micron diesel fuel filter on the outlet. My filters are free because I get recycled used filters taken off during generator maintenance services. Lots of service life left. The input oil is a combination of 15/40 and waste diesel filter drainings from diesel/natural gas generator services. The other input is gasoline/two cycle/crankcase oil from a small engine shop that is about 70% gasoline. I also use kerosene in my parts washer and the used stuff goes into my process as well. I get my input in 5 gallon buckets and add to my upflow at maybe 5 gallons an hour.

Adding the gasoline at the start really does help the upflow do its job. So my 10 micron have good service life. I could back flush them with gas but with free filters and free 'contaminated' gas, I have no need. So I wind up with a 75% wmo, 20+% gasoline, <5% diesel/kerosene mixture filtered to 10 Microns in my upflow output barrel (#2).

I then use a PABiodiesel 55 GPH centrifuge drawing from #2 outleting into barrel #3, single pass. The bypass goes back to #2. My centrifuge is driven by a power steering pump with a drill press as the power source. The rotor cleanout is minimal after filling #3 and consists of submicron black soot slime. I have done more than one pass centrifuging of my barrel #3 product and didn't get much on subsequent passes so I quit doing it.

Vehicles are fueled from barrel #3 using a transfer pump with a 2 micron Cimtek as a final filter.

 

[andytk5]

what kind of psi are you running on that centrifuge. I have the same one and I am using a clearwater pump that only gets it up to about 40psi with the bypass closed.

 

[GreenBull]

what kind of psi are you running on that centrifuge. I have the same one and I am using a clearwater pump that only gets it up to about 40psi with the bypass closed.

No problem getting the required 90 PSI without working the press to hard. The drill press allows you to easily adjust the shaft speed to whatever pump you have.

I started with a 6.2 oil pump but it leaked around the shaft and it was working my motor pretty hard to get 90 psi. The power steering pump puts less load on the drill press because I can slow the rotation speed down.

When I get further ahead I'll likely get a motor driven centrifuge. Not having to pressurize the oil just makes sense.

Based on the sub micron stuff that settles onto the bottom of my barrel #2, I would add a second upflow barrel and filter if a was making larger amounts. The gasoline causes a lot of the submicron stuff to settle out. My experience is that adding gasoline/solvent/ thinning agent at the beginning and giving your product time to settle are the two low cost things that make good fuel.

upflow barrel #1 > 30 micron primary filter > upflow barrel #2 > 10 micron secondary filter > centrifuge barrel #3 > pump product from barrel #4 with 2 micron final filtration.