How to Filter Used Motor Oil For Fuel

Dumping used motor oil down a drain or elsewhere without recycling is wasteful and wasteful, polluting bodies of water used by plants and animals for survival. One gallon of recycled base stock requires significantly less energy to produce than a barrel of crude oil.

If you change your own engine oil at home, be sure to dispose of the old fluid using an efficient drip pan with a secure lid or use a large plastic container that you can transport safely to a hazardous waste center.

Preparation

Before beginning to prepare used motor oil as fuel, it is essential to recognize its inherent hazards. A well-ventilated space should be chosen, and protective equipment such as long rubber gloves and an apron should be worn to minimize spillage or splashback.

Step one of converting used engine oil to fuel is allowing it to settle. Place it in a

large container equipped with drains and leave for weeks or even months until its sediment settles into layers – dirt on the bottom, followed by water and finally an oily black layer similar to mayonnaise.

Lubrication oil can be further refined through vacuum distillation to produce heavy fuel oil, which is then burned in industrial furnaces or very large diesel engines equipped with coke bottle-sized injectors – providing an efficient alternative to transporting it back to the United States for disposal, which requires additional energy and produces greenhouse gases.

Filtration

General filtration occurs when used motor oil is poured from above onto a filter medium where gravity pulls the solids downward while liquid passes beneath it, known as general filtration.

Global Recuperation in Quebec previously utilized static filters at 20-mesh (900 micron). To increase production and create higher quality fuel oil, they switched to a self-cleaning filtration system from Russell Finex.

This system features several tanks lined with fine mesh that hold the filtered oil, which then flows from one tank to another for processing. This process separates fine oil particles from larger, coarser dirt particles for easier handling and separation.

Rollins Fleet Maintenance Company blends recycled oil with diesel at 90 to 95 of its shops to reduce cost and labor. Extending oil drain intervals increases engine performance while simultaneously decreasing fuel consumption; saving money on new oil purchases while eliminating potential contaminants that would harm an engine through this blending process.

Mixing

Oil should be thoroughly mixed with its solvent to ensure proper blend in a fuel tank, without separation or separation occurring quickly. Poorly mixed oil quickly sinks to the bottom and remains there; mixing may require using either a paint mixer or by circulating in large bucket. Mixing should take approximately 20 minutes per 100 gallon for proper mixing.

Step 130 adds a small amount of non-toxic amino acid to the reaction mixture, such as taurine or methionine (these should preferably be preferred). Once mixed, this should be stirred or agitated to promote better integration between oil and amino acid components.

Some suggest filtering oil through denim or even your grandmothers underwear as a means to filter out larger debris, however this won’t help clear away sludge that builds up in your injection system.

Disposal

Sending used motor oil down a drain or disposing of it improperly is illegal and poses an environmental hazard, with heavy fines or jail time for those found guilty. Motor oil contains harmful toxins which contaminate waterways and harm fish, plants and people; also polluting soil unsuitable for gardening.

To prevent this from happening, transfer the oil into an appropriate storage container for recycling. It doesn’t need to be brand new – any sturdy container suitable for holding oil is fine, such as its original container or even just an uncontaminated polyethylene barrel – while sealing up your used filter in plastic bag will allow easy transport when recycling motor oil.

Companies such as Global Recuperation transform used oil into an invaluable resource, producing 2.5 quarts of lubricating oil per gallon that requires significantly less energy to produce than its equivalent amount of crude oil.