What Kind of Workshop Facilities do we all have??

[listeroidsusa1]

WVO is getting hard to acquire around here. My favorite Chinese place now sells their oil once they found out there is a market for it. I ate there last weekend and they had over 500 gallons of new oil stacked along the wall. They said all of their used oil is spoken for........

If everyone knew how easy WMO is to process for fuel I wouldn't be getting much of it either! The vacuum still works great, the latent heat of wmo is much lower that that of water. The oil practically changes state instantly, leaving the junk behind. It also is possible to control which fractions of the  oil you want by means of temp and vacuum. Water boils at only 100 degrees F, not 100 C. The heavier fractions that don't burn well are easily separated from the feed stock for disposal at the oil collection tank. The oil is processed at only 300-400 degrees so there is no problem with thermal cracking.

[Doug]

If everyone knew how easy WMO is to process for fuel I wouldn't be getting much of it either! The vacuum still works great, the latent heat of wmo is much lower that that of water. The oil practically changes state instantly, leaving the junk behind. It also is possible to control which fractions of the  oil you want by means of temp and vacuum. Water boils at only 100 degrees F, not 100 C. The heavier fractions that don't burn well are easily separated from the feed stock for disposal at the oil collection tank. The oil is processed at only 300-400 degrees so there is no problem with thermal cracking.

I poo pooped your idea before based on epxerience from a cracking plant.
I'm  little more open minded now, got any pictures Mike?

[MacGyver]

The vacuum still works great, the latent heat of wmo is much lower that that of water. The oil practically changes state instantly, leaving the junk behind. It also is possible to control which fractions of the  oil you want by means of temp and vacuum. Water boils at only 100 degrees F, not 100 C. The heavier fractions that don't burn well are easily separated from the feed stock for disposal at the oil collection tank. The oil is processed at only 300-400 degrees so there is no problem with thermal cracking.

Oh my... are there photos and/or more info about this somewhere?
It sounds *very* interesting. (and I still have a couple vacuum pumps laying around...)


Steve

[MeanListerGreen]

I had an 80 x 45 foot building but when I moved I had to sell it.  I now have a 20 x30 pole shed it was on this place when I bought it  I can't stand it.  Draws so much moisture I have to coat everything metal with oil of some sort to keep it from flash rusting.  I had a hard time cramming my acquisitions it in.  I wound up buying 3 more 12 X 16 portable sheds to help.  Some day I'll put up an insulated steel column and gird building and get an overhead crane if the economy ever gets any better (so probably not).  

[listeroidsusa1]

There is a fellow on Ebay selling plans for an oil still. He wants around $120 for the info AND makes you sign a confidentiality agreement! before he'll release his info. Its not rocket science, the vacuum just drastically lowers the boiling point of whatever you're processing. This would probably apply to wvo also.

You can go fancy with the bubble caps, trays, ect but all we're after is a burnable fuel so I just use one stage. With watery oil set the temp controller to around 125 degrees and let the water boil off. Drain the receiver tank and you're ready to process the remaining oil. Depending on your type of oil different temperatures will apply. The lighter fractions, ( gas, diesel, naptha, kero, ect) boil off at the lower temps. To increase recovery and utilize the lighter oils simply raise the temp. A fractioning column at the refinery uses about 10 inches of mercury. I find it useful to use deeper vacuums in that it lowers the boiling point further, for example, at 25 inches of mercury water boils at 100 degrees. At 25" and 400 degrees the oil changes state almost instantly, boiling  violently. An explosion is not likely since there is a vacuum and the lack of oxygen doesn't promote combustion. My unit is a batch type. I run 5 gallons at a time. With a heated auxiliary tank it could run continuous. Since the legal limit to haul per day is 5 gallons this suits me just fine. Its more than I use a day anyway. Recovery is 50% +. The heaviest fractions won't burn in a diesel and just causes slobbering so I dispose of them unless I'm just wanting some clean heavy weight lube oil for shop use.

[listeroidsusa1]

I used a new 100 lb propane cylinder from Lowes. Since it hadn't been charged with propane it was safe to modify and weld on. In the bottom section I machined a bung to accept a stainless water heater element. I also added a bung for a ball valve to discharge the junk that is left over after the good oil is recovered. Another port was also added for a thermocouple. My temp controller is a $35 kiln type that uses a type "K" thermocouple. This makes the temp control automatic as the controller has negative feedback from the thermocouple. The thermostat controller has a digital readout of the current temp. A vacuum/pressure switch controls the vacuum pump to a set level. I also have an empty 100 lb propane cylinder that I evacuate before running a batch. (takes the load off of the vacuum pump) Also, a separator is needed to prevent the oil vapor from entering the vacuum pump. (It sucks through a liquid oil condenser section) The vapor is drawn off into a holding tank where it condenses back into oil. The propane cylinders are overkill but readily available. It only is subjected to vacuum, not pressure. Another nice feature is that you don't need to handle the oil to load the cylinder. A piece of hose and using the vacuum sucks it into the cylinder with no mess to clean up.

If you want to experiment an easy setup is to acquire an old pressure cooker. Modify the lid for a vacuum port. I used my set of freon gages and evacuation pump when I was learning about processing the oil. Once you have a vacuum set up you can start to play. Take a cup or small pan ( microwave safe) and put it into the microwave and heat your oil sample until you get to the flash point. It'll start giving off vapor. Transfer the container to the pressure cooker and place another pan or plate on top of the first container to act as a splash guard for the oil as it will boil violently once a vacuum is applied. Put the lid on the pressure cooker and pull a vacuum. The oil will flash into vapor and a portion will condense and be in the top plate or tray. From this sample you'll get an idea of the quality of your sample.

[MeanListerGreen]

Yes very interesting.  I too have no WVO source but I do have a WMO source.  I would be very interested in some illlustrated pics or notes and part numbers and sources, if you care to share them.  Is there any reference or research material available on these stills?

[listeroidsusa1]

The only other guy that I know of doing this is on ebay. Search for "not biodiesel"

[listeroidsusa1]

The only other guy that I know of doing this is on ebay. Search for "not biodiesel"

Here is his link

http://cgi.ebay.com/HOME-MADE-DIESEL-PLANS-NOT-BIO-FUEL-BIODIESEL-BIOFUEL_W0QQitemZ270219436220QQihZ017QQcategoryZ109602QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem