I am just getting interested in the idea of burning waste oils (I have been thinking turbine oil (from jet/ turbine engines), motor oil, ATF, compressor oil (if you could get your hands on enough quantity), machining oil, etc.

I have a 99 W210 Chassis E300 TurboDiesel. This should be a good motor for this, as even though it is electronically controlled, it's still an IDI diesel with an inline plunger type injection pump. Being a higher-performance, turbocharged motor, it should be good at getting a clean burn out of whatever goes through it.

Used motor oil is certainly one of the dirtiest things that you're going to come across. Between antifreeze, water, metal wear particles, oil additives (which were good when it was a lubricating oil- not so good when used as a fuel), and soot (especially if it came from a diesel), there's a lot of bad stuff to remove.

Even though turbine oil never discolors (well, if it does, you've got REAL engine problems), you've still got very, very small bits of metal wear in there. The same is likely true for machining oil, compressor oil, ATF, etc.

I'm of the opinion that you're never going to get this clean enough to reliably burn using a filter setup, so that makes centrifuging probably the only real viable idea.

This brings me to the discussion of the small, oil driven centrifuges (offered by the likes of DieselCraft, PA Biodiesel, and others), which it seems most users utilize by running the oil through multiple passes, compared to the larger, gravity fed centrifuges (I'm mostly impressed by the USfiltermaxx units), which it seems most users only do a single pass through.

Aside from just physical size and the amount of G-force thus created, it seems that the larger units are capable of really flinging out antifreeze, oil additives, water, and what not (and, since they are open to the atmosphere, water will flash off and evaporate to atmosphere, and drain the sludge down one drain, and the clean oil down another.

The smaller, oil-fed units, it seems are good at removing soot, metallic wear particles, and what not, but, since they are a closed loop, it would seem that any water or coolant wouldn't have the ability to be removed, as once its flung out, it would just condense and drain back into the tank (since there's only one output).

It seems that those using the oil driven units make multiple passes, while the gravity fed users make only one.

Since the oil driven units need positive pressure in order to operate, which would ideally be created with a gear pump, that if you did have any mayonnaise in the mixture (which ideally should be avoided in the first place, but there's no guarantees of that), that you'd be doing a great job re-mixing all this by using a gear pump.

Conversely, it seems one of the advantages of a large, single pass unit, is that it can be gravity fed, which means you're not doing any further mixing of the contents prior to going into the unit.

Putting all technicalities aside, all I really care about is the end result- we're all looking for clean oil to use as a fuel. I don't care if I have to let the setup run for hours so that the oil can make 10 passes through a smaller centrifuge if that's going to give me the end result that I want.

If I'm still going to have to run the oil through some kind of polymer filter to remove antifreeze and water, that's fine too (since those filters seem plenty cheap).

Since the thinner the fluid is the easier it is to fling out the bad stuff, does anyone mix/ thin their oil down (either with gasoline/ kerosene, jet fuel/ regular diesel/ etc) before centrifuging it? Seems it would lessen the need to heat it?

If the real answer to doing this is to have a large setup, including a gravity fed centrifuge, well, this whole idea may have to wait until I move into a bigger house and get myself settled down somewhere where I'm going to stay for 5+ years.

Any input on this is greatly appreciated.

Was there a question? Sounds like you've got all the bases covered.

One pass through a gravity fed is adequate for moisture and particle removal from HOT WVO in my set up. Less GPH = More clean!

I run at as low as .5 gallon per hour. Very good results with WVO.

Could probably achieve what I need at a faster rate but I don't need to.

__________________
Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"

Anything that you don't get out of the oil is going into the air you breath. Heavy medals, dioxin, etc.

IMO WVO is a cleaner fuel than WMO.

I use a bowl centrifuge from RAW Power. I have burned about 4000 gallons of WVO in a 606 N/A.

Warm it up to thin it.

__________________
Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

I think I've got a decent handle on the options side of this.... what I'm really getting at is whether I can get away WITHOUT purchasing a large, bowl type centrifuge.

If I get an oil fed smaller unit, and let the oil pass through it 10 times (say, for the sake of argument), is this sufficient, or do I really want a bowl unit ensure that I'm getting all the crap out of the oil?

I have had both and I like the gravity feed much better. I pass mine though 3 or 4 times or more if I am busy. Mine is automated it drips into a bucket for about 4 hours and then pumps back to the gravity feed tank and runs again. If I do not turn it off it keeps going. Because I find that works best for me.

Pressure driven unit will not dewater your oil as well as a gravity bowl. May not matter to you if you're only using engine oils n'at. Not a lot of moisture there.

__________________
Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"

centrifuge selection: Raw Power
by Centrifuges, Pumps and Conversions for Alternative Fuel

never had a problem in 6 or so years

__________________
Cheers!
Scott McPhee

1987 300D

Well, I think if and when I get into this, I'll be looking at a bowl type centrifuge. I strongly lean towards the USFiltermaxx units, as the engineering is really quite impressive on them compared to everything else.

For now, I'm going to just continue burning my waste jet fuel.....

I have two complete set-ups from the Air Force that were roll-on, roll-off oil separators and centrifuges. May also include some treatment equipment, have not completely reviewed all the documents yet from Northrop Grumman.

Have decided to sell one set-up and one pump since I'm not going to do fuel processing at two locations, too much work.

I also have a couple of Schroeder high-volume true 6 micron pumps with dual filter units. Navy uses these to filter waste oil for re-use in marine diesels. Speed is max 1.6 gallons per minute, but I wouldn't filter at that speed.

Each of these units is independent, depends if you want to filter or centrifuge or both!

Am getting ready to acquire an EPA-approved storage tank that holds 385 gallons, then connect it to one of the processors and take my time filtering and re-filtering.

But I have two Schroeder portable units and two Air Force roll-aroiund units. I guess they used to roll them onto a plane, do the filter/centrifuge thing, clean them up and roll them to their next porocessing location.
Here's some pics.

Attached Thumbnails

       

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

I have an early model of one of these. Simple Centrifuge ...putting a centrifuge in every garage!

Not as well known as some of the other name brands out there but just as well engineered and put together. IMO.

Great customer service Too! They Really took care of me when i found an old abandoned unit at an auction. One of there earliest versions from like 12 years ago. Really helped me out with some hard to find pieces i needed to get the unit up and running.

__________________
Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"

Damn that is cool. That's probably $100k worth of tax payer money right there!!

I'd kill to have space a setup like that!!1

That is encouraging that they take care of their (not "there, by the way) customers- whether the original purchaser or not.

The issue I have with a lot of these designs is the direct drive motor. It may not actually matter in practice, but I'd rather a) have the motor not be susceptible to oil leaking onto/ into it, but also, run the motor at a slower speed and use an overdrive (via belt, typically) to achieve high rotor speed.

The biggest problem I have had with mine is oil getting on or in the direct drive motor mounted under the drain.

The filtermaxx looks really sharp. Has anyone tried one? Because grease gets everywhere and what happens to it then.

This is exactly why I am drawn to the USFiltermaxx units.

Still, when you really break it down, there's a decently long payback period for getting into this game... .as you can easily be in the $1000-$2000 range for a setup to do WMO/ WVO etc, so sure, now you have virtually free fuel, but how much diesel would $2000 buy you.....

At $4/gal, that's 500 gallons of fuel before you're ahead......

That'd be about six months of driving for me.

__________________
Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"