Crazy idea for filtering used oil.

[CCATLETT1984]

http://tpub.com/content/filters/TM-5-4330-211-12/index.htm

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NSN 4330-00-177-8485

what about one of these filter separators, for use either before or after converting the veg oil into biodiesel?

 

[houdel]

I agree, the washing machine ain't gonna work unless you can find a way to spin it at 8000-10000 rpm, in which case I don't want to be within a mile of it when you try it.

IMHO, first choice is a filter bag. You can make a simple filter bag housing out of 4" and 6" PVC and a few fittings (see attached photo) to get the gunk out of your oil.

If you are lazy and have plenty of time, you can just fill a couple of 55 gallon drums with waste oil, let them sit for a few months for the gunk to settle out, and pump the clean oil out of the top.

Or make up a rack to hold the oil tanks horizontally, tipped slightly down to the end with the pipe fittings, install a valve at both the lower fitting and the upper fitting, let them sit as described above, and the drain the gunk out until you get clean oil coming out.

Personally, I'd go for the PVC bag filters. They would be much quicker and not take much time or money to make.

I must admit, the filter housings shown below are not my idea. But purchasing a 10' length of 6" PVC and a number of 4" fittings and 6" to 4" adapters would allow you to make 3 Housings (using 40" of the 6" PVC each) to make use of the McMaster Carr 5-1/2" x 32" filter bags.. I'd also add a 1-1/2" to 3/4" adapter at the top of each filter bag housing to allow an easy way to pump the waste oil into the filter housing without making a mess. I'll be making one (or more) of these soon, I'll post pics as I go along so you can easily duplicate them. I plan to use them to filter WEO/WATF as well as WVO.

 

[gimpyrobb]

So I know this may sound stupid but, how big is a micron? Does anyone know what micron the stock fuel filters are rated at? When I was at Peterbuilt of Cincinnati, they didn't have any fuel filters that were rated at less than 10 micron. What is the main reason to filter to 5 micron? Yeah I'm just a dumb pup, but I'm willing to learn, and might moify my current process if it sounds reasonable.

 

[Boatcarpenter]

micron-a unit of linear measurement equivalent to one millionth of a meter

 

[houdel]

Ditto the above. Filtering foreign particulate to 5 microns or less allows those particles to pass through the injection pump and injectors without causing damage.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Wouldn't all filters go to 5 micron then, or is the standard 10 micron acceptable?

 

[houdel]

It all depends on what you are filtering. A highly mission critical fuel system might filter down to 1 micron absolute. A normal truck fuel system will probably filter 5 microns nominal, which is to say it could pass a small amount of 10 micron particles. A good oil filter may filter down to 25-50 microns nominal, a cheap oil filter may only filter down to 100-150 microns nominal. As a side note, unless a filter is stated as an absolute rating, you would normally use a filter with a nominal rating one size smaller to get an absolute filter rating. I.E., if you wanter to filter down to 5 microns, you could use either a 5 micron absolute or 1 micron nominal filter.

For a good discussion on filter ratings, go to http://www.mcmaster.com/. In the "Pumping and Filtering" section, select "Filter Cartridges and Bags". Scroll down to the paragraph titled "About Micron Sizes and Particle Filtration". As you read through the catalog pages describing filter media, you will note they recommend using filter media one size smaller than nominal to achieve an absolute filtration rating.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Good deal Lee, I see I have plenty of reading to do. I suppose the parallel pvc tubes in your pic above is the filter bag housing?

 

[houdel]

Roger on the filter bag housings a couple of pics above. Not mine, I've run out of time to get all my projects done before the onset of cold weather. I don't have a heated garage (or an unheated one for that matter) to work in during the wintertime. Next springtime I'm going to get some 4" & 6" PVC pipe and fittings and make up some filter housings for the cheap McMaster Carr bag filters. I'm planning on making them both for waste vegetable oil for Bio-diesel and waste engine oil to mix with my diesel. Stay tuned!

 

[wjruth]

I know the original idea behind this thread has been set aside but I was trying to think of the mechanics of using a washing machine to spin oil. If the inside is spinning and the outside is not, then would you just be mixing the oil? The inside drum has holes, it is intended to hold the clothes and sling the excess water out to the outer tub were it drains. Unless you make the inner tub water (liquid) proof then it would be that same as putting oil in a blender, you would create a funnel that sucks the heavy objects to the middle bottom of the outer tub. Not really the desired effect.

 

[Albin]

The centrifuge idea is not crazy (maybe the washing machine one is...):


http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/159605551/m/2001011761

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/159605551/m/9751014751

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/159605551/m/9471034461?r=9471034461

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/159605551/m/9751014751/p/7

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/159605551/m/2001011761/p/3

Haven't read them all, but it's definitely not crazy!

Al

 

[houdel]

Here is a link to the Dieselcraft website. The have an oil centrifuge, model OC-20, which filters .93 GPM/55GPH for $289 delivered ($239 w/o mounting bracket). They claim to remove particles down to 0.1 micron, probably at the higher operating RPMs. I'd probably still use a prefilter of some sort (probably a bag filter) just to keep the bigger chunks out of the centrifuge to minimize the need to clean the rotor.

You'll still need some sort of pump (40-90 PSI) to run it and probably a heating element to improve operating efficiency. The thread at http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/159605551/m/2001011761 gives a pretty good detail of what is needed and how to plumb it all together.

 

[Jakob]

I know this is reviving an old thread, but I want to know more about that rig you posted pictures of Houdel. What is everything inside that box? I don't need an expensive setup and I'm fairly fabrication handy. I'll also only be using low-volume amounts of WEG/WVO/WATF.

 

[roger-wilco-66]

Sorry to chime in with my own idea, but I understand that one of the problems of filtering the waste oil is its high viscosity, which makes filtering it or letting it sit so the crap can settle at the bottom a lengthy process. What if the oil is diluted with a small amount of gas so the viscosity is lower?? OK there's a $$ penalty to it but if it helps to speed up the process...

 

[ygmir]

remember: centrifical forces can generate a lot of damage if things come apart.
Go to "simple centrifuge" website, they show video's ect. good info there.
I'd think a centrifuge is the way to go.
I'm not so sure about a washing machine. IIRC, it's the perforated drum that spins, the solid one stays put and collects the water.
The idea of the centrifuge is to amplify gravity to seperate things of differing density.
So, you'd need a way to hold the denser, dirty stuff in the drum, like, a liner of some sort, and, let the clean oil go over the rim.......the heavies stay below the lip of the bowl, and, you need to clean them out before it overflows........

faster spinning, more "G"'s.....but, lower G's just takes longer, so, if time's not an issue..........

 

[oifvet]

Dennis,

I would expect the machine to spin-out/pump-out, ALL fluids/liquids. That's fine, but the wall and/or entire insides of the drum would have to be lined with something. Something that could be changed often, or cleaned. That's the only way to sling the liquid and retain the foreign matter within the "filter." Once you were spinning full speed, feed in the oil?

I see where you're going. Good luck.

 

[Jakob]

I'm not interested in the washing machine idea, I think it's too impractical to work... if it's even possible. I was strictly interested in sock filter rig shown earlier.

 

[Stretch44875]

I gave up the washing idea, built this instead.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=10929