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This system is no more, went to a motor driven one.
My attempt at a better system of oil filtering. Thanks to Houdel for links to the Diescraft centrifuge.
The whole reason for this adventure is to use the oil as fuel in the Deuce. I was filtering oil with t-shirts and buckets. Would like to run up to 75 percent oil, right now using 50 percent.
Okay, bought a Dieselcraft centrifuge(245? with shipping). Centrifuge requires .9 GPM at 90 psi. Found a small pump that puts out 1.06 GPM at 1725 rpm, and had a 1/2 motor that's 1725 rpm. Actually running the pump at about 1800 rpm to get the 90 psi. Oil drains out the bottom of the centrifuge. Supposed to filter down to .01 micron. I prefilter the oil with a 50 micron filter bag.
The centrifuge is actually made to attach to a large diesel engine and run off the oil pressure. My problem was oil temp, I figured the oil would be too thick at the colder temps in ohio. The link Houdel posted had a guy using what I call a hot pipe, or pipe with a water heater element in it to warm the oil up.
So I took a 4500 watt water heater element, and screwed it into a 30 inch piece of 1" black pipe. Oil gets pumped in the bottom and out the top. Added a vavle at the top to bleed the system, and to pump oil into other containers.
Now for the fun part. Made up a box with two switches, on to turn on the element, and one to switch the element from 110 to 220, for a low and high heat. Figured if the pump quit with the element on, I could have a heck of a fire. So installed a pressure switch set at 40 psi, so until the pump reaches 40 psi, the element stays off, and if the pump quits, the element will shut off. Inline with the pressure switch is a water heater thermostat so if the oil gets over 150, the element will also shut off. Used a relay to turn on and off the element. Also installed a momentary switch that turns on the relay, so I can preheat the pipe without the pump running. At 220v, the element has no problem getting the oil hot in a hurry. At 110v, gets the oil about 110-120 degrees.
Added a pressure gage and temperature gage between the hot pipe and centrifuge.
Have no idea how well this will all work, just got it running today. Centrifuge is spinning good, and turning on the heat will boost the speed of the centrifuge in a hurry.
Excuse the huge mess, had to connect and disconnect lines a couple of times, and oil is everywhere(including on me). Set up to use 55 gallon drums, just testing with a 5 gallon bucket for now.
Edit 11/09/07
Tricky to get the temperture and oil flow in the right range. You need something like .9 GPM. When doing oil, mine likes to run about 125-150 degrees, and I am slightly oversized on the pump, so I have the pressure relief on the pump set about 100 psi, without the relief, it runs about 140 psi.
Things that can happen... don't use anything metal to tap the centrifuge apart, will dent the bushing, and the centrifuge won't spin. Prefilter at least 100 micron, or the jets will plug, and things won't spin. Don't exceed 100 psi or the can of the centrifuge will deform at the top, and things won't spin. Gee, how do I know these things?
The hotter the oil, the faster it spins. When I got mine, it had a noticeable out of balance vibration. Made an adapter so it could be balanced at the local machine shop for about 40 dollars. be sure to firmly mount everything.
BUT, once things are set up, it runs quite well. Get a dry, tar like substance filtered out. Some color change, but haven't had the oil turn clear.
After getting too much PSI and deforming the top of the rotor, had to add a washer and o-ring to keep everything together. Shouldn't have anymore problems, have the pump pressure turned down to 100psi.
The pump is a lubriquip model 111, driven by a 3/4hp motor. (the 1/2hp motor died of old age) Belt driven to get the right ratio and GPM out of the pump.
Other's are using power steering pumps.
Managed to break the centrifuge. Darn pressure relief on the pump was set too high, had a clog on the rotor of the centrifuge, and the rotor went bang. New rotor is on the way. Max pressure should be 90 psi on the system.
Okay, some may see this little invention of mine as a good idea. If I had to do it all over again, I would have built the motor driven centrifuge over the oil driven one. This darn thing is finicky, and has required all my patience to get the bugs out of it and running right.
So far I've lost 2 motors. Both were used, but its a pain. Had a hose blow. That was partly my fault, forgot I had the heat bypassed on, and turned the pump off. It got really hot and degraded the hose. Turns out the barrel I was using had some kind of plastic coating in it, that degraded and clogged the suction line. That little thing took a while to figure out. Then the mess I've managed to make is a pain. Lost the rotor to overpressure when it clogged with the plastic pieces in the drum.
If you do decide to use the dieselcraft or other fluid driven design, a couple of pointers. Biggest thing is make sure the oil you use has the big chunks filtered out so the centrifuge doesn't plug. It's not too bad, heck a 200 micron filter would be enough.
Be sure to install a pressure relief on the system. If the system plugs, and your typical pump is set at 1500 psi, things will break. The pressure relief on the pump doesn't work well at 100 psi, lowers the volume too much, so I installed a pressure relief on the pipe. I'm running the pump at more volume than the centrifuge can handle, with the relief set at 100 psi, it just takes the extra and dumps it back.
Update 11/06/09
I am abandoning this setup for a motor driven one. Have a rotor built and balanced, will be starting a new thread when I get the new setup built. May be a couple of months.
Stretch's used oil centrifuge
This system is no more, went to a motor driven one. https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/stretchs-used-oil-centrifuge.10416/ My attempt at a better system of oil filtering. Thanks to Houdel for links to the Diescraft centrifuge. The whole reason for this adventure is to use the oil as fuel...
www.steelsoldiers.com
My attempt at a better system of oil filtering. Thanks to Houdel for links to the Diescraft centrifuge.
The whole reason for this adventure is to use the oil as fuel in the Deuce. I was filtering oil with t-shirts and buckets. Would like to run up to 75 percent oil, right now using 50 percent.
Okay, bought a Dieselcraft centrifuge(245? with shipping). Centrifuge requires .9 GPM at 90 psi. Found a small pump that puts out 1.06 GPM at 1725 rpm, and had a 1/2 motor that's 1725 rpm. Actually running the pump at about 1800 rpm to get the 90 psi. Oil drains out the bottom of the centrifuge. Supposed to filter down to .01 micron. I prefilter the oil with a 50 micron filter bag.
The centrifuge is actually made to attach to a large diesel engine and run off the oil pressure. My problem was oil temp, I figured the oil would be too thick at the colder temps in ohio. The link Houdel posted had a guy using what I call a hot pipe, or pipe with a water heater element in it to warm the oil up.
So I took a 4500 watt water heater element, and screwed it into a 30 inch piece of 1" black pipe. Oil gets pumped in the bottom and out the top. Added a vavle at the top to bleed the system, and to pump oil into other containers.
Now for the fun part. Made up a box with two switches, on to turn on the element, and one to switch the element from 110 to 220, for a low and high heat. Figured if the pump quit with the element on, I could have a heck of a fire. So installed a pressure switch set at 40 psi, so until the pump reaches 40 psi, the element stays off, and if the pump quits, the element will shut off. Inline with the pressure switch is a water heater thermostat so if the oil gets over 150, the element will also shut off. Used a relay to turn on and off the element. Also installed a momentary switch that turns on the relay, so I can preheat the pipe without the pump running. At 220v, the element has no problem getting the oil hot in a hurry. At 110v, gets the oil about 110-120 degrees.
Added a pressure gage and temperature gage between the hot pipe and centrifuge.
Have no idea how well this will all work, just got it running today. Centrifuge is spinning good, and turning on the heat will boost the speed of the centrifuge in a hurry.
Excuse the huge mess, had to connect and disconnect lines a couple of times, and oil is everywhere(including on me). Set up to use 55 gallon drums, just testing with a 5 gallon bucket for now.
Edit 11/09/07
Tricky to get the temperture and oil flow in the right range. You need something like .9 GPM. When doing oil, mine likes to run about 125-150 degrees, and I am slightly oversized on the pump, so I have the pressure relief on the pump set about 100 psi, without the relief, it runs about 140 psi.
Things that can happen... don't use anything metal to tap the centrifuge apart, will dent the bushing, and the centrifuge won't spin. Prefilter at least 100 micron, or the jets will plug, and things won't spin. Don't exceed 100 psi or the can of the centrifuge will deform at the top, and things won't spin. Gee, how do I know these things?
The hotter the oil, the faster it spins. When I got mine, it had a noticeable out of balance vibration. Made an adapter so it could be balanced at the local machine shop for about 40 dollars. be sure to firmly mount everything.
BUT, once things are set up, it runs quite well. Get a dry, tar like substance filtered out. Some color change, but haven't had the oil turn clear.
After getting too much PSI and deforming the top of the rotor, had to add a washer and o-ring to keep everything together. Shouldn't have anymore problems, have the pump pressure turned down to 100psi.
The pump is a lubriquip model 111, driven by a 3/4hp motor. (the 1/2hp motor died of old age) Belt driven to get the right ratio and GPM out of the pump.
Other's are using power steering pumps.
Managed to break the centrifuge. Darn pressure relief on the pump was set too high, had a clog on the rotor of the centrifuge, and the rotor went bang. New rotor is on the way. Max pressure should be 90 psi on the system.
Okay, some may see this little invention of mine as a good idea. If I had to do it all over again, I would have built the motor driven centrifuge over the oil driven one. This darn thing is finicky, and has required all my patience to get the bugs out of it and running right.
So far I've lost 2 motors. Both were used, but its a pain. Had a hose blow. That was partly my fault, forgot I had the heat bypassed on, and turned the pump off. It got really hot and degraded the hose. Turns out the barrel I was using had some kind of plastic coating in it, that degraded and clogged the suction line. That little thing took a while to figure out. Then the mess I've managed to make is a pain. Lost the rotor to overpressure when it clogged with the plastic pieces in the drum.
If you do decide to use the dieselcraft or other fluid driven design, a couple of pointers. Biggest thing is make sure the oil you use has the big chunks filtered out so the centrifuge doesn't plug. It's not too bad, heck a 200 micron filter would be enough.
Be sure to install a pressure relief on the system. If the system plugs, and your typical pump is set at 1500 psi, things will break. The pressure relief on the pump doesn't work well at 100 psi, lowers the volume too much, so I installed a pressure relief on the pipe. I'm running the pump at more volume than the centrifuge can handle, with the relief set at 100 psi, it just takes the extra and dumps it back.
Update 11/06/09
I am abandoning this setup for a motor driven one. Have a rotor built and balanced, will be starting a new thread when I get the new setup built. May be a couple of months.
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