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What to Do With Used Oil?

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First, we must understand what the term “used oil” means.  We suggest using the definition given by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  It says that, “used oil is any oil that has been obtained from crude or synthetic oil that has been in use and as a result was contaminated by physical and chemical impurities.”

When servicing commercial and equipment, oil is often mixed with dirt, water, metallic parts and chemical substances, and as a result, it can no longer perform its functions efficiently.  To resume the normal operation of the equipment, oil should be changed or regenerated.

According to the regulations of EPA, oil should comply with three criteria:

(1)    Origin. Used oil is refined from crude oil, coal, oil shale or other material, based on polymers.  Animal and vegetable oils therefore, do not belong in  the “used oils” catagory.

(2)     Application.  One should know where used oils may be applied.  Used oil includes lubricating oils, heat-transfer fluids, coolants, insulating oil, solutions for copper and aluminum wire rolling, and gearbox fluids.  This list is non-exclusive and only provides an incomplete list of industries where used oils may be applied.

(3)     Contaminants. Oil is considered to be used only if it is contaminated as a result of practical use.  Physical contaminants include metal chips, filings, and dirt. Such substances as solvents, halogens or mineralized water are also considered to be chemical impurities.

Used Oil Disposal

Oil that is no longer able to perform its functions should be disposed of or recycled.  According to worldwide estimates, about 1.5 billion liters of used oil is being disposed of annually.

In general, a recycled product is used by the same industry sector, but sometimes it may be applied in quite a different sector of industry.   For example, reclaimed motor oil may be either sold in the auto shops or used as residual fuel oil.   Solutions for aluminum wire rolling that are supposed to be reused, are being restored directly on-site.

There are several ways to recycle used oil such as follows:

(1)    On-site recycling.  Such a method extends the service life of oil though does not provide for complete oil restoration.

(2)     Recycling at oil refineries. In such a case, used oil serves as raw material or coker when producing petrol or coke.

(3)    Reclamation. In the course of this process, all impurities are being removed so that oil can continue to be used in the present or the future. In theoretical terms, due to reclamation, oil may serve you forever.

(4)    Used oil is burned for energy recovery.  In this case, water and impurities are removed to a level that allows for the oil to be burned.  This method is less preferred since oil may be recycled only once.

The following facts favor the reclamation/regneration process:

(1)    Reduced energy resources.  Reclamation technologies require three times less of the energy needed to process crude oil to lubricating oil.

(2)     67.2 liters of crude oil are needed to get 1 liter of fresh oil, when only 1.6 liter of used oil is required to get the same amount of fresh oil.

Used Oil Applications

The following is the list of institutions that deal with used oils:

(1)    Service stations, while servicing vehicles and different industrial equipment;

(2)    Used oil collection centers that accept, stores and aggregate used oil;

(3)    Used oil transporters that deliver used oil to the used oil collection centers; Used oil transfer facilities are institutions that store oil for more than one day and up to 35 days.

(4)     Oil refineries;

(5)    Used oil burners; and

(6)    Used oil fuel marketers.

As mentioned above, reclamation is considered to be the most effective method of used oil recycling.  It will be reasonable and cost effective for the companies that deal with huge amounts of oil products to buy their own oil reclamation equipment.  It allows the companies to reduce energy costs, hazardous waste and transportation costs.

GlobeCore has produced universal equipment, designed for regeneration of transformer oil, industrial oil, turbine oil, transmission fluids and other types of oil.  There is no need to change the design of the units when switching to a different type of oil or fluid for processing.

Due to advanced GlobeCore regeneration technology, used oil is being restored to its original new like condition, thereby contributing to environment and energy resources preservation.

Methods of oil/fuel analysis

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Oil/fuel analysis is a series of laboratory tests used to evaluate the condition of lubricants and equipment components. By studying the results of the oil analysis tests, a determination of equipment/component condition can be made.
The inspection or analysis of lubricating oil has been used to check and evaluate the internal condition of oil-lubricated equipment since the beginning of the industrial age. Today, oil analysis programs use modern technology and laboratory instruments to determine equipment condition and lubricant serviceability. Oil analysis uses state of the art equipment and techniques to provide the user with invaluable information leading to greater equipment reliability.
If you understand all aspects of oil analysis you should reap the benefits that many companies get from a well-engineered, reliability-focused oil analysis program.

oil analysis by GlobeCore

There exist a lot of different methods to analyze fuels and oils. For example, there is ASTM in North America or IEC TC10 in worldwide and Europe.

Standard oil analyses include four tests:
Spectral exam:
In the spectral exam, you need take a portion of your oil sample and run it through a machine called a spectrometer. The spectrometer analyzes the oil and tells you the levels of the various metals and additives that are present in the oil. This gives you a gauge of how much your engine is wearing.

Insolubles test:
The insolubles test measures the amount of abrasive solids that are present in the oil. The solids are formed by oil oxidation (when the oil breaks down due to the presence of oxygen, accelerated by heat) and blow-by past the rings. This test tells you how good a job the oil filter is doing, and to what extent the oil has oxidized.

Viscosity test:
The viscosity measures the grade, or thickness, of the oil. Whether it’s supposed to be a 5W/30, 15W/40, or some other grade, we will know (within a range) what the viscosity should be. If your viscosity falls outside that range, there’s probably a reason: the oil could have been overheated or contaminated with fuel, moisture, or coolant.

Flash Point test:
The Flash Point test measures the temperature at which vapors from the oil ignite. For any specific grade of oil, we know what temperature the oil should flash at. If it flashes at or above that level, the oil is not contaminated. If the oil flashes off lower than it should, then it’s probably been contaminated with something. Fuel is the most common contaminant in oil.
Analysis of insulation liquid requires an array of physical and chemical test parameters.

Physical tests Chemical tests Electric tests
interfacial tension,
settling temperature,
viscosity,
color etc.		 water content,
acidity,
oxidation of inhibitor and PCB content		 dielectric breakdown voltage test,
power factor

Other tests (the most important) also include the following:

DGA gas chromatography test – used for analysis of transformer oil, which helps to diagnose electric equipment condition. The DGA is now a standard in service industry worldwide, and is thought to be the most important test of insulation liquids in electrical equipment. This test is in accordance to ASTM D3612 or IEC 60567.

FID flame ionization detector – used for determine gas concentration, and thermal conductivity detector (TCD). Most of these systems also use methanizer, which transforms any carbon oxide or dioxide into methane and then detects the gas by a very sensitive FID.

Vapor phase method (ASTM D3612C) is a new method, approved about a year ago. This method has been used for dissolved gas analysis for almost a decade. However, the technology has become a standard only several years ago, when Jocelyn Jalbert of Hydro-Quebec improved the vapor phase method using Hewlett Packard instruments (now Agilent Technologies).

The second method involves injection of a certain volume of gas into a clean sealed vacuum vessel. The sample is then sealed and agitated until equilibrium between vapor and gas is reached. After a certain period of time, an automatic sampler removes a part of the gas from the test vessel and injects it into the GC (gas chromatographer). The advantage of the method is that it can be automated, reducing the risk of operator error while handling the sample in the process of preparation and injection.

Liquid chromatography is one of the most dynamically developing analytical methods today. It is used to determine the content of furan derivatives and additives in transformer oil, increasing diagnostic accuracy. Derivatives of the pentatomic heterocyclic compound furan, are selective products of thermochemical destruction and aging of cellulose, which is a component of the oil impregnated paper insulation. The content, dynamic of formation and ratio are the criteria of insulation condition. If more than 15 mg of furan compounds are detected in the oil of operating equipment, regular and extensive monitoring of insulation degradation is required. Furfurol content can also be determined by express analysis, based on color reaction of furfurol with acetic anhydride.

IR-spectrometry (content of Ionol additive) – allows obtaining information on additives, aromatic and acidic compounds content, and can indicate the oil’s type if required. Using IR-spectrometry in combination with high efficiency liquid chromatography facilitates solution of nearly all analytical problems, related to the need of identifying various chemicals in the oil. This can be very important when diagnosing electrical equipment.

Thin-layer chromatography can detect the content of ionol additive. The TLC method is simple and inexpensive in terms of required equipment.

The above shows that modern methods of oil quality control combined with traditional diagnostic methods can significantly increase accuracy and efficiency of complex electric equipment tests.