Save on engine oil expense
 

Dear Hyper milers
I came across an interesting device on the net that claims to recylcle engine oil and one can drive three times longer on the same oil.The device is called an oil cleaning centrifuge and there are many companies selling from small to big machines.
Has anybody tried this device? imagine the benefits for people with many cars,u can suggest this idea to your company if they have many vehicles.If this device really works imagine the savings from foriegn oil imports
Please let me know if u have tried this device.
Moreover we can save on oil filter changes too and be eco friendly at the same time,according to what I have read some new diesels have on board centrifuges and that it is mandatory in some countries for big diesels to have this device on board.
jarre:turtle:

The problem with old oil isn't just contaminants floating in it; various chemical additives get depleted over time. So a thorough cleaning process by itself is not enough for returing used oil to service.

jarre,
The idea works well enough to separate the physical impurities but the chemical degradation to the oil remains.

When I was working for a mining company we had a fleet of Caterpillar diesel trucks and stationary generators. It was remote location and it snowed in the Winter.
We used the oil from the trucks in the heaters after centrifugal filtering.

It works but there is a lot of energy required to filter the oil (we used a four stage filter process) and the product is nowhere near the quality of new oil.
We had Mobil test it for us and they said it is OK for a boiler or space heater (ours were Lamborghini) but that was about all.

Pete.

What about putting good oil in your good car, then using the waste oil from it into your beater?

I used to do that all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_DMIFsB7Hs

Waste Oil for FREE Heat
 

Better yet, use that fuel to heat your business. One of the fascinating things about used oil is that it has the same amount of energy content as it did before it was used, which makes it a great—and cheap!—fuel. Businesses that generate this oil can safely recycle it onsite in the most environmentally friendly manner available with a waste oil furnace or boiler. These complete heating systems provide safe fuel management, EPA-approved used oil disposal and free heat. Emissions are incredibly low and the byproduct is a fine ash that can be thrown away. As if eliminating a heating bill weren’t enough!
All waste oil furnaces are not the same. EnergyLogic systems are the only complete systems that make fuel management, maintenance and ownership simple. They are engineered for extensive use in rugged climates, which means they can withstand any shop environment. They require no daily, weekly or monthly manual adjustments so working them is as simple as setting the thermostat.

There was an article in the local Country Lines (magazine sent out by the electric company) about a guy who burns waste oil for heat. He said something about the ash being very alkaline and works really well in his garden.

Thanks for the replies
 

Guys thanx for the insight,the reason I asked this info is because in ethiopia used engine oil is usually chucked in the sewer which ends up in the eco system
Only fuel stations with oil changing bays sell their used oil for furnace users,as for heating we dont use them here cause it is a tropical country.
If I tried to cry about this nobody would give a f*** about the ecology and would just laugh at me or look oddly at me.Most of my friends already think that Iam a bit loco with my ideas about hyper miling etc.
The idea is if there is an economic reason to recycle oil well there will be less pollution,and what do you guys think if we use the recycled oil blended with diesel as a source of fuel for old trucks and buses[there are many old italian trucks and buses here which are very tough]will a little used oil hurt the injector nozzles?
jarre:turtle:

I actually had scrounged enough parts to build a waste oil heater at one point. (Based on the drip pan designs I found on the net) but there was no way the city was going to allow it since I planned to have it on my detached garage and not part of the house. (Go figure)

I even checked into having its own chimney installed, but they still werent budging. Oh well.

Jarre: I think long term effects are damaging, but short term I know truckers did it a lot when fuel prices rose here.

Sounds like jarre has a wide open market for collecting waste oil. There's your moneymaker!

Does this mean bypass oil filtration won't allow extend oil change intervals?

Beats me.

...anybody remember to old STILKO "toilet-paper roll" oil filters (circa 1965-1966)?

...yes, the "filtering" process actually worked and the oil actually did look "like new," but it smelled like a bad mixture of baby-diaper and rotten eggs after the second or third "toilet-paper" replacement.

...sulpheric acids galore!

I don't know if oil and gasoline are overpriced like they are here but there are some who are silently building stills to crack waste oil both motor and transmission into diesel fuel and to beat it all they use the waste oil to power the stille.

I'm told it is less complex than it sounds but here very illegal for the most part.

...it's only illegal WHEN you get caught and convicted (wink,wink)!

...just ask the "moonshiners"...ha,ha!

What about add some kind of base to neutralize the acid?

...absolutely, except neither the STILKO filter nor the necessary (and EPA approved) additives are still around much these days.

a four cylinder engine in a small car usually holds what 4-6 quarts? At 4 bucks (for spendy oil) is 24 dollers for a 6 quart engine. Throw in an oil filter at 5 bucks and you are looking at less than 30 for an oil change. If you go to 7000 miles on an oil change you are looking at less than half a cent per mile in oil. Oil is not much of an expense to begin with.

I went bonkers when several auto parts chains offered many many kinds of motor oils (and other stuff too) free after rebate. I think I'm set for life and the cost was the sales tax and the fooling around with rebate forms and postage (not much). :thumbup:

MB oil filter
 

I just bought a very used Mercedes 300d, it's the first vehicle I've seen with factory bypass filtration. Maybe I've just had a sheltered life of US-made vehicles? The filter element sits in a housing old-school style and has two distinct sections, one for the low-pressure higher filtering media. So if it's good enough for the German engineers, it can't hurt. IMHO however, significantly stretching your oil life rarely pays off in the long term.

Darn near everything with an oil filter also has a bypass.

Bypass oil filtration is when you install a very restrictive, high filtering medium in parallel with the oiled parts of the engine. A small portion of your oil flows through it, so it takes a few dozen passes before most of your oil has passed through.

I read about toilet paper roll filters on BITOG, where they were not ridiculed as worthless. But if you can't get the necessary additives, they kind of are worthless.

Me, I think I can live with the Insight's 2.5qt oil change every 10kmi/1yr. The additional weight of a bypass filtration setup (8lbs?) would be very hard to justify.

I have seen a Mercedes diesel with 900k miles on the engine. One of my customers had an 87 300 ZX that he sold to us with 350k miles. He changed the oil every 7 k miles (dino oil). He drove all highway, a 500 mile round trip once a week. He owned his own airplane and flew the rest of his travels.

The 300 used on quart of oil in 3000 miles at 350 k miles. The engine had never been apart.

Another customer who changed his oil more frequently had 550k miles on a Z20 4 cylinder 200 sx. The inside of his engine was immaculate and it had never been apart, not even a head gasket in over half a million miles.

I used to change my oil every 3300 miles, now I go 5k + miles between changes. The Echo was overfilled when I bought it. I drove it 5400 miles on the oil that was in it when I bought it. Not sure how many miles it had on the oil when purchased, but it dropped down to the fill mark by the time I had driven 5400 miles. I changed it to Mobil 1 0w30 and I plan on driving it at least 6 k miles between changes. I will see how far it goes before it used half a quart and probably change it then.

I let the dealer change the oil on the Insight, because they do it for 38 bucks. The magnesium oil pan can easily be damaged if they over tighten the drain plug. That will be their problem if they strip the drain plug.

regards
Mech

I found my 87 sube was starting to do strange things when it was 15 at 165k miles. never even had a valve cover off.

there is every smell of every type of petroleum product...

I took note, now on an 87 sube going on 23 years, also never taken apart. I have it setup to intentionally "smash" (there is a better word) all of the relief valves open, and let it hit the screen in the filter (a special filter, does not allow open bypass) by simply using 10w30 (heavy oil is not going to stop a trochoid oil pump- it forces relief valves). I have captured a perfect grease, stuff that you could find on a truck fifth wheel, I smell ether, and diesels depending on the weather, and it is all micronic layers, letting go, and gathering, and dispersing, no actual chemical to find, except for the grease looking stuff. And it is pure. The engine invented it. :confused:

If to wonder what happens in real longevity...it is some type of perfection, a distillery, it can all burn.
Then there is that unbreakable petroleum product. doesn't burn, doesn't lubricate, what is the name of that stuff.... ?

If you are willing to do UOA's you can run amazing OCI's on pretty plain oil with either a centrifuge, or a Bypass filter. check out the Bypass forum at Bob Is The oil Guy Oil, Air and Bypass Filters - Bob Is The Oil Guy

Frank lee is correct, almost every modern day motor oil for cars has detergents and additives for things like seals. While recycling the oil to clean it may help it, as far as the chemicals are concerned they're not going to be revived through a cleaning process. So by the time your interval is done, I would not put that back in the engine. I try not to skimp on my engine oil.

However, the ideas of reusing this oil in this process for OTHER projects (like the heating), now that's a cool idea. You could also use it for other things like lawnmowers, weed eaters and hell, even use it as general oil lubricant for any contraptions you may have around that use generic oil. I like the heating idea better.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some of these additives for oils are to help important things in the engine be conditioned such as seals and gaskets.

Agreed, but you would be AMAZED how long those additives are good for in oil with low acid formation (water in oil causes acid formation). Don't believe me, send a used oil sample in to BlackStone and get a TBN (Total Base number) which is a measure of the remaining additive package. My TBN is only down 4 points after 35,000 miles without a drain.

You'd also be amazed at how that changing oil to frequently increases engine wear (additive pack hasn't worn in yet). Check TDI club for Data here.

You'd also be amazed at the number of very high mileage vehicles have been using very long drain intervals. Met a 5.4 Ford guy with 750,000 miles using 30,000 mile drain interval on Mobile 1 and no added filtration. Know a 7.3 Powerstroke guy with 450,000 Miles on his 8th oil drain on blue jug Rotella T (he does have a bypass filter).

All and all, our assumptions are based on 50 year old data, and lubricant technology has increased exponentially since then.

That's a long drain interval. Definitely not disputing the quality of oil, simply saying I prefer better oil than generic oil. There's definitely proven data on shearing, breakdown, etc on things like tranny oil. Found some interesting data sheets and am a big fan of bobistheoilguy website which has good info. But I know there are some cars out there that actually recommend from the factory 15,000 mile intervals on oil changes, so depending on the oil, quality, and vehicle and engineering involved, it would not surprise me the least.

But on reusing oil, I just am not sure how i'd feel about that. Most all my car engines at this point are above the 100k mark, but they're all running quite soundly.

But I do see your point. I've been half tempted to send in a sample of tranny fluid to confirm the data i've found to see if i can validate or not. Even amsoil has some interesting thoughts on the subject, they even recommend you go longer on their products and extend the intervals.

It really does vary depending on application; things like gears and flat tappets "grind up" the molecule chains faster than plain bearings. So I'd expect to safely extend change intervals on engines with belt driven cams and roller tappets vs the other. Of course motorcycles have all those chewing things so I am going to stick to the manufacturers recommendations for them.