Oil

Waste oils offer a tremendous recycling potential. An important, dwindling natural resource of great economic and industrial value, oil products are a cor- nerstone of our modern industrial society. Petroleum is processed into a wide variety of products: gasoline, fuel oil, diesel oil, syn- thetic rubber, solvents, pesticides, synthetic fibres, lubricating oil, drugs and many more' (see Figure 1 1.

The boilers of Amercian indus- tries presently consume about 40% of the used lubricating oils collected. In Ontario, the percen- tage varies from 20 to 30%.

Road oiling is the other major use of collected waste oils. Five to seven million gallons (50-70% of the waste oil col1ected)is spread on dusty Ontario roads each summer. The practice is both a wasteful use of a dwindling resource and an environmental hazard. The waste oil, with its load of heavy metals, particularly lead, additives in- cluding dangerous polynuclear aromatics and PCBs, is carried into the natural environment by runoff and dust to contaminate soils and water courses.2

The largest portion of used oils is never collected, but disappears into sewers, landfill sites and backyards. In Ontario alone, ap- proximately 22 million gallons of potentially recyclable lube oil simply vanish each year.

While oil recycling has ad-

~

114 Oil

Figure 1 Petroleum Products The petroleum distillation process produces a wide range of different oil products. The mixing of these various fractions with their individual additives in a waste collection system would make their subsequent re-refining impossible. Source: The Way Things Work, Simon and Schuster, 1967.

1

,physically active additives

'chemically active additives

7

vanced in Europe to the point where much of what is available is collected (50 %in Germany, 30 %in France), North America lags somewhat behind. Canada recy- cles between 2 and 10% of its potentially recyclable oils. There is much room for improvement.

It is certainly possible to in- crease this figure, and by doing so pass on considerable savings to industry and reduce our import- dominated balance of payments.

One researcher believes it is feasible, using presently available re-refining technology, to cut our demands for virgin lubricating oils by 40%.3 One hundred tonnes of lubricating oil or virgin rafE- nates will yield a further 80 tonnes of recycled lubricating oils, if 60% of oil is repeatedly collected after

use and re-refined with a 75% effi~iency.~

The same oil could conceivably be recycled five times to accumu- late that 80-tonne recycling re- turn.

This untapped potential would advance Canada a little further along the road to energy indepen- dence. It also offers economic re- wards to those individuals and firms who are presently flushing down sewers or dropping in land- fill sites millions of gallons of this valuable resource each year.

The establishment of an effi- cient collection system backed by the proper legislative incentives) would allow all the present and proposed recycling operations to remain viable.

Industry can begin with good

housekeeping. Occasionally oil is deliberately dumped, more often it is spilled accidentally, or it steals away insidiously and unnoticed as a hydrocarbon vapour loss. These losses, which result from leaks in pipes or tanks, process exhausts, etc., not only cause air pollution problems but can waste appreci- able amounts of energy. British Petroleum Limited (BP) in the United Kingdom has installed a portable data logging system to cut these losses. Sensitive to hy- drocarbon levels of 0.1 ppm, it is possible, with a ring of six sensors, to identify the positions of major emissions, leading to the ultimate location of individual leaks with portable detailed

Oil 775

1. Re-Refining

The re-refining of used or spent oils is nothing new. In the United States, re-refining peaked in the 19609, when some 150 refineries produced about 300 million gal- lons of reclaimed oil every year. But largely through inequitable taxation provisions, oil recycling lost its profitable edge over the refining of virgin stocks. Accord- ing to the Association of Pet- roleum Re-refiners, by 1980, only 10 companies were left in the business, producing merely 100 million gallons annually in the United States.5

Now, the development of new re-refining technology, linked with rapidly escalating oil prices, has put new life into the enter- prise.

Economically, re-refining makes good sense. 'Tt is cheaper to re-refine rather than refine lub- ricating oils because one, the cost of crude is so high today and two, it takes fewer refining steps because the lubricating components are present already in the waste oil," said Stan Abraces, president of Northern Oil Limited (Quebec).

And from a n energy conserva- tion standpoint, re-refining offers substantial benefits. A Teknekron study for the US. Environmental Protection Agency showed net savings of about 20,000 Btu per gallon of lubricating oil re-refined over production of the same amount of lubricating oil from crude, assuming in both cases that all products other than the pro- duced lubes are burned as fuel.6

Four types of oil can be re- refined: crankcase oils, industrial lubricants from machinery and process operations, turbine oils from aviation and hydraulic oils. The contaminants include water, cleaners, organic solvents and the metallic solids from oxidation and wear. Only those oils that have been exposed to extremely high temperatures or have been mixed with incompatible substances'

(including different oils, see Table 1) cannot be restored to their original specifications.

Although a number of small Canadian firms has been tapping these supplies for many years, they are soon to be joined by the giants in the oil field. Projects worth over $50 million have been announced and are in various stages of development.8 If all are completed, Canada will have a capacity to re-refine a further 180 million litres (42 million gal) of waste oils each year. H Mohawk Oil has opened a North Vancouver facility to

handle 18 million litres per year and is proposing another plant in Alberta to process a further 18 to 36 million litres. H Turbo Resources LM. is plan- ning a 45-million-litre facility at its proposed new condensate refin- ery north of Calgary. H In Ontario, Shell is construct- ing a 36- to &-million litre plant in Toronto and Imperial Oil is planning an equivalent facility somewhere in the southwestern section of the province. H Lubrimax Inc. has opened Quebec's first plant to recycle used industrial oil. The plant in St.

Table 1

Products of Petroleum Distillation

Fraction

Gas

Petroleum ether

Straight-run gasoline

Kerosene

Gas oil or fuel oil

Lubricating oils

Greases

Paraffin (wax)

Pitch and tar

Mole- cular Boiling- Size point Range Range("C) Typical Uses

c1-c5 -764 to 30 Gaseous fuel

CsC7 30t090 Solvent, dry cleaning

CsCi2 30 to 200 Motor fuel

C 1 PC 16 7 75 to 275 Fuel for stoves, diesel and jet engines

Cl5&18 Up to 375 Furnace oil

C16C20 350 and up Lubrication

C 1 eup Semisolid Lubrication

C ~ ~ r u p Melts at 52-57 Candles

Residue in Roofing, paving boiler

high

The distillation of crude oil results in a wide variety of petroleum fractions. Many of the re-refining techniques employ a distillation stage to duplicate this process, but the contamination of waste oils with additives still requires that disparate and incompatible wastestreams be kept separate.

Source: Seager, S.L. and Stoker, H.S. Chemistry: A Science for Today, 1973.

Lazare uses a European process to reclaim 7 million litres of oil a year. The company intends to extend its operations in the pro- vince to recover “all 35 million litres of industrial oil used in Quebec a n n ~ a l l y ” . ~

Acid/Cla y

I A typical, traditional small operator is Breslube Enterprises (Breslau, Ontario) which has been operating for four years. Like most established firms, Breslube uses an acid /clay re-refining process. In its first year of operation, Breslube recycled 1 million gallons of oil; by 1981, the company was processing 4 to 5 million gallons and still had the capacity to handle another million gallons.1°

Joe Chalube, president, is com- peting for his supplies with road oilers and those who burn waste oil as a supplementary fuel. Ap- proximately 2 to 3 million gallons are burned each year in Ontario as a fuel blend for the production of Portland cement. The new Shell and Imperial Oil refineries will place further competitive de- mands on available stocks.

At present, Breslube pays gas stations 8G a litre for used oil (about 20 %of the cost of virgin oil ). The company can reprocess the oil, sell it at less than the going price for new oil (about 10 to 20G less) and still make a profit.1°

Unfortunately, the standard acidlclay method for re-refining spent oils has several drawbacks. This technique depends on treat- ment with sulphuric acid. The process produces about 15 tonnes of acid tar for every 100 tonnes of waste oil treated. Also an after- treatment with Fullers earth (a variety of claylike materials which absorb oil and grease) is essential and yields a further 5 tonnes of high sulphur oily sludge. These residues are difficult and expensive to dispose and a poten- tial hazard to the environment.

More and more chemical addi- tives are being added to oil base stocks. The re-raffinate obtained may be higher in sulphur, chlorine and some metallic substances than equivalent virgin raffinates, which might affect re-use.

Figure 2 The PROP Process The PROP re-refining process produces high yields and low waste volumes. The chemical treatment step removes metal contaminants, while the hydrotreating process removes inorganics, sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen and chloro compounds as well as H S , NH3 and HCI. The re-refined oil is identical to virgin stocks. Source: “Spotlight Falls on Recycling Plants,“ Oilweek, June 9, 1980.

waste oil

db

fuel

water

off-gas dituents

spent caustic spent clay

off-gas

A fuel fraction

PROP base oil

Oil 777

And finally, the acidklay pro- cess has relatively high operating costs. Private operators using this system may have difficulty com- peting for their share of the waste oil supplies in the advent of large new plants using more advanced technologies springing up across Canada.

Hydrotreating

W Philips Petroleum has developed a re-refined oil process PROP) which combines hydrotreating with chemical demetallization to produce 90% yields of base oil. This compares with the 40 to 50% yields achievable with the acidMay process. Philips is offer- ing turn-key plants - fully en- gineered, prefabricated plants with provisions for installation and start-up. These plants have a 2- to 10-million-gallon per-year capacity and come with a guaran- tee that the re-refined product will match virgin oils.

Plants have been sold to Mohawk Lubricants (Vancouver), Shell Canada (Foronto), The State of North Carolina (Garner, North Carolina) and Clayton Chemical (St. Louis, Missouri).

PROP is essentially a two-stage process* (see Figure 2). Demetal- lizing is carried out with the addition of diammonium phos- phate (DAP). This results in the formation of metallic phosphates which have a very low solubility and are removed by filtration. Water and lighter ends of the fuel diluent are taken off by progres- sive increases in temperature and decreases in pressure. This proce- dure removes 99% or more of the ash-forming material in the waste oil and the filter cake collected for disposal is two or three times less than what is removed in the acid/clay process. This filter cake has a near-neutral pH and under some conditions may be suitable for disposal on agricultural land, used as landfill or as a n asphalt extender.

The second stage is hydrotreat- ing. The oil is heated, mixed with recirculating hydrogen, perco- lated through a guard bed of clay and hydrotreated over a conven- tional nickel-molybdate catalyst.

The hydrogen removes H a , N H 3 and HCl; the clay bed removes inorganics; and hydrotreating takes out the sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen and chloro compounds. Sulphide-spent caustic is a by- product of the hydrotreating step. It may have a secondary market with leather tanners and paper makers.

The resultant oil stream is iden- tical to that produced by primary refineries. Fractionation sepa- rates the light and heavy oils which can be mixed with various additives to make some 30 to 40 types of specification lubricating oils.

Material costs, including the DAP, amount to 11.5@ (U.S.) per gallon (3e per litre) of spent oil. The re-refining process takes only a few hours as opposed to days required for older techniques.

The PROP system can remove the usual types of contamination that will occur in service stations and fleet garages. Water, engine coolant, anti-freeze and small amounts of brake fluid can all be handled. However, it is impossible to mix oils of differing viscosities with the high-viscosity automo- tive lubricating oils and expect to get an end product that meets industry standards. W The North Carolina PROP in- stallation has operated for more than a year. The re-refined oil has successhlly passed rigorous en- gine performance specifications and meets much of the demand for oil by the state and local govern- ments for their vehicles. W Mohawk Lubricants has con- tracts with Philips for the first commercial application of the PROP process. Planned to open in the spring of 1981, but since delayed, the North Vancouver facility cost $10 million and has a capacity of 4 million gal (18 mil- lion litres) annually. Mohawk has added a fractionator to produce both light and heavy stocks to provide greater flexibility for blending.

The collection of waste oil feedstock is the responsibility of another Mohawk Oil subsidiary, Waste Oil Salvage Company (WOSCO). In British Columbia there is currently a potential waste lube oil supply of 46 million

litres (10 million gal) of which 30 million litres (6.6 million gal ) are collected annually mostly for burning or road oiling.6

The Mohawk facility, when operating at capacity, has the potential of supplying 25% of B.C.'s lube oil demand.

fleet serves service stations, equipment dealers, industrial plants and transport companies on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland. In addition to a depot at the PROP facility, Mohawk is planring facilities in Cranbrook, Kamloops and Prince George.

Do-it-yourself oil changers in B.C. use 2.7 million litres of oil annually. WOSCO encourages motorists to bring their used oil to selected locations in exchange for coupons redeemable on anything sold at Mohawk outlets. W Shell Canada has also con- tracted for a $20 million PROP facility capable of re-refining 10 million gal of lubricating oil an- nually."

The Shell plant will be operated by a wholly owned subsidiary, Canada Oil Company. General manager Dave Fisher is concerned about future sources of lube oil supply. Canada Oil is purchasing spent oil from Newfoundland to Saskatchewan. Supplies brought ~

in from the United States are charged 12% duty by the federal government, a situation that re- duces the profitability of the re- cycling operation.

Fisher would like to see a remis- sion of the federal duty as well as the implementation of a deposit on lubricating oils. Motorists would be charged a small deposit on each quart which could be refunded when they return the used oil.

WOSCO's six-truck collection ~

Vacuum Distillation

W West German chemists have developed a new method of re- refining waste lubricating oils that is being distributed world- wide by Leybold-Heraeus (Hanau, West Germany) under the trade name Recy~lon.~

Since 1977, a complete pilot plant with a daily capacity of 1000 kg has been in operation in Bern, Switzerland. Spent oil processed

118 Oil

Figure 3 The Recyclon Process The West German Recyclon process entails three major steps. First, impurities are removed, then the reaction products are removed by evaporation and finally, the distillate is separated into various oil fractions by vacuum distillation. Source: "Recyclon - A New Method of Re-refining Spent Lubrication Oils Without Detriment to the Environment," Conservation and Recycling 3(2), 1979.

1 metallic short-rpath distillation

c

water

(1) filter (2) dehydration gasoline extraction (3) dispersing agent (4) mixer (5) flasher (6) total evaporation (7) fractions 1,2,3 (8) condensate (9) separation tank (1 0) neutralizer (1 1 ) residues (12) mixing and storage tank (1 3) furnace (14) electric filter

by the system yields approxi- mately 30%by weight fuel oils and 70% re-raffinates. The re- raffinates are of excellent quality and compare favourably in com- parison quality testing with virgin oils.

The preliminary planning of a complete re-refining plant with a 250,000-tonne annual capacity shows waste oils could be re- refined at costs below 70% of the market values of re-raffhates.

The Recyclon process is a three- step operation3 (see Figure 3). First, spent oil is filtered, dehy- drated and treated with approxi- mately 1% metallic sodium to precipitate all impurities and de- composing agents; second, the reaction products formed are re- moved through the total evapora- tion of the lubricating oil by means

of a special product-preserving, thin-film, short-path distillation under a vacuum of less than one millibar; and third, the distillate obtained is separated into lub- ricating oil fractions of various viscosities by means of vacuum di~til lation.~

The highly viscous residue from the total distillation is combined and blended with low-boiling- point substances from the pre- treatment to produce a heating fuel with a 7% ash content. This high-Btu fuel can be burned in furnaces equipped with the proper air pollution control equipment. About 25% of the heating energy is used in the re-refining process; the rest is available for other uses. W Raffinerie Elf Feyzin is an oil refinery in France. Seizing a busi- ness opportunity, the refinery in-

vested 11 million francs to set u a

from reclaimed oil products soon covered operating costs as well as yielded a net profit of more than 5 million francs each year. Costs for disposing of an equivalent amount of waste oil would have been 2.5 million francs each year.

Evaporator/Clay

waste oil recovery operation. Sa lp es

W Midland Oil Refineries @ng- land) collects most grades of in- dustrial oils, including cutting and lubricating oils, from custom- ers in minimum quantities of eight 45-gallon drums or 500- gallon bulk tanker 10ads.l~

Midland uses a Phaudler Wiped Film Evaporator in place of the sulphuric acid treatment in the traditional acidMay re-refining

Oil 179

process. Waste oil is evaporated inside a stainless steel tube while steam flows through the outer heating jacket. The distillate con- denses and is collected while the residues are left to flow down the inner tube to the bottom of the evaporator, aided by a mechanical wiper to prevent fouling of the heating surface.

Similar units are available for solvent recovery by Raywell Pro- cess Plants (Stratford, East Lon- don, England).

Midland reclaims used oils at a cost of up to 50% less than that of new oil.

While hydrotreating technol- ogy, modern distillation and other innovations have drastically re- duced the sludge waste loads of the new re-refineries, many of those companies involved still rely on landfilling and incineration of wastes. H Berk Associates Inc. (Pottstown, Pennsylvania) has pushed material recovery from the re-refinery process one step further. They have pioneered the use of residue from oil re-refinery operations for roof coating appli- cations.

2. Oil Cleaning

The advantage of oil cleaning over conventional re-refining is that additives to not have to be replaced in order to bring the oil back to specification. I t is essen- tial, however, that used dieselube or industrial oils are not contami- nated with other waste oil stocks. Strict segregation is required. The process will not work on mixed oils, particularly if the dieselube is collected along with lubricating oil from gasoline engines. H Petroleum Recycling Services Ltd. Voronto, Ontario) uses a simple settling, filtration and vacuum evaporation system to re- turn used oil to new oil standards for about one dollar a gallon.12 Escalating oil prices and en; vironmental concerns have dou- bled their business each year since its inception in 1975.

recycler. Petroleum Recycling operates

three mobile units with hourly recycling capacities up to 600 gallons. These units can treat oil in company-heated settling tanks or be hooked directly into the machinery to recycle oil without any shutdown period necessary.

Petroleum Recycling’s services are in great demand by users of refrigeration oils. Since mid-1978, the oil fields mining the base stock have been rationing their dwindl- ing supplies at 50% of require- ments. Synthetic equivalents are available at $20 a gallon. The Toronto re-refiner is still recycling these oils at $1 a gallon.12

Six years ago, British Rail’s Scientific Services Branch began investigating ways of extending the lifetime and reducing the maintenance costs of the engine lubricating oil filters of their diesel electric 10comotives.~~ The crankcase of a locomotive holds 140 gallons of dieselube and if this is seriously contaminated with water, fuel oil or other material, it can cause expensive trouble.

The scientific staff began cen- trifuging used dieselube to remove 7 to 1O%of the contaminants of the dirty oil with the aim of extending filter life with no risk to the engines. A pilot plant was built at Inningham.

With the advent of steeply ris- ing oil costs, the researchers began looking for a chemical that when added to the used dieselube would

combine with or absorb pollutants and convert them into a form that the centrifuge would remove. Eventually a blend of coagulants was found that gave the desired results. This process has been carried out at Inningham ever since.

British Rail was able to test the recycled oil on their own engines. By careful inspection at each ser- vice or overhaul, it was impossible to find any evidence of increased wear between these and engines running on new dieselube. Nor was there any increase in oil consumption or in service failures.

British Rail dubbed their new process Dieselclene and are realiz- ing savings of up to 50% on lubricating oil costs.

The Dieselclene process is being marketed under an agreement with Sunclex Limited (White Horse Lane, Canterbury, Kent, England). Sunclex was set up seven years ago to provide an oil laundering service to industry. It handles hydraulic, cutting, quench and refrigeration oils.

Sunclex estimates Britain uses 100,000 tonnes of potentially re- cyclable dieselube each year. “Based on today’s market prices, Dieselclene will show savings of $10 million a year within the next 2 years”.14 Sunclex plans to oper- ate 12 plants in the United King- dom and Ireland to handle dieselube plus other industrial oils.

120 Oil

At Chem-Ecol (from left to right, top row), (1) The waste oil undergoes initial separation into oil (upper) and water (lower) fractions. (2) The oil is heated to decrease its viscosity, ensuring easy movement through the small- diameter piping. (3) Sludge collects in a rectangular trough from the initial cleaning phase. (bottom row) (4) A vacuum heater is employed to remove residual water in the oil. (5) The oil is then filtered under pressure through a series of perforated metal plates layered with diatomaceous earth. (6) After filtration of a batch of oil, the dirt-laden diatomaceous earth is removed and replaced with clean material. (7) The filter press is seen at the left.

1

Oil 727

3

7

722 Oil

Sunclex expects its customers to come from transport companies, bus companies, plant hire com- panies and any other concern operating a number of diesel en- gines. W Chem-Ecol Limited (Cobourg, Ontario) is a small, well- established, independent oil re- cycling operation specializing in custom recycling of industrial oils (hydraulic oils, transformer oils, etc. ). l5

The operation at Chem-Ecol is a good example of small business 'imagineering". Six years ago, when Chem-Ecol was being put together, the company president scavenged junk yards for compo- nents for his system. Material for the vacuum heater, for example, were bought for $2000 from a scrap dealer. The replacement cost today would top $50,000.

The plant is designed to process over 1 million gallons of waste oil per year and return them to the company of origin at one-half to two-thirds the cost of new oil. Chem-Ecol uses the dehydration clay method to separate oil from water and then processes and replenishes the oil with the re- quired additives.

3. On-Site Separation

W Monsanto Ltd. expects to save $10,000 a year, and the Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Operation Com- pany (ADMA-OPCO ), when operating at full capacity, will save $2 million a year. They both are separating valuable raffin- ates from their wastewaters using an oilhater separator developed by the Fram Company.16 .17

The separator, originally de- signed to treat oil-laden bilge water on ships, consists of a series of vertical and horizontal corru- gated plates. Oil droplets coalesce and rise to the underside of the oleophilic polypropylene plates. Eventually the oil passes through weep holes to the upper surface where it is collected by a skim- mer16 ' l7 (see Figure 4). The filter was adapted to industrial situa- tions where solid contents of the wastewaters could be as high as

Figure 4 The Fram OilIWater Separator The Fram oillwater separator uses a series of vertical and horizontal plates to force oil to the surface of the unit, where it is skimmed off. Source: "Effective Methods for Difficult Effluents," Processing, December 1980.

oil skimmer

water i3 solids k A intake -

Oil

=aPPe drain

entf ante - chamber I

I

1000 ppm and oil droplet size varies considerably. A computer simulation programme allows for a precise calibration of the plates to maximize recovery from a specific wastestream.

Monsanto's works at Newport (United Kingdom)use the filter to recover expensive phosphate ester plasticiser from a process wash effluent. The plasticiser content of the waste dropped from 240 to 30 ppm. The three Fram separators in Abu Dhabi, installed at a cost of $500,000, treat wet crude oil. The oil content of the water drops from 1000 to 50 ppm.

Waste oil skimmed from the hot strip mill of the Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation (ISCOR) Works (Vanderbijlpark, South Af- rica) had until recently defied the best attempts of both the local and the imported oil re-refining and dewatering technologies.ls

New developments by the firm in mechanical skimming and chemical processing have resulted in the recovery of waste oil with an insignificant solids content and a water content of less than 1% (down from a high of 60%). This has saved the country foreign exchange and the company thousands of rand. The present recovery of 40,000 litres of oil a

I month could save the firm over $100,000 a year.

At the same time, the removal of oil from the water discharged into the water circulation system de- creases the fouling of tanks and filters and increases the quantity of water available for re-use.

skimmer and baflle plate removes floating emulsion. An airlift tank displaces emulsion to the main storage tank above the scale pit with considerably reduced mixing, which facilitates the following separation process. A patented chemical is added, which coagu- lates solids which settle out and leave a clear oil to float up.

ISCOR is now recovering 95% of the oil in the original skimming and this high-viscosity raffinate is an excellent base for re-refining. W A West German company near Hanover receives up to 150 cubic metres of waste oil each week from a car manufacturing firm. The oil is steam-heated and introduced into an Alfa-Lava1 decanter cen- trifuge which removes dirt and metal clippings from the s l ~ r r y . ' ~ A trip through a high-speed, disc- type separator produces a water- free oil which is sold to a local power station. The centrifuging of oil slurries and sludges not only

An improved automatic floating ~

.__

Oil 123

offers saleable heating oil, but it reduces sludge disposal volumes five-fold, offering additional economic incentive.

The same equipment to clean the oil from the dross of new cars can reclaim the oil from soiled clothes. A firm that specializes in the loan and cleaning of industrial overalls and cloths recovers 5000 litres (1100 gal) a day which is used in their own boilers.

Oil contaminated washwater is chemically treated (sulphuric acid and ferric ch1oride)and air floated. The oil is skimmed off and sent through the decanter and disc- type centrifuges. The resulting oil is clean enough for boiler use. In effect, the dirt runs the washing machinelS (see Figure 5).

Budd Automotive (Kitchener, Ontario) produces between 10,000 and 15,000 gallons of wastewater each day.

The firm manufactures au- tomobile frames. The coiled steel used must be oiled prior to forming and then washed clean before welding. The water from the in- dustrial washers and die-washing equipment, along with cutting fluids, is heavy with oil, grease, and solids.20* 21

In 1976, the firm purchased an ultrafiltration system from Elec- trohome (London, Ontario) to re- cover the oil used in the press shop. Electrohome's system is custom designed for each application and as such can be scaled down for use by even small businesses. By re- using oils it had previously dis- carded and by avoiding a costly shutdown of the washers every two weeks, the pay-back period for the equipment is short. Elec- trohome estimates their system will pay for itself within a year.

Budd's wastewater is also treated with a system designed by King Technology Limited (Barrie, Ontario) to reduce BOD (Biologi- cal Oxygen Demand) by 90% and suspended solids by 99%. The process, combining electrostatic and electrolytic principles with chemical pH adjustments22 (see Figure 6), reduces Budd's sludge production appreciably.

Figure 5

The Alfa-Lava1 centrifuge system has been used to reclaim oil from the waste slurry of a car manufacturer and the washwater of an industrial

The Alfa-Lava1 Centrifuge System

apparel cleaning firm. Source: "Spinning Out the Value of Waste Oils," Process Engineering, May 1981

recycle startup a-

I centrifuge -

sludge for disposal strainer

Figure 6 Typical Continuous Flow Electro-Chemical Waste Treatment Process Budd Automotive has installed a King Technology treatment system to reduce both its BOD and TSS by more than 90%. Source: King Technology Ltd. (Barrie, Ontario), product literature, 1981.

9

sludge dewatering

124 Oil

4. Packaging

Another prime source of expen- sive waste in an oil marketing system is packaging.

Henderson’s Minit Dispensers Ltd. Winnipeg, Manitoba)are out to reduce excessive packaging in the marketing of quarts of motor oil. The company’s resident inven- tor has pioneered a syringe-like self-serve oil dispenser. By design- ing a re-usable dispenser to trans- fer oil directly into a car engine, the need for a metal quart can has been eliminated. The consumer saves 30 to 35%0f the cost of the oil

by doing away with excessive packaging.

DisDensing: units, which sell for under $200, jiave been purchased by Canadian Tire (Ontario) and two large Winnipeg dairies.

Conclusion

The recovery and re-use of waste oil is both technically and econom- ically feasible. Waste oils are of significantly high economic value to make conventional disposal practices such as landfilling a non-lucrative alternative. In- stead, prudent businesses are looking to oil recycling as the preferred option.

Associations Journals Contact the following associa-

tions for additional information on waste oil reclamation opportunities. These associations may identify a re-refiner or oil cleaning operation in the vicinity.

Canadian Petroleum Association, Suite 625, 404-6th. Ave. S.W., Calgary, Alberta. T2P OR9 (403) 269-6721

Independent Petroleum Association of Canada, 7th. Floor, 707-7th. Ave. S.W., Calgary, Alberta. T2P 022 (403) 290- 1530

Petroleum Recovery Institute, 3512 33rd. Street N.W., Calgary, Alberta. T2L 2A6 (403) 282-121 1

Petroleum Association for the Conservation of the Canadian Environment, Suite 400, 130 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario. K1 P 5G4 (613) 236-9122

Association of Petroleum Re -refiners, Suite 9 13, 2025 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 833-2694

National Petroleum Council, 1625 K Street N. W., Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 393-61 00

American Petroleum Refiners Association, 607 Ring Building, 1200 18th. Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 33 1-708 1

American Petroleum Institute, 2101 L Street N.W., Washington, D . C. 20037 (202) 457-7000

Independent Refiners Association of America, Suite 1000, 1775 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 466-2340

The following journals carry oc- casional articles on new develop- ments in waste oil recovery.

OILWEEK, Maclean-Hunter Ltd. (Calgary), 200-918-6th. Ave. S.W., Calgary, Alberta. T2P OV5

CANADIAN CHEMICAL PROCESSING, Southam Business Publications Ltd., 1450 Don Mills Rd., Don Mills, Ontario. M3B 2x7

CHEMICAL WEEK, McGraw-Hill Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. 10020

PROCESS ENGINEERING, Morgan-Grampian (Process Press) Ltd., 30 Caldetwood Street, Woolwich, London SE18 6QH, England.

PROCESSING, IPC Industrial Press Ltd., 33-40 Bowling Green Lane, London EClR ONE, England.

Oil 125

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION MANAGEMENT, Polcon Publishing Ltd., 268 High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1 UA, England.

RECOUP, Venture Publications Ltd., 223A McLeod Street, Ottawa, Ontario. K2P 028

References 1. The Way Things Work. New York:

Simon and Schuster. 1967.

2. Rudolph, Mark. “Road Oiling: An Example of Environmental Mis- management.’’ Alternatives (Friends of the Earth Canada), Spring 1980.

3. Fauser, F. and Ritz, W. “Recyclon - A New Method of Re-refining spent Lubrication Oils Without De- triment to the Environment.” Con- servation and Recycling 3(2), 1979.

4. “Environmental Management Prac- tice: Data Loggers Help to Locate Pollution Sources.” Environmental Pollution Management,MarchlApril 1980.

5. “Lube Oil Recycling Tries for a Comeback.” Chemical Week, Sep- tember 24, 1980.

6. Rudolph, Mark. System of Recov- ery and Reuse of Used Lubricating Oils: A State of the Art Study. Waste Management Advisory Board, Government of Ontario, August 1978.

7. Seager, Spencer L. and Stoker, H. Stephen. Chemistry: A Science for Today. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Co., 1973.

8. “Spotlight Falls on Recycling Plants.” Oilweek, June 9, 1980.

9. “Quebec to Recycle Used Industrial Oil.” Toronto Star, November 24, 1981.

11. Lush, Patricia. “Shell Builds $20- Million Oil Recycling Plant.” The Globe and Mail (Canada), July 3, 1981.

12. “Mobile Oil Recycler Growing Fast.” Recoup, May 15, 1980.

13. “Recycling Boosts Profits and Saves Resources.” Process En- gineering, May 1980.

14. “Recycling Used Diesel Lubricating Oil.” Environmental Pollution Man- agement, May/June 1980.

15. “Oil Recycling Neglected.” Probe Post, SeptemberIOctober 1978.

16. “Effective Methods for Difficult Effluents.” Processing, December 1980.

17. “Waste and Product Oils Recover Cash.” Processing, MaylJune 1980.

18. “Oil Recovery from Hot-Strip Mill Skimmings . ” Environmental Pollu- tion Management, SeptemberlOc- tober 1980.

19. “Spinning Out the Value of Waste Oils.” Process Engineering, May 1981.

20. Edur, Olev. “Electrochemical Pro- cess Clarifies Wastewater at Auto Parts Plant.” Materials Manage- ment and Distribution, March 1981.

21. “Recycles Cutting Oil Via Ultrafiltra- tion.” Canadian Chemical Pro- cessing, May 2, 1979.

22. King Technology Limited, Barrie, Ontario. (Product literature) 1981.

10. Campbell, Moni. “Oil’s Well That Ends Well.” Probe Post, Sep- tember 1981.