Waste Oil Re-Use as a Fuel
Many machines need oil to operate including vehicles, airplanes and lawnmowers. The problem with oil is that once a machine has used it, the substance must be disposed of in a way that’s safe for the environment. According to the EPA, people and companies discard two hundred million gallons of spent oil every year. The agency also reported that people are recycling it and using reconditioned oil for things like producing electricity. In fact, just two gallons of it can provide 24 hours of power for an average home, making it a valuable commodity.
A Controversial Topic
The history of oil includes plenty of controversies. These range from the danger that oil poses to the environment to the product being scarce. During the 1970s, the petroleum crisis inspired Ben Smoker, an inventor from Pennsylvania, to determine that fuel-to-fuel recycling was a possibility.
Recycling Motor Oil
Fuel-to-fuel recycling can be done with motor oil. Here are a few tips for individuals who change their own oil. It’s important to catch every trickle of the vehicle’s used oil. Doing so prevents the oil from winding up in a water supply source or soil. When draining the oil, those who change their own oil should collect it in a metal or clean plastic container. They should make sure that the container has a tight lid, and if they’re using plastic, then it must be made from a suitable one like polyethylene. Everyday plastic, such as the kind used for milk, isn’t safe for oil, but people can reuse the original oil container.
During the collection process, it’s important to avoid combining the oil with other substances like automotive fluids, such as antifreeze or differential oil, or household chemicals. People may have paint or solvents stored in their garage, making it possible for the oil to come into contact with a foreign substance.
Once the used oil is contained, it can be taken to a recycling facility. Those who are recycling their motor oil should check online for companies that handle it or call them first to make sure that they can take used oil containers. It’s also a good idea to check a facility’s hours of operation.
About Gasoline Reclamation
There are several steps to gasoline reclamation. Companies that provide this service pick up used gasoline and oil from car dealerships, auto service centers, fast lube companies and car manufacturers. Oil refining companies offer this service as a regular pickup or by emergency. This means that oil never needs to be dumped illegally.
When oil comes from different sources, it may include chemical pollutants or physical contaminants that make it unfit for gasoline re-use. Reclaiming companies complete constant testing to ensure that oil refined for reuse is of the highest quality. The result of this is that people have access to a quality product that was developed through environmentally proper recycling techniques.
Water often makes its way into the area where used oil is stored, and it’s the first thing that oil recycling companies eliminate. To remove it, companies take advantage of evaporation. The company collects the water and then treats it to make it safe chemically and biologically. The company will then release it.
Along with removing water, reclaiming companies also remove lightweight chemicals that can be reused as well. Once the water is eliminated from the oil, the used oil is sent to elevated towers. There, the lightweight fuels and glycol are divided from the oil and collected. Glycol is a byproduct that the company will reprocess for use as a complete automotive product.
The heavier fuels are separated so that they can be used in industrial equipment. After the heavier fuel is removed, the company will heat it and use vacuum processing to pull out the middleweight oils. This type of fuel is suitable for industrial heating.
When a fuel-to-fuel recycling company reconditions heavy materials, the recycled oil can be used in several different ways. The separation process is complex, but the heaviest contaminants are taken out. The company will then vaporize the used oil using a power vacuum and condensation.
Jet Fuel Reclamation
Almost 10 years ago, Virgin Atlantic Airways reported that it was embracing jet fuel re-use. The fuel that the airline used was developed from steel mill waste gasses. Before using it on a commercial flight, Virgin completed a successful test flight in 2016. For jet fuel re-use, the company collected steel mill carbon-rich waste gasses. It then added bacteria, which caused the carbon to ferment and transition into an ethanol. The lab developed a catalyst to remove the oxygen from the ethanol so that technicians could take the leftover hydrocarbon molecules and create chains that are big enough for jet fuel. The jet fuel reclamation process doesn’t develop the compounds that generate soot when jets burn it.
Regulators approved the final product as aviation turbine fuel. Airlines are permitted to use a 50% combined ratio with regular petroleum-based jet fuel. The great thing about jet fuel re-use is that it burns cleaner and more efficiently than petroleum-based jet fuel. When airlines use it, they decrease the amount of carbon dioxide that their jets are releasing into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Waste Oil Re-Use Benefits
Waste oil re-use comes with many benefits. People can use it to fuel their boilers or their oil heaters. This type of oil doesn’t expire. In fact, it can be used numerous times. The only downside is that it does get dirty, which means that people and companies must have it recycled for reuse, but it is a reliable energy source.
With gasoline re-use, energy consumption is limited. More energy is used to create raw materials than what’s used to recycle them. Decreasing the amount of energy that’s being used and reusing this form of energy is cost efficient as well. When people reuse waste oil, they decrease the need to produce fresh oil from intact habitats. Conserving and reusing oil protects the environment from additional damage. Waste oil re-use also keeps it from being sent to a landfill. When people embrace used oil recycling, it can’t be sent to a landfill, preventing the pollution of any waterways or terrain.
Gasoline re-use is a great fuel source for generating heat since it is highly efficient. Waste oil is helping the unemployment rate because the recycling process is creating jobs. Today, the demand for used oil recycling is growing and people are hiring service providers who process it. This means that people are using their service frequently. Gasoline reclamation is paving the way for technological advancements because people are coming up with new and better ways to use it.
Reusing Waste Oil
Used oil recycling saves money without causing damage to the environment. It decreases the need for natural gas as well as fuel oil. Today, people can reuse or recycle oil and gasoline. Jet fuel reclamation is a way for the airlines to get involved. When everyone works together for the good of the planet, the environment responds enthusiastically.