Another hare-brained idea: Polishing tank for free-or-cheap burnables

[ToddA1]

A longer settle time would do it. A concern that I read about was the acids.  Even a centrifuge can't get rid of them.

That being said, the guy that I bought my first diesel Rabbit from was a mechanic who had a pretty decent supply of waste oil. He and his buddies ran black diesel for years and only let the oil settle, then ran it through whole house filters. They said there were no issues, but obviously the ratios are key.

-Todd

[the caveman]

"Vegetable oils that haven't had the glycerin removed WILL gum up the engine over time.  Waste motor oil / transmission fluid / hydraulic fluid don't have that issue."

I realize some people have had this problem with using poor quality WVO, but between my last 3 cars, plus a couple of others I have kept track of, the total of all them being just less than
400,000 kms, that issue has not turned up. Still have to see any kind of direct failure of any component from using it. Of course this from using a 2 tank system, and very good WVO to start with; no lard or WVO that has any real amount of water.

[TimpanogosSlim]

Anyway, I guess i should have stated my objectives more clearly.

1: Minimal cash investment. No more than a couple-three hundred bucks, and less if i can do that.

2: Minimal manual labor. As automated as possible.

3: Stock should be transferred between containers as infrequently as possible to minimize mess.


The point that this will be more successful with a larger container is well taken. 55 gallon steel drums aren't hard to come by. But that raises the question of how easily i can acquire stock from a larger source.

Using the really large diesel filters from CAT sounds like a good idea to me. The conventional 10um followed by the 2um followed by a depth filter. "whole house" water filters often use a spool of cotton twine as filter media which is a depth filter just like the toilet paper filter i already got.

Settling is sensible but invites transfers from one tank to another which i want to avoid. It might be enough to have the pickup for the pump a few inches from the bottom of the tank.

[ORCoaster]

Ok, you provided clarification to what you want and how much time and money you care to throw at this task.  Some of us over engineer on purpose, so you must know what that will look like in the end.  Engineers already throw a factor of safety at whatever they do so to over engineer it might mean wasteful expense.

Some of my replies and others I think forgot you were dealing with a non veg oil substance.  That will change the game and expense.  I would go for two settling tanks minimum and if you can get a pump you can vary the rate on.  That way you can go slow and get the end of the pump closer to the dregs without sucking them off the top.  Ever siphon off oil from water.  Do it slow and you will never see a drop in the oil.  Do it too fast and it is all over in there.

Pouring the base oil into the drums can be done better with a hose of about a foot in length on the end of a filter.  Press the hose to the inside of the drum when pouring in any new oil and it tends to stir less of the settled material back up into solution.  Easy does it and time will be your friend.  Slower pour less settling time.  It just seems a long job but it really isn't. 

 

[ToddA1]

I'd also add a floating pick up.  Stay as far away from the bottom as you can.  Add a dirt leg with a valve to remove the junk.

-Todd

[ORCoaster]

Dirt leg?  That's what I wear. 

You might have to explain how this works to get the gunk out.  That small hole at the bottom of the tank only comes in handy if you think about using it later.  We had our 55 gallon drums set up on a rack so it was easy to have that valve on the side and a short pipe downwards to drain it later.  Sometimes we got a good amount of good oil off with it and just let it set and skimmed it a day or so later.

[ToddA1]

It's just a pipe with a valve at the lowest point of the tank. If everything settles to the bottom of the tank, open the valve and drain the nasty stuff every once in a while.

Same principle as draining a compressor tank, water heater, etc.

-Todd

[TylerDurden]

Here's a three stage settler I made for veggie. Plastic drums and pvc pipe.

Pour in five gallons and let it slowly drain into the system. As dirty oil enters at one end, clean comes out the other.

[ORCoaster]

Now you can't get any more low tech and cost efficient than that.  Simple, uses physical principles, no electricity and could be set up with a slow release of oil into system with a valve and it would be a set up and let it go arrangement.  Just what he was asking for.  Great going TylerD.

[745 turbogreasel]

If settling to remove stuff, a cone  shaped bottom is a huge benefit.  Not always cheap, but keep your eye out.
IMO IBC totes are the best thing going, they  barely cost more than drums,  are forkliftable, have native plumbing support, and are easier to see inside.

[TimpanogosSlim]

What you mean an inductor tank like one of these?

http://www.plastic-mart.com/product/6650/60-gallon-inductor-tank-42066

I don't see those come up used very often. Good idea for separating out the sludge i guess.

Plastic totes, sometimes in galvanized frames, seem to be cheap and plentiful. And big.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

The 3 stage settler or cold filtering setup, one must make sure the temperature of the oil being poured in is colder than what's presently in the tanks, otherwise it rises up to the top and into the final tank with no dwell time in the other tanks.

If you have a floating pickup, a dirty leg is not really needed unless you have a lot of crud that must be drained often. If you are talking a few cups of water in a year, just leave it sit undisturbed in the bottom, not gonna hurt anything. Having a drain at the bottom is a big liability if that fitting ever leaks or fails. If I have to drain the bottom, I'd design it with a pipe that goes in from the top to bottom and use vacuum to suck it out

[TimpanogosSlim]

Brewers use conical tanks with a valve on the bottom specifically to separate sludge (cake of dormant and dead yeast, what brewers in the german tradition call "trub"). With a quality full-flow ball valve i don't see what the liability would be, short of curious children working the valve, and i could just install a cap on the outlet and take off the handle.

Millions of homebrewers use cheap polyethylene conical tanks. The tank fitting itself is quite sturdy on these, most of them having been intended for storage of water-based fluids in an agricultural setting. They're designed for rough use. And it's pretty easy to get steel or brass threads to seal against HDPE.

Basically you're saying you don't trust the quality of the main selling point of the tank. The evidence appears to be that tank manufacturers thought of the issues you thought of too.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Brewers use conical tanks with a valve on the bottom specifically to separate sludge (cake of dormant and dead yeast, what brewers in the german tradition call "trub"). With a quality full-flow ball valve i don't see what the liability would be, short of curious children working the valve, and i could just install a cap on the outlet and take off the handle.

Millions of homebrewers use cheap polyethylene conical tanks. The tank fitting itself is quite sturdy on these, most of them having been intended for storage of water-based fluids in an agricultural setting. They're designed for rough use. And it's pretty easy to get steel or brass threads to seal against HDPE.

Basically you're saying you don't trust the quality of the main selling point of the tank. The evidence appears to be that tank manufacturers thought of the issues you thought of too.

Did I say anything about quality and whether I trust it or not? There are varying quality for anything you buy. You pay for what you get.

Which has less probability of a spill? A conical tank with a ball valve vs a plain old 55 gal polyethylene barrel? Conical tank can topple over if the stand gave way= you have a major spill. You can inadvertently open the ball valve and have a spill. The ball valve tank threads could leak and you have a spill. Not a big deal and not that messy if you are brewing beer which is easy to clean up. Not so with WVO or WMO.