I am in the "fast lube" business, and have searched the web for over 5
years to find a way to use the waste motor oil from my business as
fuel for generating my own electricity. I have not found any
"off-the-shelf" method for doing so. I have not even found any "under
development" techniques for doing this.

I have investigated the following topics "thoroughly", without
success:
         1. Diesel (or gasoline?) I/C engines modified to burn 100%
(filtered
            and pre-heated) used motor oil. (Not the 5% solutions
which ARE
            available).
         2. Turbines/jet engines running on used oil. (This can
possible be
            done now, but only at very high rates of consumption, and
at very
            high noise levels, and with equipment overhaul interval 
            requirements which are prohibitive.
         3. Steam turbine generators using a waste oil-fired boiler. I
have
            not found any units small or simple enough for
installation in a
            small business urban environment.

A successful solution would have to be able to meet the following
requirements:
            1. Unattended operation, except for start-up and periodic
               maintenance.
            2. Selling price of $30,000 or less.
            3. Noise/emissions levels compatible with urban
environments.
            4. Size/weight compatible for roof-top installation.

I am not asking you to design a product, just providing limiting
guides so you do not waste time on a $1,000,000 solution covering 1/2
an acre.

The BASIC TECHNOLOGY of converting the waste/used oil to energy is
what I have
not been able to find.

I have repeatedly used the following search terms, again with little
success:
co-generation   waste oil   used oil    crankcase oil    diesel fuel 
(burner)
heavy oil    babington burner    sterling engine    alternative
fuel(s)
 
I have a list of sites saved in my IE favorites, but I don't know how
to link/copy them into this question. I will be glad to do so if given
instructions. Most of these relate to waste oil burning space heaters
(which I am also interested in, but which are of much less tehnical
interest compared to the ability to generate electricity). These sites
have been investigated in the hopes of finding a basic burner which
could be incorporated into an energy generating system.

There was a (failed) company called "Black Gold" about 10 years ago
which tried to combine the burner from a commercial waste oil space
heater (I.E. Lanair, Shenandoah, etc.) with the exhaust turbine from a
big truck and having the turbine power an electric generator, but this
idea apparently failed.

I also heard of an artile in Scientific American from the 20's or 30's
regarding testing a tractor using a "vaporizing carb" (Fordson?)
burning 100% used motor oil. I have not seen the article.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

greetings snsh,


This is indeed a difficult search, as the number of articles on
' efficiency of fuel, as dependent on motor oil'
contaminates the results on 'motor oil as fuel'.
To avoid  such crosstalk, one has to use advanced
search techniques, such as

 ://www.google.com/search?q=oil+fuel+-efficient

This eliminates articles dealing with 'efficiency'.
Using such search techniques brings many articles
 on  Biodiesel which explain how a diesel engine can
run on pre-heated oil or mix.  I see that
you have investigated this option and
" not found any units small or simple enough for
installation in a  small business urban environment "
Your descriptions of what you have already found
were very useful.

References given in the  Biodiesel   articles may  bring
additional ideas. For example the Vegie-Van
   http://www.veggievan.org/
looks small enough, and the cited book describes
   " Three methods for running a ... Diesel engine ...   on
straight vegetable oil"
 http://www.joshuatickell.com/products/publications/index.php

However, your main problem is not finding a suitable engine.

The primary problem with burning  unprocessed  used motor oil
is environmental:
      www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/ usedoil/campgn/en-dumpbr.pdf

The used oil is classified as Hazardous Waste and has to be
disposed of in accordance with the EPA regulations (if you reside in
the U.S.).  These rules have a solid basis. Used oil contains  toxic
chemicals and heavy metals which can escape when burned in  an
improvised burner.
 Regulations are numerous and  look like this:
                   "April 12, 2002 - Notice - Information Collection
Request for Used Oil - Announces that EPA is soliciting comments on
Used Oil ICR (EPA ICR No. 1286, OMB Control No. 2050-0124, expires
6/30/02) before OMB submission...."

Some others are listed here:
  http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/usedoil/

 It is unlikely that the savings generated at a single oil-change site
 would justify the cost and risks associated with the use of
unprocessed used oil.   The only practical option is to have the used
oil  collected,  processed, and used or regenerated at a larger,
industrial-size plant, which can assure compliance with environmental
standards.

Here is some  research on motor oil regeneration from Kazachstan:
  ...Maximum processing rate for the raw material 70000 tons a year
    http://www.tech-db.ru/istc/db/pra.nsf/pran/5205
 It is a small unit, but the use of radioactive materials is likely to
conflict with U.S. regulations for urban environments.

    The answer your question, so far,  is negative:
While the energy content is there, the other
considerations make its extraction on a small scale uneconomical.

 However, the topic is an important  subject of current research.  The
US government conducts and supports research into alternative fuels.
Some grants and lots of data are available for small businesses.

Here is an example of a progress  report on the regeneration
of motor fuel.
http://www.utpb.edu/pubinfo/OilGasResearch.html

Many of the US information sources are listed here:
http://clearinghouse.ces.utexas.edu/fundoppslnks.htm

  Here is an example of a small business grant:
      http://www.rgs.uci.edu/research/fundopp/msg00879.html

The possibility of a partnership with a national laboratory could and
should be explored. By tapping into the DOE resources such as
 www.netl.doe.gov/publications/factsheets/ program/Prog011.pdf

 you will be informed about current research results and possibly
 find an opportunity for some cooperative  pilot  project.
 It is a good idea and important project. I wish you luck.

SEARCH TERMS
used .. motor oil, renegeration, purification, resuse
DOE , alt fuels, SBIR
and as explained above

hedgie

---

Request for Answer Clarification by johnnylawnmower-ga on 24 Aug 2003 14:31 PDT

I tried your search term "oil+fuel+-effecient" and got over 1,500,000
hits. After looking at several of the pages of links, the only
reference to a specific engine was one to the "veggie-van", which runs
on cooking oil, not used motor oil. Thus I removed "vegetable" from
the search term, and still got over 1,400,000 hits, none on the first
few pages of links referring to my specific question: used oil as fuel
for engines/turbines/boilers or any other which permit electricity
generation.

I am very familiar with EPA regs concerning used oil, and there are
exemptions in place, or extensible, which could probably cover this
application. First things first, however: a specific technology
addressing the question.

This is my first use of GA, and possibly my expectations are too high,
but I do not feel like there was one specific reference to "using used
motor oil as a fuel to generate electricity."

I would be interested ij any follow up to these comments.

best regards

---

Request for Answer Clarification by johnnylawnmower-ga on 24 Aug 2003 15:06 PDT

www.netl.doe.gov/publications/factsheets/ program/Prog011.pdf 
 
I tried the above link, and got a message that I did not have the
appropriate permission to use this info. Could you please explain, and
tell me how to get to this stuff?

best regards

---

Clarification of Answer by hedgie-ga on 25 Aug 2003 01:03 PDT

Request  for Clarification 2:

         There are two problems with the link
www.netl.doe.gov/publications/factsheets/
1) It got truncated when extra link was inserted during formatting
2) The server is now down, probably a temporary outage

The first problem can be corrected easily; the complete link is
http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/factsheets/program/Prog011.pdf
The second problem may require that you try several times in the next
few days.

  Request  for Clarification 1:

As I understand your request, there were two problems with results of
my  search
1) I did not know that you were familiar with EPA regulations
   and so I devoted large portion of the allotted time to that aspect.
2) The results of the search were negative.

As I indicated, both from my experience  and from my search I doubt
that  there  is  an existing technology which would be practical
on a small  scale.   I recommended that you tap ongoing federally
sponsored   research   and provided  links to appropriate
DOE office.  That apparently  was not what you hoped for.


I will withdraw the answer so that another resercher can provide
the answer if you want that.

 Alternatively, I can make another search to locate useful links.
 Now  I have a better picture of what you know and are after.
 You have better idea of what you can get for a given price.
  Therefore, second round may be more satisfactory.
  However, results are unlikely to pinpoint a ready-made
 solution - a burner you can buy  for 'less then $30k'.
 They may provide links to  the current research on the topic.

I would recommend that

1) you simplify the question to 'how to use motor oil as fuel'.
 How to generate electricity is a secondary, easier question, once you
 have an engine which runs on oil.

2) you do not focus on labels such as 'vegetable' vs 'motor' oil,
   but concentrate on what physical and chemical properties are
required  for oil to be usable as an engine fuel.

The book I mentioned
 http://www.joshuatickell.com/products/publications/index.php
seems to discuss those properties, properties of oils in general.
The origin of oil, labels vegetable,  soy , .. are not essential, the
properties of the oil or mix are.

You mentioned that 5% mix soultion is known and that you would
like a 100% solution. Is anything in between of interest?

  Please let me know whether you want me do a new search with
this emphasis or whether you want my answer withdrawn.

Best regards,
Hedgie

---

Clarification of Answer by hedgie-ga on 27 Aug 2003 01:31 PDT

I want to add  clarifaction to your:

 "First things first, however: 
a specific technology addressing the question"

   Technology which can achieve your goal is

'oil burning steam power plant' .  Steam engine has
less stringent fuel requirements then internal combustion engine.

Since you can burn motor oil (for heating) you can generate
steam. Therefore you can run a steam turbine which drives
electric generator. 

It is clearly possible in principle. the question is,
 is economical and practical? The environmental regulations
and size of plant are essential. Any kWh produced in a
smaller plant costs more. Produced in the city, even more.

Environment:
You will be 
"Used Oil Burner for Energy Recovery"
http://www.bceitalia.com/
and will have to register with state EPA ..

... This administrative regulation establishes standards for used oil 
burners who burn
 off-specification used oil for energy recovery. Section 1 ..".
 
www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/401/044/060.htm 

I assume you know all that for your state.



   You can buy an assembled automatized plant from Cusson
www.cusson.co.uk 
   Cost is not given. It depends on power produced and options.
   The power capacity, .75 kW to 20kW, for a small plant,
   is the main parameter you need to choose
   before you talk to manufacturers.
   It will depend on the amount of oil you will burn.

 In US, I did not find a supplier who has capabilities of Cusson,
 but looking at site and talking to  steam interest group may be helpful: 
 http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/goebel43.html 



Following   ABSTRACT OF THE MASTER'S THESIS may be useful:
 ... The processes investigated here are: 
small-scale steam power plant, biomass
 gasifying diesel, pyrolysis oil diesel, wood-fired gas turbine
 (PGI system ... 
www.sll.fi/mpe/di/abstract.html  

  Looking at links for energy recovery from biomass is useful
  for this reason:
 If they can make electricity from chicken manure or tobaco dust...
 using a steam power plant, it may be possible for you to use motor oil
 for the same purpose. Boiler is different, rest is quite similar.

Used equipment can be bought at:
http://energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byP/steam/byB/wholesale/supplier.shtml
and new at
http://www.epcenergy.com/spilling.html
and 
http://www.apctt.org/database/to5001.html

 

 In conclusion, burning motor oil to produce eletricity is possible
but has many problems, such as:

The operation of oil-fired power plants also impacts water, land use 
and solid waste disposal. Similar to the operations of other 
conventional steam technologies, oil-fired conventional steam plants 
require large amounts of water for steam and cooling, and can 
negatively impact local water resources and aquatic habitats. Sludges 
and oil residues that are not consumed during combustion became a solid 
waste burden and contain toxic and hazardous wastes. 

 http://www.powerscorecard.org/tech_detail.cfm?resource_id=8



It is much easier for researcher to find good answer if the
client is able and willing to interact in developing the query,
neverthless, I hope this second round is more specific and
satsifactory answer to your original query.


Hedgie

turning garbage into oil...might be relevant:
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/print_version/visualize0603.asp

I don't mean to be discouraging, but I think it is unlikely that an
internal combustion type engine could run efficiently on used motor
oil.  The reason I think so is that the motor oil was not designed as
a fuel, it has chemicals in it to make it do its job better as a
lubricant, and lower the viscosity increase when it is heated.   The
result when it is burned would be different for each different brand
of oil, each different grade.  A batch of used oil would probably have
some sythetic oil in it, oil addatives, not to mention the metal
framents.  Efficiency of an internal combustion motor relies on the
right temperature and fuel air mixture.  With such a colorful mixture
of hydrocarbons, it would be a real challange to find the right
mixture, and it would change from one batch to the next.   I think
that such an industrial engine would need very frequent de-carboning
of the carborator and frequent oil changes.  And I think you would
always have a problem with it burning a bit smokey.   My suggestions
on the general direction to take, either follow the boiler idea, or
try to find some way of some pre-refining of the oil.  You could, for
example heat it, take the lighter or heavier half, then you might have
something.  Seems like a lot of engineering, much more logical to
start with a large plant, then try to make a smaller one, but good
luck.  I like the idea of making something useful out of waste.

maybe you should search "hydrocarbons" used to generate electricity as
well.  Some potentional processes might work with "any old
hydrocarbon".  Consider the old water gas reaction  C+H20 -> CO+H2. 
note:Pure hydrogen burns in unmodified gasoline engine.  In fact,
hydrogen works better in a gasoline engine than gasoline does.  You
could remove the CO using a standard catolitic converter.  I think the
water gas reaction is very hot, probably too hot for your purposes,
but it is just one example.

What are your thoughts on using "old" technology?  The old 2.5 ton
army trucks had a multi-fuel diesel engine with an injection system
that would sense the viscosity and type of fuel being pumped and also
had some very efficient high capacity fuel filtering.  These trucks
are relatively inexpensive and I know for a fact that in addition to
running ok on diesel, gasoline, and keroscene, they work just fine on
used vegetable oil from the local fast-food store.  I know I once came
across a web site about a year ago that makes special pre-filters and
fuel-line pre-heaters for the expressed purpose of running these and
other diesel truck engines on other fuel types for extended times. 
Your comments, anyone?

STEVEP234:    Thanks for the input. I would indeed be interested in
the type of system you refer to. I would appreciate any references you
might have which I could pursue.

I managed to find a quote essentially as follows:
      mix 10% diesel fuel with waste crankcase oil, and a (type x)
engine will
      run all day. 
Unfortunately, the engine referenced was obsolete and no longer
produced. Such a mixture (90% "free" fuel) would make the economics
acceptable.

Again, I would welcome any reference you can provide.

Hi,

The engines I'm referring to are simply called multi-fuel diesel
engines.  They were manufactured by several different companies from
the late 40's or early 50's through the 70's and are still used today
(but are being phased out) by the Army.  These trucks can be found
frequently on ebay for $3,000 to $6,000 depending how restored the
truck is (search under "military truck").  They are not rare, and
finding one with only 25,000 miles on it seems to be common.  (A rust
bucket with low miles that runs well may go for slightly less than
$1000.  That might be all you need as it will definitely be powerful
enough to run a generator to power your house plus a neighbors.)  They
are also sold by about 3 different dealers in the US.  Boyce Equipment
Co. in Utah comes to mind.  They sell complete trucks and/or
disassemble them for parts (selling rebuilt axles from these trucks
for the monster truck market is a major part of their business)  I'm
sure their mechanics can tell you all you need to know about the
multi-fuel engines in these trucks.  Check their web site, it probably
lists the price of just the engine.

Many people over the years disable the multi-fuel injection part,
because they only intend on using diesel.  So if you buy such a truck
or engine, be certain the multi-fuel part is connected and in complete
working condition.  The repair of these systems is very well
documented, but diesel mechanics still charge up the butt to work on
these fuel injection systems, which is another reason people
frequently convert these engines to diesel injection only.
  
I seriously considered buying one of these trucks for conversion to an
all wheel drive camper/motor home.  This was partly based on a
conversation I had with a company that sells conversion kits that
allow any fuel injected diesel engine to run on used vegetable oil,
like found at fast food restaurants.  I remember him saying that these
trucks don't need his conversion kit, because, as is, they run just
fine on vegetable oil, and he only recommended his prefilter.  It
seems to me if they run ok on vegetable oil, they would probably run
ok on motor oil too.  In fact he went on to say that because the
injection system in these multi-fuel trucks is entirely mechanical,
and not electronic, they actually run more dependably as they are
constantly lubed by the oil going through them, as opposed to just
only using diesel fuel.

In actual use, he said to run the engine on diesel until the engine
warmed up, then switch to the oil.  And at shut-down time, to switch
back to diesel for five minutes to flush the oil out of the lines,
before shut down, otherwise it would be hard to start the next time.

I don't recall the name of the company selling the diesel conversion
kits and prefilters, but I know I found it with google searching
"diesel engine conversion" or something similar like "convert diesel
engine" or some wording like that.  They were also 50 to 100 pages
down, so it will take some looking, but they are there (or they were).

I hope this might give you a different direction to be looking.  Let
me know if it helps.
Thanks.
Steve