Waste Oil Re-refining

Compared with traditional membrane filtration applications, de-ashing/demineralization of used oils represents one of the more challenging industrial fluid/particle separations due to the presence of micron and submicron size particles in viscous hydrocarbon fluids. De-ashing/demineralization involves the removal of fine wear metals, soot generated from combustion, and by-products from additive degradation. Since conventional filters are not effective in treating this type of fluid, traditional re-refining technologies rely on distillation to accomplish the deashing objective as a first processing step. The major disadvantages of distillation, however, include (i) high energy costs since the lubricant must be vaporized, (ii) unfavorable economy of scale, and (iii) significant quality degradation in terms of odor and color. As a result of the economy of sale requirement, waste oil generated at dispersed locations around the country must be trucked to a centralized facility for processing. However, the transportation cost alone is a significant cost factor. To overcome this problem, small-scale decentralized facilities would be preferred and would take better advantage of the current used oil collection infrastructure.

The oil re-refining process developed by Media and Process Technology Inc consists of two steps, a de-ashing step to remove particulate matter using our ceramic membranes and a decolorization step as a polishing step to remove color bodies. Table below presents a typical metals profile for used passenger car motor oils before and after ceramic membrane filtration. Typically, over 80 to 85% of the ash is removed.

Presently, we maintain used oil processing demonstration facility employing our ceramic membranes for deashing/demetalization and proprietary process for decolorization.

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