USed Oil

**gustavus** · 11-26-2011, 04:35 PM

Years a go I used to pick up waste oil then deliver to a refinery in North Vancouver, way back then I got a $1.00 a gallon sometimes less depending on moisture content.

On every load coming into the refinery they took a sample to run in the lab to check how much moisture content the oil had. This was all done during off loading the oil, with a check printed and signed alway waiting for me as I left the refinery.

Now I have my own waste oil fired hot water boiler, the hunt for used oil is on again, anyhow my point is there maybe some market for used oil. Plenty of shops and car washes using these waste oil heaters driving up demand for used oil.

What is even better you do not need a pump, just use the vacuum from your intake manifold to draw the liquids into the tank your using to haul; your oil. Only works from a gasoline engine, diesels to not make vacuum.

**PistoneScrapProcessing** · 11-26-2011, 06:58 PM

I have sold used oil before. Mostly oil out of large transformers diatect oil i believe or something like that. Mostly though its been hydraulic fluid or 90 weight well I don't know if its 90 weight but that's what I always heard it called. The stuff is thick like honey. I know I got over a buck usually per gallon. They always deducted for water once they figured out what the percentage of water to oil was when it was contaminated or tainted oil.

Never had a problem with a 55 gallon drum collapsing they always would open up both ports on the top of barrel before sticking the tube from the vac truck in it. It would suck up like 30 gallons a minute of regular oil or something crazy like that. I remember when we put it in barrels and lined them up in a row it didn't take long to suck them all dry.

**gustavus** · 11-27-2011, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by PistoneScrapProcessing

I have sold used oil before. Mostly oil out of large transformers diatect oil i believe or something like that. Mostly though its been hydraulic fluid or 90 weight well I don't know if its 90 weight but that's what I always heard it called. The stuff is thick like honey. I know I got over a buck usually per gallon. They always deducted for water once they figured out what the percentage of water to oil was when it was contaminated or tainted oil.

Never had a problem with a 55 gallon drum collapsing they always would open up both ports on the top of barrel before sticking the tube from the vac truck in it. It would suck up like 30 gallons a minute of regular oil or something crazy like that. I remember when we put it in barrels and lined them up in a row it didn't take long to suck them all dry.

Easy money, whenever an old apartment building, hotel or large industrial building was slated to come under the wrecking ball, most of these old building had boilers fired from bunker oil. The tanks sometimes had 5,000 gallons left inside to recover.

Some of the old buildings had a retrofit of the same boiler using bunker fuel over to natural gas, the tanks left untouched still half full or more. The tanks held when full 10,000 gallons

Buck a gallon that was over 10 years back these days probably get double that.

I heat my laboratory and a small reactor with a waste oil hot water boiler, next year I'm going to pour a new slab in the shop with hot water heat in the floor then plumb the house into that boiler. So far I've been lucky and get all the waste oil I need for free.

I get a lot of waste vegetable oil, next on my to do list is bio diesel, I've been dragging my feet on this project waiting for a patent to be released. A student discovered a catalyst that simplifies the process of making bio and utilizes almost 100% of the feedstock.

**Mechanic688** · 11-26-2011, 07:15 PM

Only works from a gasoline engine, diesels to not make vacuum.

That's why diesels have vacuum booster pumps running off the engine, or at least my 83 Chevy dually did.

**Mechanic688** · 11-26-2011, 09:48 PM

The gauge can tell you plenty about the health of your engine.

My stepdad used to use a vacuum gauge to set the timing and adjust the carb on his Chevy truck. When he got done you would just hardly turn the key and it would be running.

**KzScrapper** · 11-27-2011, 05:26 AM

Vacuum gauges also used when synching multiple carbs on bikes.

**gustavus** · 12-06-2011, 03:00 PM

I still collect used oil, mostly from restaurants to use in my waste oil fired hot water boiler. the boiler resides in a small workshop attached the the rear of my garage.

Pure comfort pulling up a chair in front of that old cast iron radiator with a sore aching back listening to some old Pink Floyd CD's while pulling them rheostats and relays apart. I'm using an old propane tank for my expansion tank on the boiler. Well it's not really an expansion tank just catches the over flow when the anti freeze expands by 30% when heated.

**injunjoe** · 12-06-2011, 04:53 PM

Had to chime in on the Pink Floyd! Some great head music!

**Dumpster-Dee** · 12-06-2011, 05:15 PM

Gus, I love reading your stuff even though I don't comprehend a quarter of it. BTW, is that moonshine in the jug you have there....you gonna tell us how you make that too !! lol

**gustavus** · 12-06-2011, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by Dumpster-Dee

Gus, I love reading your stuff even though I don't comprehend a quarter of it. BTW, is that moonshine in the jug you have there....you gonna tell us how you make that too !! lol

The bottle has nitric acid in it, A friend of mine had a still called a reflux column it produced 96% pure alcohol first run.

A reflux works so well because alcohol evaporates at 176f while water turns to steam at 210, the marbles in the column are pre heated by the alcohol coming off first. But the marbles in the column have to reach 176f before anything will pass into the condenser.

Any water coming into the column finds the marbles cold even at 176 and re-condenses back, hence the name reflux.

You can always pick out the shiners in the super market, they're the older guys hanging around the sugar isle with the large push carts. My opening line into a conversation is to ask what strain of yeast are they using.

Champagne yeast was my favorite, it has a much higher tolerance for alcohol and will produce much more than other yeasts which die off as the alcohol content rises in the mash.