Sludge/water and oil seperator for ibc tote

Mt_Man

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Natehimself36 had this idea he gets credit. His efficient design

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Maybe someone came up with this before. Not sure. Maybe someone can find this useful. Anyone else make something like this? Got pics? Simpler setup?

Made some mods, over complicated now lol
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I am in the process of moving everything so its a mess. But one improvement I wanted to do for a while. Does require a tote with a ball valve. Big open center.

This should help with keep settled out sludge out of the centrifuge. I do let it settle in this dirty tote for a few weeks before centrifuging usually. Mainly because I figure pumping oil in would disturb the settled sludge off the bottom. It is plumbed to fill from the top. It also allows water and sludge to settle out and be drained off. Previously, I was doing it before starting and periodically while processing. The tote's flat bottom doesn't help. Conical tank would be sweet.

Reused some parts from the original design. Buddy helped with the lathe and welding work. If we did it over again. We would have brazed it and not welded it. Cast bushing and steel pipe.
Don't know if it leaks yet. Did not get to try it before a work trip.
 

YJMike92

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It looks interesting. I might understand. Is that an oil pick up tube feeding the centrifuge?
 

Mt_Man

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Sorry, it is a little confusing. The tote is on its side so I could get the valve off to put it together without sludge leaking out. Yep for me it is to feed my centrifuge, but it could be used to settle and de-water oil/fuel then pull settled fuel off with a pump or gravity. It could take the place of a conical settling vessel.

I welded the bushing to the pipe so it would not leak and would go in the tote ball valve and then angled up so it would be above the sludge. The 2inch "T" and the pipe going down is to drain sludge/water off the bottom.

The tote will be rotated to the normal orientation when I finish setting it up. Does that help? I can sketch it out if that would be of use to anyone.

I was going to install a bulkhead fitting to the side and use that. This seemed easier and none permanent solution. That way when I need to swap out old totes I can plug and play later.
 

YJMike92

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That makes sense now. Just have to hold your head the right way. Actually a good design. I wish I had thought of it when I set mine up. It would have saved me welding an extra bung on my barrel.
 

Mt_Man

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Yep this is how I had it set up before I moved it. Back when I started. I used a clear nylon(or maybe vinyl) hose. Worked okay. Did not have a prob. Need to redue because different lengths. For the new config. I put a low spot and a drain on the centrifuge in.
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Mt_Man

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gave it good test yesterday. Looking back the .5inch down tube should have been 2 inch then reduced to the .5 inch ball valve at the end. This would hold more sludge and water. Meaning that each time I pull off the sludge I would get more out. Currently I have to walk away and let it collect in the down tube to get more out. But I don't have much sludge or water in there which is good. I will modify it the next time I have it empty or version 2.0 haha
 

Mt_Man

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Made some progress today. Got it all plumbed and wired. Now just got the let the thread dope to set overnight and I should be back to centrifuging to my heart's content lol:cheers:
 

Mt_Man

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So ran it till it stopped flowing out of the dirty tote. Looks like it is about 75 gal left in 5ge dirty tote. So next version will probably be shorter and target around 50gal remaining. Since that is only about 6.6 inches from the bottom. I want to upgrade to a 330gallong tote too.
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Booyah45828

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Looks good. I'd also suggest keeping the 2 inch out of the tee, then going to the half inch ball valve.

You mentioned something about a conical tank, but then it looks like your pickup is a foot off the bottom of the tote? Or would you still have a pickup off the bottom of the tank even if it had a conical bottom?
 

Mt_Man

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Yah I wanted to buy a conical tank because it would collect all the sludge and water nicely to one point. Then all that would need to be done is drain the bad stuff off before starting up. No real need for a elevated pickup. But totes are what I have and get for cheap so this is the route I went. That's all. I just got the stuff to make version 2.0 or is it 3.0...haha so I will get around to mocking it up in a few days. It is virtually the same but with 2ft of 2in pipe with a reducer and .5 in ball valve for the sludge drain. Should be pretty effective. With how OCD about draining off contaminates I am, a 4in elevated pickup would be sufficient. I think currently I am around 8-12 inches off the bottom.
Agreed the 2in down for a bit from the tee is good call:cheers:
 

Mt_Man

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Well got it put together finally, I think the 2inch price might be excessive :eek:
 

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