My first filtration rig... wmo processor

[velacreations]

what size is that hose going from the pump to the fuge? and what type of hose is it? In the information from PABioDiesel, they say to use hydraulic hose and fittings, but I like your setup better (it's hard for me to find supplies locally)

Do you not have a pressure safety bypass?

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

I'm using the ball valve to adjust pressure... the one T'd into the fuge supply.

The feed hose is transmission cooler hose... has a 300+psi working pressure. For peace of mind, I plan to change it out for a one piece -6an braided line soon.

Sent from a pay phone... using Tapatalk v2.0

 

[velacreations]

I'm using the ball valve to adjust pressure... the one T'd into the fuge supply.

yeah, I understand that, but my diagram/ instructions from PA say to put in a safety pressure release as well, I guess in case that one gets clogged.

The feed hose is transmission cooler hose... has a 300+psi working pressure. For peace of mind, I plan to change it out for a one piece -6an braided line soon.

is it 1/4" or 3/8"

Will your braided line have end fittings or will it be the barbs like you have now?

It looks good, my setup is planned very similar to what you have.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

I think that's because you can buy the fuge by itself... so it wouldn't come with a safety valve.

The hose is 5/16 I think... and I plan to do end fittings on it instead of the barbs. Less to worry about.

Sent from a pay phone... using Tapatalk v2.0

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Tomorrow will be the first test. After 10hrs on the 'fuge... (cleaning every 1 - 1.5 hrs), I was only getting a thin black film in the rotor which wiped out very easily with just a paper towel. The oil is now an amber shade and is translucent when pouring... almost looks like a dark beer. Its very thin and very smooth... MUCH improved over just filtering.

If I get time, I will do a comparison with pictures of my filtered oil vs. the centrifuged oil.

I went on and dumped 7 gallons of the new blend in the tank on the tahoe.. starting small as my last experience left me with horrible hazing, etc.. and with temps in the teens over the next few days.. I don't want to chance anything. In a 26 gallon tank, that is roughly 27%

I'm not sure if I should push going past that in the main tank or not.. my drive to work is only a mile so the engine wont have time to get up to operating temp. Should I stick with a lighter mix in this tank?

As of right now, the first 7 gallons just kept $28 in my pocket... and there is a lot more where that came from.

I also tossed some ideas around with my neighbor tonight and I think I'm going to build a small shed (8x16) and move my entire setup into that for a safety precaution. My garage is fairly close to my house and if something would go wrong, I would much rather lose a small shed and a few hundred dollars in wmo equipment then lose my shop, house, and a vehicle or two. Also doing this, I will be able to insulate the shed extremely well and keep it warm through the winter. My current work space in the room off my garage that I'm doing this in is 8 x 15 so it should work out nicely with nothing but fuel related stuff in it.

We'll see...

Anyways.. any input on the short drives and heavier blends of wmo?

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

So far so good... very little haze after idling for a good bit.. power improved and the noise is down a bit. I may up the mix a bit in a week or two... we'll see how it does with short drives.

-Chris

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Half a tank down and things seem to be going good. I am noticing a very light grey haze at idle... hardly noticeable unless its night time and lights are hitting it. I think I'm just going to stick to 5-7 gallons per fill up on the main tank as it seems to do just fine on that... I'll run the tank down til' the low fuel light kicks on before refilling as to not get too rich of a mix.

The 2nd fuel tank is in the very near future. I've got everything sitting in my shopping cart at summitracing, just need to get some fundage.

Also decided to change everything up yet again... since this is now a team effort and I now have the tank space to store nearly 1000 gallons, I decided to build a small building on the back side of my property away from my house and garage, just for fuel production. The building will be 8' x 8' with an 8' ceiling. It will be very well insulated and heated in the cold months. I will have just enough space inside for my 4 drum setup and a decent sized work bench along with some storage space for containers and mixing tools, etc.. I also am planning on a 4' lean to off the back which will keep 2 of the 275 gallon totes under cover. Will still need to find a spot to stash the 3rd tank but I'll figure that out later.

I picked up the lumber tonight to build the platform the shed will sit on... hoping to get that done over the long weekend.. possibly more if I can find some cheap 2x4s to frame the walls with.

Doing it this way will basically eliminate toting around 5 gallon fuel cans as we will be able to pull right up to the building and fill up. Also, my current setup is a safety concern of mine as if something goes wrong and a fire breaks out, it would take my shop and home with it... I figure its well worth the few hundred dollars to build a small building away from everything. I also have to work on my collection rig as I want to be able to use the pump to empty the drum on it as well as fill it. A few more valves and some more plumbing... should be pretty easy to do.

Anyways... more to come in the near future.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Hey guys...

A bit of progress on the shack... the base is done, 3/4" floor is down and 3 walls are up. I'm hoping to have it done done in the next couple of weeks but the cold has hindered progress.

Its 15 outside at the moment so work is on hold.

-Chris

 

[idiabuse]

Fuges are a waste of time in my opinion, yes they filter better but you really don't see them used at all in industrial lubrication simply because the type of filtration used to clean up a batch of dirty oil.
The level of cleansing needed to clean up lets say hydraulic oil has a requirement that is usually cleaner than a brand new drum of lubricant from the manufacture, many companies clean new lubricant upon delivery because it cost more to use the dirty oil than it is to clean it.
A simple filter cart is used for this task. I use one. a 10 micron on the suction side and a 40 on the outlet.
I can clean up my waste oil in 45 minutes, 55 gallons worth.
Pour it in and drive.

You must be registered for see images attach

Makes collection and process much easier than most other methods. Filters can last for hundreds if not thousands of gallons of waste oil depending on how you collect and store WMO

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

I know for a fact that my centrifuge isn't a waste of time....

Previously, I would settle my 25 gallon batch for a week or so (20 gallons of oil, 5 gallons rug), then gravity feed it through 20, 10, and 1 micron filters... then into a clean barrel for use. Simple and effective or so I thought.

We bought the centrifuge and on the first pass (which wasn't even a full pass), we found METAL in the canister of the 'fuge... brass filings from ATF, and glitter like metallic residue... all of which didn't separate out after a week of settling and passed right through my 2 micron filter assembly.

Metal being fed through my IP and injectors... no thanks.

With that being said, Ive got less then $500 in my entire system... all the barrels, filtration, and centrifuge... IIRC, I'm in for quite a bit less then one of those carts you speak of.

Have you ever had a chance to centrifuge any of your filtered oil just to see what is getting past the elements? I was very surprised when I did... I expected sludge.. sure... but not metal and abrasive material.

As far as time goes... I always have fuel on hand ready to go... I don't wait until I need it.. and as far as running the 'fuge goes... I turn on the pump and let it go... clean it out every few hours. Doesn't take any effort and it uses the same amount of power as a typical fan does (since I use a fan motor to drive my pump)

I'll never go back to basic filtration. A centrifuge is the best investment we've made thus far when it comes to wmo.

This is just based on my experience with it... I really like our setup now... very simple... effective.. and cheap to operate/maintain.

-Chris

 

[idiabuse]

A fuge will pull out sediment wich is great but you notice it don't make your WMO turn clear?
10 Microns is pretty dang small we talking red blood cells and talcum powder sizes.
Your more worried about the size of particles in your fuel but you engine oil filter only
filters down to 20 microns at best, so what are you really doing?
you will have clean fuel but a worn out engine?

Not even the pump fuel is as clean as 10 microns, the UPS terminal I work by only has
30 micron filters at the fuel tank.

I use a 2 micron filter at the engine on my truck so I have no worries and I have over 60,000
miles on my setup.

Not trying to say your setup is wrong just saying I can process and use 100 gallons in one day
if necessary.
When it comes to collecting, processing and storage less is more...

 

[idiabuse]

I know for a fact that my centrifuge isn't a waste of time....

Previously, I would settle my 25 gallon batch for a week or so (20 gallons of oil, 5 gallons rug), then gravity feed it through 20, 10, and 1 micron filters... then into a clean barrel for use. Simple and effective or so I thought.

We bought the centrifuge and on the first pass (which wasn't even a full pass), we found METAL in the canister of the 'fuge... brass filings from ATF, and glitter like metallic residue... all of which didn't separate out after a week of settling and passed right through my 2 micron filter assembly.

Metal being fed through my IP and injectors... no thanks.

With that being said, Ive got less then $500 in my entire system... all the barrels, filtration, and centrifuge... IIRC, I'm in for quite a bit less then one of those carts you speak of.

Have you ever had a chance to centrifuge any of your filtered oil just to see what is getting past the elements? I was very surprised when I did... I expected sludge.. sure... but not metal and abrasive material.

As far as time goes... I always have fuel on hand ready to go... I don't wait until I need it.. and as far as running the 'fuge goes... I turn on the pump and let it go... clean it out every few hours. Doesn't take any effort and it uses the same amount of power as a typical fan does (since I use a fan motor to drive my pump)

I'll never go back to basic filtration. A centrifuge is the best investment we've made thus far when it comes to wmo.

This is just based on my experience with it... I really like our setup now... very simple... effective.. and cheap to operate/maintain.

-Chris

I am pretty sure your elements where nothing like what I have.

 

[Brad S.]

I'm glad we can agree to disagree.
Many different ways to clean oil.
The only way to really know how clean something might be is a lab or try to look at samples under a microscope.
Like to try the microscope at the local school, see if I could post a pic on here to show results.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

a 2 micron absolute element is going to filter down finer then 10 micron... there is no argument there. If the filter is bigger or what have you with more media... it will just last longer... doesn't mean its doing a better job.

How much coin do you have in that cart?

A filter is never going to clean better then a centrifuge... period.

-Chris

 

[idiabuse]

a 2 micron absolute element is going to filter down finer then 10 micron... there is no argument there. If the filter is bigger or what have you with more media... it will just last longer... doesn't mean its doing a better job.

How much coin do you have in that cart?

A filter is never going to clean better then a centrifuge... period.

-Chris

Well lets think this way, Let me collect 100 gallons with my cart, then you fuge the oil from my process.
If we did not live in different states this test could happen.
I am not to worried about contaminate smaller than 5 microns or smaller because it wont really leave a wear scar that will hurt my feelings.
Yes I would rather have cleaner fuel but I wont wait that long to process fuel when I need it right away.
I actually still use an up flow process system for real nasty waste oil I end up having to collect.
Fuging that stuff would not be worth your time because of the constant cleaning.
With todays nano fiber technology the Bypass filtration systems clean as good as any fuge and clean
more volume of oil between service than a fuge, only advantage of the fuge, "which is small" no replacement cost.

the only fuge I see worth buying is $1500 a fairly large one. still need a pump also.
I have just under $1500 with mine including 12 filters that are $50 retail each.
Love the fact I can collect oil with this and plumb into the inlet an additional filter
to keep the main filters from clogging.

There is pros and cons for both setups. Both keep us from being a complete and total SLAVE to the MAN so
I am glad I "feel" like I am breathing above the water.