Booyah45828
Full Access Member
I've got some general questions for you guys running wmo about filtering wmo.
First off, I'm not really interested in using it as a fuel source for a road vehicle.
What I do have, is a waste oil furnace in the shop. Multiple times a year the fuel nozzle plugs up and we have to remove the burner assembly to clean the nozzle and preheater block. It's a dirty procedure and a pain in the a**. And being cold for a day or two isn't real enjoyable. So I'm looking to 'fuge the oil we burn, because I feel burning a cleaner fuel would result in me having to clean the burner less.
The furnace burns about a gallon an hour while running. It's fed by it's own 215 "primary" gallon tank, and we have a separate "secondary" 1500 gallon tank that all the raw wmo is put in to settle before being pumped to the primary tank. The old furnace was 200k btu, with a 100 micron screen. The new one is 300k btu, with a 144 micron screen and a 25 micron filter. I feel the new setup is better then the old one, but I read that the carbon/ash in the wmo is less then 1 micron, and it's that stuff that is/was plugging up the old burner.
So, here's my plan. I'm thinking about running a centrifuge on the pump between the two tanks. That way the primary tank would be clean oil, and the secondary tank would be the dirty oil. Since we bought the new furnace, we still have the pumping/filtering setup from the old one yet. So I'm thinking of running the old 100 micron screen/filter assembly, then the old pump, and then through the centrifuge and then the clean oil then into the primary tank. If I can find a heater, I think that would be a wise addition too before the centrifuge. I'm also thinking of running this whole setup through a spa timer of some sort. That way I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn it off and overfilling the primary tank.
Would a one pass system work? and would it be clean enough? How many gallon/hr do you typically run? How do you guys know when your centrifuge is full? How long/gallons do you run until you clean it?
I understand some of that depends on initial quality of the oil, but I'd like to think ours is good. It has minimal water, it's screened going into the oil caddy, and into the secondary tank. If I run a fuge at lets say 2 gallons/hr with one pass, would that be better then 10 gallon/hr in a recirculation mode?
I'd also like to do this on the cheap. I had my eye on the ultimate force and heater from pabiodiesel, but the price tag and year plus lead time turned me off. Are there cheaper options available? Has anybody built their own setup? I feel that I'm pretty capable of building my own setup, and the machining capabilities that I don't have in the shop is available through a friend across the street.
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?
First off, I'm not really interested in using it as a fuel source for a road vehicle.
What I do have, is a waste oil furnace in the shop. Multiple times a year the fuel nozzle plugs up and we have to remove the burner assembly to clean the nozzle and preheater block. It's a dirty procedure and a pain in the a**. And being cold for a day or two isn't real enjoyable. So I'm looking to 'fuge the oil we burn, because I feel burning a cleaner fuel would result in me having to clean the burner less.
The furnace burns about a gallon an hour while running. It's fed by it's own 215 "primary" gallon tank, and we have a separate "secondary" 1500 gallon tank that all the raw wmo is put in to settle before being pumped to the primary tank. The old furnace was 200k btu, with a 100 micron screen. The new one is 300k btu, with a 144 micron screen and a 25 micron filter. I feel the new setup is better then the old one, but I read that the carbon/ash in the wmo is less then 1 micron, and it's that stuff that is/was plugging up the old burner.
So, here's my plan. I'm thinking about running a centrifuge on the pump between the two tanks. That way the primary tank would be clean oil, and the secondary tank would be the dirty oil. Since we bought the new furnace, we still have the pumping/filtering setup from the old one yet. So I'm thinking of running the old 100 micron screen/filter assembly, then the old pump, and then through the centrifuge and then the clean oil then into the primary tank. If I can find a heater, I think that would be a wise addition too before the centrifuge. I'm also thinking of running this whole setup through a spa timer of some sort. That way I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn it off and overfilling the primary tank.
Would a one pass system work? and would it be clean enough? How many gallon/hr do you typically run? How do you guys know when your centrifuge is full? How long/gallons do you run until you clean it?
I understand some of that depends on initial quality of the oil, but I'd like to think ours is good. It has minimal water, it's screened going into the oil caddy, and into the secondary tank. If I run a fuge at lets say 2 gallons/hr with one pass, would that be better then 10 gallon/hr in a recirculation mode?
I'd also like to do this on the cheap. I had my eye on the ultimate force and heater from pabiodiesel, but the price tag and year plus lead time turned me off. Are there cheaper options available? Has anybody built their own setup? I feel that I'm pretty capable of building my own setup, and the machining capabilities that I don't have in the shop is available through a friend across the street.
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?