Filtering Oil

Filtering Oil

A filtering system should be able to handle all qualities of oil. For example, sometimes, oil containers have contamination from rainwater and it will need to be removed to make the oil fuel quality. Some of the oil I pickup from Japanese Restaurants is so clean it requires very little cleaning. The Burger joint, on the other hand, has such dirty oil it quickly clogs my filters. The following is the system I use to make even the dirtiest oil Clean Grease!

The following photos show my existing system. I clean Waste Vegetable Oil with this system plus I can make batches of Biodiesel to start and stop my vehicles with.

The following descriptions are from right to left:

#1 This is the conical tank I use to mist wash WVO that is very dirty. This tank is also used as a processor tank to make batches of Biodiesel. I also use this tank to wash the fuel

#2 The second tank is a drying tank for Biodiesel

#3 The third tank is the oil filtering, settling and heating tank

#4 The teal FSI X-100 filter has a 1 micron filter element

#5 This is 36 gallon vacuum tank to dewater the oil

#6 This is my sucker tank which I use to pick oil from the restaurants

#7 The last barrel is the clean oil barrel for filtered and dewatered oil

————————————————————–—————————————

Operation

#1 If the oil is really dirty I first pump it through a 600 micron filter strainer into the conical tank and then mist wash it until the ph of the wash water is the same as my tap water. The misters are simple drip irrigation fittings. I use a mechanical timer to shut the water off automatically. I mist and then let the water settle overnight before I drain it of the bottom of the tank. Sometimes I have to mist the WVO 3 times to get it clean.

#2 The second tank is a wash tank for Biodiesel. Plans for this tank are available at Utah Biodiesel Supply. The lid was my addition and can be purchased at McMasters (Part # 4100T2).