Waste Oil Recycling Pays

Waste oils, water containing oil, oil sludge from lagoons as well as spent emulsions pose disposal problems for industry. That waste oil can be much more than merely waste is demonstrated by Westfalia Separator, with economic and environmentally sound methods of treating waste oil at IFAT, the world’s most important exhibition for environment and disposal to be held from 5 to 9 May 2008 in Munich.

On the GEA joint stand, the Business Unit Industry will present innovative concepts and holistic solutions concerning the subject of waste oil recycling with the aid of centrifugal separation technology. Under the motto “How to make money from waste”, the company will also present a business model which offers the operators of waste oil installations financially attractive technology for treating the waste oil.

Waste oil – a valuable resource

Two recycling philosophies can be implemented with the large volumes of waste oil worldwide. One method of recycling envisages simple processing of the waste oils, whereby they are subsequently used for generating energy. Water and solids are efficiently separated in order to increase the fuel value. The processed oil can then be used as fuel, for instance in the cement industry or in power stations, and is used as a substitute for reducing the consumption of primary fuels.

The second recycling method involves the waste oil remaining in the resource cycle, thus permitting efficient use of resources in the long term. Similar to the solution involving the waste oil being used for generating energy, the oil in this
method is first treated by centrifugal means by separating water and solids so that the oil can subsequently be processed further. Various refining methods are available, depending on the quality of the waste oil. The waste oil can be processed to produce flux oil, heating oil or methanol, and it can also be processed to produce new base oil in the maximum treatment form.

In view of the fact that resources are becoming more scarce, responsible treatment of crude oil is not a luxury, but rather a necessity. Westfalia Separator develops and produces powerful decanters and separators for waste oil recycling.