Waste Oil Recovery

Different grades and varieties of oil are utilized every day in a variety of working conditions. They are used for various purposes like lubrication, heat discharge and hydraulic fluids in vehicles and factories, and for frying and cooking purposes in restaurants and hotels all around the world. The problem arises once their primary purpose is fulfilled. After being used once, they become unusable due to the presence of impurities in them, and thus are discarded as waste oils.

Difference Between Waste Oil and Used Oil

• While oil spills and accidental mixture of petroleum with other impurities certainly makes the oil unusable, it does not make it fall under the category of "waste oils." Instead, they are categorized as "used oils" and have a different set of laws and procedures concerned with recovery. Waste oils are those that include hazardous wastes like used hydraulic oil, brake oil, gear box oil and motor oil, as well as certain grades of fuel oil that need to be disposed off safely according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Waste Oil Disposal

• The EPA has examined the negative impact most of these oils leave on nature in general, and on the health of humans in particular. Therefore, it has outlined certain procedures for the efficient storage and disposal of waste oils. However, these methods alone cannot ascertain the safety of the environment, as waste oils or even used vegetable oils cannot be processed and consumed by nature in the same way as other biodegradable products.

Waste Oil Treatment

• In the past, waste oils, specifically synthetic oils, were used as an alternate fuel after serving their primary purpose. However, with tougher emission standards, the use of waste oil as fuel has become minimal. This is where treatment of waste oil gains significance. By treating waste oils, a certain degree of purity can be achieved that may be useful for other lower-grade procedures.

Waste Oil Treatment in Industries

• Most waste oil is produced by factories that requires them in large amounts as lubrication and hydraulic fluids for heavy machinery. Therefore, it is imperative that such industries have a backup plan to recover as well as reuse the waste oil generated in their facilities. Also, they must have a procedure in place to check oil spillage, and cleanup programs to eliminate any chance of waste oil mixing with nearby water bodies.

Waste Oil Recovery in Restaurants and Hotels

• Restaurants and hotels can also recover and recycle their cooking oil through various methods. One approach is to sell the stock to companies that create vegetable oil fuel from waste vegetable oil (WFO). Vegetable oil fuel is different from biodiesel, as extraction and refinement of the latter is done in a slightly different manner due to the crop-based sources of biodiesel. Another method would be to install oil processing and treatment units like oil skimmers that are specifically designed for recovering floating vegetable oil.