Plant Purification
- Now licensed for "Close-Loop Purification."
- No manifesting required.
- We transport all products in our own fleet of trucks.
Our plant in Cobourg initially started in a single 4,000 sq. foot industrial unit, this eventually expanded to take over the whole 14,000 sq. ft building. We have since expanded into a second 18,000 sq. ft building on the same 12-acre site. We have constructed a 400,000 US gal tank farm.
Our original process was keyed around processing segregated batches of about 1,000-L, or five drums. This is still an important part of our business, but in addition, we have installed processing equipment that allows us to process full tank trucks of material.
The basic process is to dry the oils and filter them to remove all dirt and contaminants. The oil is then analyzed and any missing additives replaced. While the concept is very simple, in practice there are many complications. |
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A good analogy is to think of sending your clothes to a dry cleaner. The cleaner will clean them, repair them if necessary then press them and restore them to a wearable condition. We do exactly the same with industrial oils.
To minimize heat damage to the oils in process, the temperature the oils are exposed to in the process is generally kept lower than 140 degree F. Water is removed under HIGH VACUUM at relatively low temperatures. Oils to be dehydrated are heated for short periods of time and cooled immediately after drying.
Our production capacity has grown to the point where we have processed as much as seven full bulk tank trailers of material in one day, although this is very unusual. Our normal production rates are up to two tank trailers per day. This may consist of many small segregated batches, or two separate tank trailers.
We pick up and deliver most of the oils processed (98%) in our own trucks. We have found over the years that the common carriers or other waste haulers can not provide service as fast or efficient as our own. When another carrier is used, we physically inspect the equipment before loading, to ensure no cross contamination takes place.
Our process is relatively simple, however over the years we have developed a number of techniques that enable us to clean and dry very dirty oils efficiently and economically.
Having a Lubricant Chemist on Staff helps us determine the very best way to treat oils and maintain the original additives at high levels. The additives are the most expensive components in the oil, it does not make sense to destroy them during the cleaning process and have to replace them later. Accordingly all our processing is done with additive protection in mind.
Central plant process flow chart
Initial examination: - all containers, drums, semi-bulk and tank truck compartments are sampled to determine that the oil received is actually what it is supposed to be.
Receiving Report: - This cross-references the manifest number and process sheet number. The oil batch is pumped into a clean tank and warmed to about 120 degree F to allow initial separation of free water and sludge. These waters and sludge’s are measured then drained off and sent to further treatment.
Process Sheet: - We have developed over the years a number of standard treatments for different oils. Typically the oil may be centrifuged to remove some water and dirt, it will be passed through our vacuum dehydrator for removal of ALL water (typically residual levels are 10 to 20 PPM). The dry oil is treated with filter aid to remove all solid particles to below 1 micron in size and the oil filtered through a filter press to remove the solids. The solids accumulate as filter cake, are non-hazardous and can be disposed of at present by standard land filling with our regular plant garbage stream.
Should the oil require more severe treatment to remove small amounts of oxidized by-products, this can be achieved by subjecting the oil to a clay treatment. The activated clay removes some colour components and acidic materials that may be generated by oil oxidation. The clay also removes sub-micron particles generated by degradation of many oil additives (these cannot be removed by normal filtration techniques).
Blending and Analysis: - The clean dry oil is accumulated in a clean blending kettle, samples are taken to our own Q.C. lab for verification of oil cleanliness, viscosity, TAN and any other important criteria. Once our laboratory has determined that the oil meets specification, the pre-calculated additives are blended into the batch. (These are determined by analysis of the dirty incoming oil for residual additives).
When the analysis from the independent laboratory is received, our laboratory verifies that the oil meets specifications and only then signs off the batch so that it can be released for shipment.
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Any viscosity adjustment to bring the oil within specification will be achieved by blending in various amounts of VIRGIN base stock. A further sample of the batch is checked to ensure that the oil is still clean and in specification, the laboratory then signs off the batch to allow it to be transferred to it’s final shipping container. The product is then held in "Quarantine Storage".
Two samples of the batch are taken, one is sent to an outside independent laboratory; we retain the second as a reference sample.
All batches of oil processed are analyzed for remaining additives; any missing additives are replaced by fortifying the oil with a complete additive package purchased from the major additive suppliers. The additive package is selected by consultation with the additive company and our own chemists, taking into consideration the brand name of the original oil and the use it is being put to. |
Reclaiming will not solve all waste oil problems, neither can every dirty oil be brought back to "as new" specifications.
Oil sent to us for reclaiming that can not be brought back to original oil re-use quality may still be turned into useable product. When oils have been mixed, they can not be separated without distillation, so an alternative use has to be found.
If the customer has another lower grade lubricant use, we first try to blend the oil to this specification, if not we have other uses.
One common solution that we use is to downgrade the oil, pool it together with other similar oils and clean this mixture to produce a clean basestock. The cleaned oil is then used to manufacture reclaimed cutting oils or other lower grade lubricants.
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