My oil filtration method

[russ132]

Hi there gentleman,
Gimpy brought this thread to my attention and I would like to throw my setup into the mix. My setup is configured to work with a centrifuge but could easily work with a filter setup. I will do a posting for each component in order of the process. Most of the components should be available at the local scrap yard and some welding is required.

First of all is the Pre-filter and water separator. I picked up a large water pressurization tank for a well water system and a party sized helium tank from the scrap yard. I cut a round hole in the top sized to slide the helium tank down inside. I used helium tanks for these projects because they are plentiful and contain no explosive gases (like propane). I then cut out the rubber bladder inside the pressurization tank and thoroughly cleaned the inside. Then the helium tank had it's top off. A one inch hole was cut into the bottom and a length of pipe was welded to the bottom of the helium tank. The length of the pipe was sized to be just short of the bottom of the pressurization tank. Then the helium tank was welded into the top of the pressurization tank. A one inch hole was cut into the upper side portion of the pressurization tank and a 3/4 inch pipe coupler was welded onto the side of the pressurization tank. there is already a pipe fitting in the bottom of the pressurization tank.
Construction is now complete.

I then purchased a filter basket designed to fit in the top of a 5 gallon bucket from Dudadiesel.com. (great website for filtering supplies and one of the cheapest). They sell these baskets in many different micron sizes. They are cheap so I bought a couple and experimented with which one worked best for me. Keep in mind that this is just the pre-filtering step, meant for large chunks.

This basket will fit very nicely inside the helium tank. The helium tank is now designed to work as a huge funnel with a coarse filter inside. When the oil is poured into the funnel it flows through the pipe welded onto the bottom and is fed
into the bottom of the pressurization tank. Water is heavier than oil so it stays at the bottom of the tank and oil naturally rises to the top. Once your tank is full the oil flows out the pipe coupler welded onto the upper side of the pressurization tank.

The beauty of this setup is the water can be drained out of the bottom without any pumping. I simply put a valve on the pipe fitting on the bottom of the tank and use that to drain water from the bottom of the tank. Because the tank has a rounded bottom the water settles down to the drain quite nicely. I imagine that the bigger the tank you use the more time the water has to settle out. I use no heat in this stage. Just plain old gravity. Remember, Gravity is your friend. My entire setup is constructed to use the most out of gravity.

I found an old canning pot that works great as a lid for the helium tank. Looks kinda funny but it was free and it works. The only cost at this stage was the scrap metal and a few plumbing pieces. Also the filter baskets. These can be washed with whatever you choose to use. I have used water, gas, diesel. All worked great.

I have the outflow of this separator plumbed into a 300 gallon holding tank. Once this tank is full I pump it up to a high tank for the next stage. It could just as easily be plumbed into a heater for canister filtering. gravity could be used for that as well.

 

[russ132]

You will have to forgive the maze of hoses in the background of those pictures. When taken I was filling the spare tank that I have in the back of my truck.

On to the heater. In my last post I discussed how I pump from my 300 gallon holding tank into my High tank. Once the high tank is full I move onto the next step of the process. The high tank gives me the power of gravity. The high tank is plumbed into my heater which is inside my garage.

For the heater you will need another helium tank, a 110 water heater element and a 110 water heater thermostat from lowes. Also whatever plumbing fittings you choose.

I cut the handles and valve off of the helium tank and then welded four pieces of angle iron onto the tank to act as legs. I then cut a 3/4 inch hole in the top, lower side and opposite upper side of the tank. I then welded 3/4 inch pipe couplers to those holes. The lower 3/4 fitting is the input. The opposite side upper fitting is output and the top fitting is for the vent.

This next part is important... On the lower side of the tank BELOW the output I cut if I remember the size correctly a 1 1/2 hole and welded in a 1 1/2 coupler. The heater screws into this. When you pick up the parts just make sure you get a coupler that fits the heating element. The reason I say that this is important is because the element MUST be below the output. This naturally always keeps the element submerged in oil. If an element is exposed to air at all it will burn up.

I then cut a half inch hole in the bottom and welded a half inch coupler in place there. I use this as a drain ONLY when the element is cold. This heater acts as a secondary water separator. It does not work as well as the first but it does work. Because it is much smaller and there is convection currents in the oil from the heater it does not settle as well but does still work to a degree.

The thermostat I just used a wire to hold it tightly to the side of the tank. It is adjustable but I always keep it turned up. 150 to 160 degrees no problem at a flow of ten gallons per hour.

On the top 3/4 fitting I used a barbed brass fitting and clear hose for the vent. I ran the hose above the level of the top of the high tank. It serves three purposes. First it acts as a vent allowing any water vapor to escape. Even after all of the settling that I do there is still some. I believe that it is from water that is emulsified in the oil. Second it acts as a sight glass showing me how much oil is in the high tank. And last it prevents and siphon effect from happening.

I have seen inline heaters for sale on some of the centrifuge websites but have heard that the oil doesn't get hot enough and that the elements burn up often. Most believe that these problems are a result of lack of oil volume in contact with the element. These units are usually a length of 2 or 3 inch pipe that the heater sits in and the oil flows through. This is why I went with the helium tank. The volume is much greater than a piece of pipe. Once the oil is up to temp I never have a problem maintaining heat at a flow rate of 10 GPH.

For using canister filter I believe that you could have the the primary water separator inline with the heater flowing into the filters. Or Primary separator into a holding tank and then flowing into the heater. You could not pressurize this setup due to the vent which I have found to be necessary. You could however pump FROM the heater as long as you had a pump with a slow enough flow rate.

I personally have the heater plumbed directly into the centrifuge. All flow is gravity fed. The centrifuge was purchased from Wolverine Technologies. The owner is a member of this site and a really cool guy. His product is top of the line. I have filtered thousands of gallons with this set up. With this style of heater I am still on the original heating element.

 

[russ132]

Please do not mock my wiring on the heater. I know it is ugly but it works. Just don't poke your fingers around there. Anyway on to the rest of my setup.

Once the oil flows through the centrifuge it gravity feeds back out of my garage into a 100 gallon storage tank. I use this tank as a "safety, just in case" tank. If any problems occur I can just re-filter this tank instead of my bulk storage tank. Once my safety tank is full I pump the fuel over to my bulk storage tank for use.

This setup worked great for me. However I have a friend with a diesel box truck that is setup to run WVO. With my deuce I could throw anything through my system and my truck would eat it up. His truck does not like old 10W30. So I built another water separator inside of my garage solely for WVO. This one I built on legs about six feet high. Same design same principle. This tank is plumbed straight into the heater though. Much like I was thinking would be good for a Canister filter setup. I just use a ladder and fill it one five gallon bucket at a time. There are multiple control valve throughout the system so I can filter either WVO, WMO, or a combination of the two. During the spring and Fall I run a combination. Through winter I run only WMO. And during the summer I run straight WVO. Never had a problem as long as I don't try to run WVO when it is below 50 or 60 degrees.

Once again, you could upsize or downsize the water separator to fit your needs. Just remember that the larger it is the more time the oil has in the tank and the better it will separate. Remember that gravity is your friend!

Hopefully this all made sense. If you have any questions please ask. Thank you all for your patience on this horribly long post.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Good to see you posting Russ!

 

[russ132]

I've been around, just creeping.

 

[reom35a2fluiter]

nice to see your installation. I will start with my installing on march

 

[bilbert76]

russ can you explain more on your prefilter set-up i dont realy get how it works? maybe some quick sketch of what the inside looks like ... . are you just pushing through a screen and thats it? then just waiting for the water to seperate?