Used Oil
What Is Waste Oil?
EPA defines waste oil as any oil that has been refined from crude oil or synthetic oil that has been used and is contaminated by physical or chemical contaminants as a result of such use. Simply put, waste oil is exactly what the name suggests: any synthetic or petroleum-based oil that has ever been used.
With normal use, contaminants such as dirt, metal debris, water or chemicals can mix with the oil and over time the oil will not perform well. At some point, this used oil will need to be replaced with fresh or re-refined oil to get the job done.The EPA Waste Oil Management Standards include a three-pronged approach to determining whether a substance meets the definition of waste oil.
To meet the EPA definition of waste oil, a substance must meet each of the following three criteria:
- Origin: The waste oil must be refined from crude oil or manufactured from synthetic materials.
- Use - Oils used as lubricants, hydraulic fluids, heat transfer fluids, floats and other similar purposes are considered waste oil. Unused oils, such as waste from cleaning the bottom of fresh fuel oil storage tanks or fresh fuel oil recovered from a spill, do not meet the EPA definition of used oil because these oils have never been "used". The EPA definition also excludes products used as cleaning agents or used solely for their solvent properties, as well as certain petroleum products such as antifreeze and kerosene.
- Contaminants - In other words, to meet the EPA definition, waste oil must become contaminated as a result of its use. This aspect of the EPA definition includes residues and contaminants resulting from the handling, storage and processing of waste oil. Physical contaminants can include metal filings, sawdust, or dirt. Chemical contaminants can include solvents, halogens, or salt water.
How Is Used Oil Recycled?
Once oil has been used, it can be collected, Recycled And used Again And again. It is Estimated That 380 million gallons of used oil are recycled each year. Recycled used oil can sometimes be Reused For the same job or Perform A different Job entirely. For example, used motor oil can be re-refined and sold In stores As motor Oil, Or processed Into blast Furnace Fuel.Aluminum rolling oils Can Also be filtered And reused On Site.
Used Oil Can:
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be processed on site: the used oil is cleaned of impurities and reused. While this form of recycling may not return the oil to its original condition, it does extend its life.
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Use in an oil refinery: The waste oil is used as a raw material in the refinery's production processes.
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Rerefining, in which used oil is treated to remove impurities so that it can be used as a feedstock for new lubricating oil.Re-refining extends the life of the oil resource indefinitely. This form of recycling is the preferred option as it closes the recycling loop by reusing the oil to make the same product as when you started, and therefore uses less energy and less virgin oil.
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Processed and incinerated for energy recovery, removing water and particulate matter so the waste oil can be burned as fuel to generate heat or power industrial operations. This form of recycling is not as preferable to methods of reusing the material as the oil can only be reused once. However, valuable energy (almost as much as normal heating oil) is provided.