Biodiesel Filter

Recycling used or waste oil makes a lot of sense because there are increasing problems with used oil disposal.  In fact, each year, about 300 million gallons of used oil in the United States were disposed of and dumped improperly on sewer drains, the ground as well as to landfills.

Recently, studies revealed that a gallon of waste oil pollutes nearly 1 million gallons of U.S. waters.

Waste oils and biodiesel oil

Waste oils from cooking may be utilised as biodiesel fuel and is increasing in popularity, due to the recent petroleum diesel price increase. 

Biodiesel may contain no petroleum however it may be mixed with petroleum at whatever in order to produce a “biodiesel blend”.

Because biodiesel fuel quality may vary considerably which is dependant on the cleanliness of the used oil before its conversion, it is imperative that the used oil undergoes thorough filtration process.

Foreign materials present can bring about reagents wastage and clog up fuel “injection systems”.

Biodiesel filtration

Filtering the used oil for biodiesel use will eliminate contaminants and heating it will not only make the filtration process quick, but likewise permit components in the oil with higher melting point go through your filter. 

By means of a mesh as your biodiesel filter, you can catch the largest contaminates; filter the oil again with a fine mesh then finally by a much finer mesh to get rid of all contaminants.

Biodiesel filter ratings

Biodiesel filters often are graded in microns or “one millionth of a meter or micro-meter”. 

This biodiesel rating suggests what particle sizes are not able to pass through a particular biodiesel medium.  However, this biodiesel filter rating can be at times inconsistent because there is no “standard test”. Different kinds of contaminate may pass through various filter materials in different working conditions and at different levels. 

Biodiesel filter systems

A biodiesel filter system and process for eliminating solid impurities within a used oil combines a mixture of various filters each at definite successive stages which are connected in series where the filtered oil from the first filter then is fed into the second filter.

Successive biodiesel filter stages effectively get rid of contaminants of progressively tiny particles at which the last filtering stage provided a substantially clean fluid and refined for following reuse.

The biodiesel filter bag

Biodiesel filter bags are used for filtering fluids. These come in various materials, filtration rates and sizes and need biodiesel filter bag housing which can be bought commercially made or you can make one yourself.  These filters commonly are “gravity feed”.

The cartridge biodiesel filter

Cartridge biodoesel filters include spin on filters as well as filter components housed inside a permanent housing. Usually, a pump is used to feed these kinds of biodiesel filters.

Methods to pre-filter biodiesel oil

If biodiesel oil is filtered first to 10 to 30 microns, followed by heating it to approximately 80F to 90F and detained there for about 8 hours in the “insulated drum” the top will result to be 2/3 water free.

Some heat the used oil first then filter it while still hot with the use of pumps to speed up the process. Some utilize “centrifugal separators”, likewise for speed.

However, most individuals appear to be utilizing gravity oil filtering before heating it and settling, due to the simplicity of the method and cost effectiveness.

The biodiesel filtration equipment and process are vital to make sure that the oil is very clean.  Proper biodiesel filtration process and equipment is important so to result in a reliable biodiesel byproduct.