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مجلة النفط والتعاون العربي
161
العدد
- 2017
أربعون
المجلد الثالث و ال
2016
أوابك العلمية لعام
�
ص لبحوث العلمية الفائزة بجائزة
�
عدد خا
62
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Clarifying Industrial Oils:
It is imperative for good housekeeping sake, environmental protection and
reducing expenses to use lubricants for as long as possible before changing or
treating them.
A long time ago simple dewatering systems were used to treat used oil for it to
be utilized as fuel oil
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. There are mobile or fixed installation units for the
purification or clarification of mineral oils (fuel and lubricating oils) used in
marine installations and power stations. The heart of the unit is a centrifuge which
separates water and sludge and circulates the clean oil back to the system.
Unit capacity can be up to two cubic meters per hour. Other manufacturers have
mobile units mounted on trucks to do such service in many scheduled
installations
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. Oil testing by the client is important and even additives can be
added to the cleaned oil. These services can be useful for turbine oil, transformer
oil, hydraulic oil and some metal working oil. The practice is sometimes called
“laundering”
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as it refers to cleaning in place. By using these services and
techniques, service life of the oil is extended, changes are minimized and resource
conservation is enhanced and environmental load is lessened. Needless to say that
engine oil is excluded due to the complexity and severity of its operating
conditions and level of contaminants.
Process Selection Criteria:
The selection of environmentally sound technology (EST) for the re-refining of
used oil is not a straight forward task. There are many aspects to consider before
reaching a decision. As far back as 1995, the Basel Convention set the technical
guidelines
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for this task. The basic criteria are as follows:
• Feedstock quality and nature of its contaminants must be determined in
addition to the environmental and health risks associated with handling and
processing.
• Deciding o
n the desired quality and yield of base oil to be produced.
• The disposal of any hazardous waste that may be generated.
• The economic feasibility of the project and the availability of feedstock
on sustainable basis.