Issue 161-M

93 / 222

مجلة النفط والتعاون العربي
161 العدد - 2017 أربعونالمجلد الثالث و ال
2016 أوابك العلمية لعام� ص لبحوث العلمية الفائزة بجائزة�عدد خا
86
76
Collectors (72 companies 6 of them national and the others regional) take the used
oil from the generators to their small storage depots and then transfer it again to
the larger COOU depots (5 depots) and in both steps relevant testing is conducted.
Lubricating oils consumption in Italy has been declining from 650 to 399
thousand tons a year between 2000 and 2009 respectively 106 and further down to
383 thousand tons in 2014 due to a combination of economic conditions and due
to improvement of lubricants quality and the longer distances travelled between
oil changes.
Re-refining of Used Oils:
Re-refining used oil in Italy goes back to the Second World War when used oil
was primitively treated for reuse due to the scarcity of resources at that time.
However the modern re-refining industry was established in 1963 when
Viscolube was founded as a result of environmental awareness and the necessity
to conserve resources.
Presently there are five active lubricant re-refining plants, one for re-refining
transformer oil only1, with a combined nameplate capacity of about 260 thousand
tons a year4 though GEIR reports a total nameplate capacity of 303 thousand tons
a year as shown1 in Table (17). Either way there is excess capacity in Italy.
Due to the economic and financial crisis of 2008, the availability of used oils 15
has declined as a result of reduced consumption of lubricants as stated earlier. It
is to be noted that 80% of used oil collected in Italy is re-refined by Viscolube
where in later years the company treated 130 thousand tons a year of used oil to
produce about 90 thousand tons a year of base oils104. The surplus in the capacity
of re-refining plants is very clear.
The success of the re-refining industry in Italy spilled over to many countries in
the world. Viscolube’s Revivoil process technology is now licenced in Poland
(80 thousand tons a year), Indonesia (40) and three plants in Spain at 20 thousand
tons a year each with other under design or planning for Indonesia and Pakistan15.
However, Viscolube effort to expand into China with 40 thousand tons a year
plant is still under consideration by the parties. Plants of 40 and 80 thousand
tons a year in Venezuela and USA respectively have also been licensed.