[Vwdiesel] Burning Used Crankcase Oil

Wed Jul 11 20:43:33 EDT 2007

I am truly amazed at how many people consider burning used lube oil as an environmentally viable exercise.  There is a mature base oil re-refining industry in both Canada and the USA, and any diversion of resources from that system entails considerable waste of a resource that is very difficult and expensive to make (base oil).  But, what the heck - it's in Mother Earth news - or some other publication that probably thinks burning wood is somehow "green" as well, so why mess with urban myths.

----- Original Message -----
From: Tony and Lillie <tonyandlillie1 at earthlink.net>
Date: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 6:18 pm
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Burning Used Crankcase Oil

> This has thus far been a very interesting thread. I've run as much 
> as 1/2 
> waste oil to diesel in a VW diesel, as much as 1/3 in the current 
> Jetta. 
> I've not had a significant problem with plugging filters. I 
> replaced the one 
> on the current car when I got it, and have not changed it since.
> 
> Now, as for cold weather, this is not recommended. The car starts 
> a bit 
> harder at high (70+ amb) temps, I can only imagine when it's cold 
> outside. 
> However, if you do long commutes, the cold start/drivability 
> issues aren't 
> significant. I do mostly short stints, but still, the trade-offs 
> are worth 
> it. Mostly, it's easier to put it in my tank than leave it sitting 
> around 
> only for me to spill it-BTDT!!
> 
> I don't notice much of a difference in smell/smoke. There is a 
> slight smell 
> of burnt oil in the exhaust (duh) but not bad. Milage really 
> hasn't changed 
> dramatically, maybe down 5% or so.
> 
> Anyhow, just my $.02 on the subject,
> Tony Hoffman
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Keith Family" <familykeith at vtrocket.com>
> To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
> Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 12:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Burning Crankcase Oil (Val Christian)
> 
> 
> >I have burned waste crankcase oil in the 1980 Rabbit Diesel I
> > owned back at that timeframe.  I did it only once.  The resultant
> > purchase of a new diesel fuel filter for at the time $18 (which
> > exceeded the cost of a full tank diesel fill up) seemed counter
> > productive.  I'm not sure I would do it in my current 03 Golf TDI
> > since fuel filters have hardly gotten cheaper in the interim and
> > if anything, the car generally is more finicky and "precise" than
> > the Rabbit was.
> >
> > Instead I elected to go in another direction.  Contrary to a lot
> > of perceptions, burning waste crankcase oil on site is in fact
> > endorsed by the EPA since they view the clean efficient
> > combustion of oil preferable to spilling in transport even one
> > tanker truck full of waste oil headed to the recycler.  They
> > throw out numbers of one drop of oil can contaminate 10000
> > gallons of water or similar to justify their stand.
> >
> > And if you think of it, the minor heavy metal contamination of
> > waste oil is severely overshadowed by the contamination by carbon
> > as "blow by" to the combustion process.  The oil may look dirty
> > and in fact it is but primarily with particulate carbon -
> > especially for diesel engine waste oil.
> >
> > The farm where I worked had 12 diesel powered tractors (up to and
> > including an IHC 3588) and elected NOT to burn or fuel dispose of
> > their waste oil.  With tractor fuel filters running upwards of
> > $25 each, the farm would rather not gamble operability of a
> > tractor on the marginal cost savings of burning their waste oil.
> > Instead the waste oil is donated to the town who does have a
> > commercial waste oil burning system in the town barn and is
> > always pleased to receive more grist for their mill.
> >
> > I've always had a personal interest in alternate energy schemes.
> > I've tried burning waste oil in both the Mother Earth News (MEN)
> > waste oil burner and the revised version by Roger Sanders shown
> > at
> > 
> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me4.html.> The downside to both of these is that oil and air must both be
> > precisely "metered" to support combustion properly.  Too much air
> > and combustion is too cold to occur properly and can "blow" out.
> > Too little air and you get smoking.  These are stove for those
> > who like to "tinker" literally.  Almost constant attendance is
> > required to keep the thing on an even combustion keel.
> >
> > Others have converted #2 oil burners to burn waste oil and
> > generally these conversions are more successful but typically
> > involve an air atomising Delavan nozzle and preheated/metered
> > oil.  Various versions of these can be seen at
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wastewatts/ but you have to join to
> > see the messages.   The downside of this methodology of waste oil
> > burning is the large amount of "support" necessary to make
> > efficient burning of waste oil possible.  (It's not unusual for
> > nearly a thousand watts of electrical support energy to be
> > required between, burner motor, oil heater, nozzle preheater, and
> > controls - all this for perhaps 100K btu per hour heat output.)
> >
> > And of course there are the multitude of "online" instructions
> > available for a fee including Ebay, Heco, Benjamin Little Dragon
> > and some others.
> >
> > Or you can bite the bullet and buy a full fledged waste oil
> > burner from Lanair, Econoheat or a bunch of others.
> >
> > Best I can say for myself now nearly 20 years after my first
> > efforts in this direction is that burning of waste oil continues
> > to be an ongoing experiment usually undertaken when the woodpile
> > begins to show the effect of a cold winter.
> >
> > Best,
> > Joe
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
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> 
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