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DIY Oil Recycling

na1g

na1g
So I'm lying on the garage floor watching a gallon of 20W-50 drain from my RT. I've always poured the used stuff into the jug from the new stuff and after I get a few gallons saved up from the RT and two cars, I dutifully take it to the town oil recycling day. They burn it to heat the Highway Dept garage. So I'm thinking "why can't I burn it in my home oilburner?" Home heating oil is No.2 and is actually called "red-dyed Diesel" on the invoice. (red-dyed so you can't use it in your car or truck and avoid the highway taxes, I presume)

If I add a gallon or two of used motor oil to 200 gallons of heating oil what will happen? Will hell freeze over in addition to my house? Will I be adding more pollutants to the atmosphere? Will the environmental police confiscate my oil tank and make me switch to natural gas (not an option)?

Just wondering...

pete
 
I've seen plans for stoves/furnaces to burn waste oil. Other than the magazine ads I don't know much about them. Logic would tell me that a gallon of oil in a hundred gallons of fuel oil wouldn't make much difference. But, the byproducts of the old oil would increase the metalics, arsenic, and other byproducts in the smoke/exhaust.

Significant - I don't know - but you are talking about the burning of what is classified as hazardous waste.

Do a search on waste oil heater or waste oil furnace and you will find too much information to digest quickly. There are lots of commercial waste oil furnaces and stoves available. That might start to answer your question.
 
First and foremost you have to look at local regulations. I suppose Mass is rather regulated.
I remember many years ago someone coming by and telling us in Ann Arbor that we should not be burning trash in our fireplace. (It wasn't me. It was one of the others.)
In the city. Amongst the houses.
So that may matter. How far away are your neighbors.
As I understand these recycling burners, they may be a different special type that burns more thoroughly, and thus can 'recycle' the oil. I suppose they may not be legal in some areas.
dc
 
I used to have a woodburning stove in my garage, and drilled a small hole in the top to accomodate a 1/8" copper tube, which ran to a container (of waste oil) on the wall fitted with a small valve. The valve would control the amount of oil which ran down the tube into the woodburner. Once you got a fire going, you could drip oil into the center of the fire and let me tell you it burned hot! It seems that about 1 drop about every 15-30 seconds worked best.

Never noticed any difference in the smoke, possibly less since it was burning hotter.

Ken

P.S.- The idea came from Mother Earth News many years ago...
 
recycle oil

I too would pour the old oil back into the jug. one time I had the jug in the back of my truck intending to stop at the recycling center after doing some shopping. Some body stole it out of the back?:doh
 
When I had oil heat, I always put my used oil in the 1,000 oil tank and never had any problems.
 
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