Regeneration of Used Engine Lubrication Oil by Solvent Extraction. The Solvent Influence on Oil Ratio
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Data
2013Autore
Sterpu, Ancaelena Eliza
Dumitru, Anca Iuliana
Neagu, Anișoara Arleziana
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Huge amounts of used lubricating oils from automotive sources are disposed
of as a harmful waste into the environment. For this reason, means to recover and
reuse these wastes need to be found. Problems arising from acid treatment include
environmental problems associated with the disposal of acid sludge and spent
earth, low product yield (45–65%) and incomplete removal of metals.
The processes of re-refining of used lubricating oils depend greatly on the
nature of the oil base stock and on the nature and amount of contaminants in the
lubricant resulting from operations. The study was carried out on a sample of
15W40 type of used oil collected from one automobile. The re-refining process of
used oil consists of dehydration, solvent extraction, solvent stripping and vacuum
distillation. This study aims to investigate a process of solvent extraction of an
alcohol–ketone mixture as a pre-treatment step followed by vacuum distillation at 5
mmHg. The primary step was conducted before the solvent extraction that involves
dehydration to remove the water and fuel contaminants from the used oil by vacuum
distillation. The solvent extraction and vacuum distillation steps were used to
remove higher molecular weight contaminants. The investigated solvent to oil ratios
was 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The solvent composition is 25% 2-propanol, 50% 1-butanol
and 25% butanone or methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). The percentage of oil recovery
for the solvent to oil ratio of 6:1 is further improved, but for the ratio values higher
than 6:1, the operation was considered economically not feasible. Finally, the rerefined
oil properties were compared to the commercial virgin lubricating oil
properties.
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- 2013 fascicula9 nr1 [14]