Method of reclaiming waste oil
AssigneePatent Holdings Ltd.
InventorEdward Carlton Shurtleff
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and a method are provided reclaiming a useful oil product from waste oil, such as used lubricating oil. The apparatus comprises an oil feed means, a boiler, a heater and a separating means. The heater is used to heat the waste oil in the boiler to a temperature such that lighter hydrocarbons remain unvolatilized, trapping contaminants therewith. The separating means separates the volatilized lighter hydrocarbons from the unvolatilized heavier hydrocarbons and contaminants.
Claims18
A method for treating waste oil containing contaminants, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) heating said waste oil;
- (b) at substantially atmospheric pressure, volatilizing a first portion of said waste oil, at a temperature sufficient to cause cracking of at least part of said first portion, said first portion containing primarily the lighter hydrocarbons of said waste oil, and separating the volatilized first portion from the remaining unvolatilized portion of said waste oil, said remaining portion containing primarily the heavier hydrocarbons and the contaminants of said waste oil;
- (c) condensing said separated, volatilised first portion;
- and
- (d) recovering said condensed first portion, substantially reduced in contaminants and having a substantially lower viscosity than said waste oil, and separately recovering said remaining portion.
A method for treating waste oil containing contaminants, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) heating the waste oil;
- (b) in a vessel, volatilizing a first portion of said waste oil, at a temperature sufficient to cause cracking of at least part of said first portion, said first portion containing primarily the lighter hydrocarbons of said waste oil and separating the volatilized first portion from the remaining unvolatilized portion of said waste oil, said remaining portion containing primarily the heavier hydrocarbons and the contaminants from said waste oil, while not subjecting the vessel to any pressure regimes substantially different from atmospheric pressure and enabling the vessel to be subject to substantially atmospheric pressure;
- (c) condensing said separated, volatilised first portion;
- and
- (d) recovering said condensed first portion, substantially reduced in contaminants and having a substantially lower viscosity than said waste oil, and separately recovering said remaining portion;
- wherein the first portion comprises a major part of the original waste oil, with the remaining portion comprising a minor part of the original waste oil and having solid contaminants concentrated therein.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.