Centrifuge vs. Filtering

[Schwa]

Here's a shot of oil that's been settling for almost 2 months on the left, 1 in the middle and the third has gone through the 30 and 10 micron stainless steel filter/pump setup.

clarity04.jpg (192.24 KiB) Viewed 5761 times

The filtered oil looks completely clear until it's in the sun, but it reveals quite a high density of ultra-fine solids, so I think for the sake of engine longevity I will invest in a centrifuge for cleaning my oil eventually, but I'm not sure I really like the design of the Dieselcraft pump operated type, I'm looking at the http://www.simplecentrifuge.com variety instead. I just emailed the guys there and they say they have 20 completed units produced and they'll sell for $2200us + S/H once they put it on the website, so a bit bigger investment, but I think it allows for more control over the quality of the oil and should last longer before needing something fixed as well as being easier to clean...



I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with centrifuges - this seems like the best deal for a bowl type, but maybe someone has heard of something better?

[Manitoba Delica]

I am also entering into researching the centrifuge option. I like the simplecentrifuge, but I cannot spend the money. As far the dieselcraft, I am willing to try it out, simply because of the cost difference.. As far as I got in the research its all positive reviews, and there are numerous sites describing their setups for it. I found that the canadian dealer for the unit is located near Winnipeg Manitoba.... harvey@alertagri.ca I'm hoping to talk with him soon.


chow

[delicat]

I havent' read a lot on centrifuge but the 10u from TruFilter (if we can manage to clean it properly!) is a absolute 10u, not sure if centrifuge can claim the same, any idea?

[Schwa]

The dieselcraft type (pump powered) definitely can't - there's no way to control the flow speed so you have to run the oil through it several times to achieve good filtration. The bowl type centrifuge is more like absolute because by varying the flow-rate of the oil you determine the amount of time the oil spends in the centrifuge, and thus the size of particle removed.

I think it would be prudent to at least filter it through the 30 micron SS filter, or a couple bag filters first so that there isn't as much large stuff going into the centrifuge, but even pre-filtering down to 5u nominal the centrifuge still removes a lot more stuff from the oil...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rzsevrzV6mk

By the way, that jar of 30-10u filtered oil is some of the stuff you gave EricN, filtered by him.

Here's what it looks like out of the sun: (jar on the far left is virgin Canola)

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Although the filtered oil is darker, it looks very clear in this light.

And here's shots comparing the oils with a laser pointer:

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Pure Canola

clarity13.jpg (176.51 KiB) Viewed 5691 times

Settling cold for 2 months

clarity12.jpg (173.41 KiB) Viewed 5691 times

Settling cold for 1 month

clarity11.jpg (162.37 KiB) Viewed 5686 times

Pumped through 30u -> 10u absolute SS filter

[Adam]

OK, $2,200 is waaay too much. You can do it a lot cheaper, say for under $500. Steepcreeker on this forum has a setup with a simple centrifuge that he put together based on the Sunwizard design. Works like a dream, it will dewater and degunk 150L in 3-4 hours. Just set, walk away and after 4 hours your oil is ready to transfer into your storage totes/drums. I posted some pics on another thread showing some shots, but you should realy PM him and harass him to post his setup in a topic.

EDIT: Sorry I misspoke in this post. Steepcreeker is using a Spin Clean not a Simple Centrifuge.

[Schwa]

If I were to build the centrifuge myself it would be a lot cheaper, they sell the bowl for $500 (!!) and the motor for $218, and I guess the machine would cost about $200 - $500 to fab up... It's the time and figuring it takes to get it all together that would make buying a complete machine worth it, plus it seems like a better design than something I could build, or have built. The smallest dieselcraft centrifuge is $299 and then they want another $549 for the motor and pump (!!) then just a couple hundred bucks more gets you a system, but I'm not all that convinced about the effectiveness / reliability / ease of use/cleaning of that type of centrifuge, plus with a bowl type you can even separate the hydrogenated oil by running it through cold if your sources of quality oil are limited, which I don't think you can do with the oil pressure driven type. If there's a better deal for a complete non-pump driven design, that's what I'm really interested in.

[loki]

http://www.xyzworks.com/centrifuge.htm

lots of info here.

[Adam]

http://www.xyzworks.com/centrifuge.htm lots of info here.

Yup, that is the Sunwizard design I was referring to.

[Manitoba Delica]

I have been looking, and a lot of what I see is industrial centrifuges used in wineries, food processing or marine lube oil filtering. These are older reconditioned models, that I'm presuming are too expensive, especially after shipping. The only other affordable, smaller scale centrifuge I came across is the Spinner II . which seems very comparable to the dieselcraft, but manufactured in north america, so maybe easier to get parts, etc... I'm pretty keen to get something similar by the end of summer, becasue I'm burning through way too many princess auto filters... It's easy to justify spending $200-500 on a centrifuge. If anyone else can find more on Spinner II' that would be great.

[loki]

I have been looking, and a lot of what I see is industrial centrifuges used in wineries, food processing or marine lube oil filtering. These are older reconditioned models, that I'm presuming are too expensive, especially after shipping. The only other affordable, smaller scale centrifuge I came across is the Spinner II . which seems very comparable to the dieselcraft, but manufactured in north america, so maybe easier to get parts, etc... I'm pretty keen to get something similar by the end of summer, becasue I'm burning through way too many princess auto filters... It's easy to justify spending $200-500 on a centrifuge. If anyone else can find more on Spinner II' that would be great.

not sure what post but if you look around on http://www.burnveg.com/forum/ there is stuff in there on the spinner II I think. pretty sure it is the spinclean one they seem to have different names for it, I emailed them about it and it was only $20 cheaper than the DC and didn't come with the mounting plate or the control valve. I admit though that it could be a different one. I'm going with the DC because that is what Sunwizard used so I don't have to worry about any little differences from his design screwing me up :).

[Jester]

A friend of mine has a CNC machine in his shop in PoCo.
Would there be any interest in purchase of locally manufactured bowls?


Also, I just watched that Youtube vid,( http://youtube.com/watch?v=rzsevrzV6mk ) and just out of curiosity, I wonder what would happen if one run 55gal of fossil diesel through that centrifuge?
By comparison I wander if that 'sludge' after 5micron filtration actually does any damage, or simply burns off(or stays in the fuel filter)..

[fishslapper]

This is the way i am thinking of going. I think there would be all kinds of interest in a locally made centrifuge for a good price
I am not concerned about finding an electric motor. I was looking up prices and we can get whatever we need for under $100 brand new !!!
I get my van next week and i am looking for places to get oil from already. I think i would just run the oil through the centrifuge a couple more times if i was worried about the particle size. It only costs about $1-$1.50 a day to operate these cleaners So what is a couple more hours in the centrifuge..........If i lived closer to delicat i would just go in with him on a set up and cut the costs down. IT's too bad we are all so spread apart in the delica community.....

That's it !!!!! we should start a delica owners commune !!
Although no nudity please........

[jessef]

I'm telling you guys.

Lower mainland co-op