Raw Power Cenrifuge First try.

[Luna-Sea]

So....

I have had this crazy contraption for a while now but never seem to be able to sink the time into it.
By carefully and repeatedly sneaking out to my shop and I have finally managed to make a bit of progress.

This is the unit in question. I actually had a lot more to do on it at this point (plumbing and heater) but the
bowl and motor were installed and I had been testing it.
I had wired up the motor and figured out the seals and whatnot,
but had found it made horrible vibrations as it spun, so I made a mat out
of rubber (nice and thick) for it which took care of that almost completely.
I countersunk the mounting bolts with a spade bit and made some holes
where the spun oil will go into the barrel as well as a venting hole,they will get bungs welded to them
to accept 3/4 pipe.(that the barrel lid the mat is sitting in and the fuge on)
Cutting the mat sucked and took way to long with many opportunities to cut myself.
I cut it at a bit of an angle so it is a nice and forgiving fit.

Oh crap this isn't ready yet..

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Where did I get the mat ,well....

it was cheap and available!

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Now I need another bench mat or maybe I will just shorten it...

So a couple energy drinks later and an a lot of Teflon tape......

Almost party time...

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Its looking a bit more like it might actually do something,
the cylinder with the orange lid is the heater.(110v....for now)

NOTE: the hose coming of the heater particularly at the top
should be a more suitable heater hose,I just used it for testing and looky-lou
purposes,I actually melted the top one a bit doing this...hehehee

Historically at this point in a project I get so excited I mess something up
pretty nicely, some kind of injury or the damaging of an integral and expensive part.
(many times both).... so here are some of my buddies for this next part.

Suck it up,put it out and don't go blind....

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So let's get it on!
The Canola in question I am using here has been settled for quite a while and
decanted from a few different barrels. I did not heat my oil at any time during this settling
and I may actually do that to try and get rid of some of the suspended water that may or may not
(but probably is) in the WVO. The feed barrel to the fuge is elevated on cinderblocks ,
as well as being on a higher tier in my shop.(lucky me being on a hill)
So no pump for this part just gravity .

here we go..

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I used the glass carboys just for the test so I could check stuff out.
The pic shows the oil (heated and spun) starting to come down into the carboy.
On the bottom right you can see where I think was a bit of water (its a peanut colour)
in the bottom of my feed barrel I had a feed valve higher but I thought I was safe using the drain
valve because I had decanted a few times (if only I got air miles for being wrong).
Also worthy of note the oil had been filtered to 75 microns thus far,to 100
through stacked E-Z strainers then through the 75 aftter some settling and decanting.
(the 75micron was blocking up way to quick otherwise)

This next pic is interesting(though maybe only to the oil obsessed)
you can see condensation starting to form.
The carboy was sitting at about 80c and the top of the heater was 112c
so I am wondering if what we are seeing there is suspended water trying to evaporate away
or just bit water I sucked in at the start steaming off.
I will test this part again,would be quite happy if I can blow off or collect this and
this is serving to dry the oil more.....

h2 oh crap

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NOTE: Not knowing offhand the melting point of milk crates I put
a bit of plywood under the carboy.

This next pic ( not the best pic) you can see the carboy is starting to get full,
took quite awhile.I barely cracked the valve I wanted the oil to spend
a good amount of time spinning.You can see at the bottle neck I stuck in a
little piece of pipe as a breather that actually seemed to work a little bit.
(will need a better vent solution though)

Slow and steamy

First Spin june 2009 008 (Large).jpg (52.49 KiB) Viewed 8311 times

So that was five gallons or so ,lets see what the fuge bowl has for us...
uh I guess I maxed out the allowable pics....

Right on!

[Luna-Sea]

So here is the bowl after a carboy spin.
Took over and hour,not sure I will keep track on the next one,
but the slower the more time the fuge has to get medieval
on the gunkness.

Like the dark rings of uranus...

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I was happy to see the machine was working and doing something!
There are holes in the bottom of the bowl that when the unit is
at rest drains out any liquid(hopefully water)
leaving just the crud plastered to the walls of the bowl.

I grabbed a spatula and a box of crackers and

Mmmmmm Delicious!

First Spin june 2009 014 (Large).jpg (50.91 KiB) Viewed 8294 times

checked out the crud. Ended up using a rag to wipe out the bowl
while it was still... HOT AS HELL.,OUCH ,gotta find those old welder mitts of mine
for this part. It kinda cool I did not injure myself until the very end,
I was pleased.....

The crud is a gritty and tar-like ,I have a feeling
if I had left it for the night it would have baked on.
Cleaned up quick and easy.

I collected the liquid that drained out of the bowl
and will check that out as is settles to see what I pulled out.
I am happy with this result as that is a good amount of poop
that won't get in my filters or engine.

There are are a a bunch other steps I am going to do to the oil,
probably the last of being a polish through some inline filters
going from 50 microns down to 5 (maybe 1)
and removing that gunk will most certainly make the polishing filters last a lot longer...

So far right on!

[delicat]

Nice set up, haven't seen one like this before!

I'd worry more about removing water than filtering down to 1u. If I recall right, Edwards at Plantdrive only filters down to 50u or 70u and has been doing fine. I filter down to 10u but make sure I have no water and it's been problem free for a year. Just do a hotpan test once in a while on either the batch of oil you get or on your finish product...

Well done and glad to see someone else joining the grease!
David

[PlantDrive]

Hi - just to be clear, I settle the oil a few weeks, then decant through a large-pore sock filter into a drum, then later pull from the drum, halfway down or so, through a 70 micron filter that is part of our suction Wand (see "Pump and Wand Deal").....into the tank, at this point.

It is important to note that the 70 micron strainer you can hardly see light through the metal mesh, that's how fine 70 microns is. You cannot see particles smaller than about 50 microns. And, settled oil is going to be a lot cleaner than 70 microns, so it's really there as a "safety" filter, in case you suck something up that's fallen into the storage drum, etc.

Years ago I was told by a knowlegable oil pressing rep from Germany that oil will settle to about 5 microns in 3 weeks if undisturbed. That was new oil. WVO, with it's various contaminants, water, etc. might take longer or not settle out that finely, but it's remarkable what gravity will do (or you speed up gravity, by using a centrifuge).

So, let's say I have oil that's settled to 20 microns or so, they a safety filter, then into the fuel tank.

Then, onboard, the oil passes into the heated, integrated water separator/sedimentator of the VM2 filter. From there it passes through the 5 micron, water absorbing ("water-block" - the filter will plug if larger amounts of free water are present....some insurance against errors in filling the tank, sucking up something unusual...drawing by mistake from an unsettled cubie on a road trip, etc.

My filters last 4000-6000 kilometers, typically, on a 4 cylinder diesel. If one makes a habit of draining a bit off the sedimentator section once a week, they'd likely last longer.

My time investment in playing with the oil is minimal, and no 110V electricity is used.

I do have a number of small centrifuges here for $99, max. pressure 80 PSI, no pump. Email me if interested. I don't bother with them, for a 10-micron system like on the Delica, running a 5 micron filter is already a little bit of overkill.

I have done it this way for close to 10 years now. The longest was on a VW Jetta, basically the same type of injection pump, etc. as the Delica, 6 years and about 130,000 km on that one, and it was still going strong, no problems, when the next owner finally lost a turbo and parked it, not sure if he's put back on the road or not.

I also have a customer with a VW TDI in Ontario....over 550,000 km, settled oil, Wand (70 micron), then into the tank....he's replaced one injection pump in HALF A MILLION kilometers, on a TDI engine....engine has total over 700,000 km! He does nothing special with the oil....Canola, some sunflower....used cooking oil.

[delicat]

Good write up Edwards...

Fully agree. I started my filtration with heat, pump, inline filters... then I found an much easier way, Cold Upflow filtering (gravity) and it works great. Those centrifuges are really good as well, just more initial investment. Not to hijack this post I'll say it again, good work and nice set up. That system should keep you happy for a long time!

Have you installed a veggie kit on your van yet or are you getting your oil working before doing the conversion?

[Luna-Sea]

Hey Ed!,

a knowlegable oil pressing rep from Germany that oil will settle to about 5 microns in 3 weeks if undisturbed. That was new oil.

That's is what I a hoping for sure. Its is amazing what settling can do.

Then, onboard, the oil passes into the heated, integrated water separator/sedimentator of the VM2 filter. From there it passes through the 5 micron, water absorbing ("water-block" - the filter will plug if larger amounts of free water are present....some insurance against errors in filling the tank, sucking up something unusual...drawing by mistake from an unsettled cubie on a road trip, etc.

I want to go overkill on some of my processes so I can feel secure not only in my own fuel source,but also
in providing WVO to others. My reasearch thusfar points to excess water as a silent killer,so making sure
sufficient De-watering takes place is a priority in my system. I love the actual simplicity of the
centrifuge and settling. I definitely want to find the happy medium between peace of mind
and thoroughness, using a little energy as possible in the process. (mine and power.. )

If one makes a habit of draining a bit off the sedimentator section once a week, they'd likely last longer.

I will keep that in mind and do a weekly check off when my system goes in......

I do have a number of small centrifuges here for $99, max. pressure 80 PSI

I picked up a couple of them off you a while ago, I will spin those up too when I find some time.(tricky part)
I want to set up a motor oil fuge and clean up some old oil to add a bit to my concoctions and what not.
Or at very least a sweet oil slick system like the "Spyhunter" video game! (kidding,relax David Suzuki)

I am really impressed by the longevity of some of the conversions you have owned and participated with!
As always,I very much appreciate your time in responding to this post as well as your involment with this site.

Thank you Ed!


Delicat,
I have the bits and pieces to possibly to go cold upflow as part of the system, I will
mess around with a little system using my glass carboys and what not. I really like to actually
see the processes I am trying to achieve working. Once I get them figured then I am happy
with them taking place out of sight(like in a barrel).

Right on!

[PlantDrive]

Thanks - and I agree with David, you do have a nice centrifuge rig there, for sure.

I may join in the centrifuge fun soon - I have one sitting half-built here, mounted on a 60 litre tank, with a 12V pump....for on-the-road, while you drive centrifuging...

The first pump I had on it was not up to the task. This one should be. Then I added our HotPlate heat exchanger, and now I have to finish it up, put it in the back of my van in a big tote, and hook up the coolant lines to it, and see if it works.

I'm hoping the coolant heat will be enough but if not I might have to add electric heat (Vegtherm) to get the oil hot enough....the little oil centrifuges don't like to be run at more than 80 PSI, so the oil needs to be good and hot, thin, to work properly.

So then I'd cycle a batch through 3-4 times, then hit the switch for a 3-port and pump the oil into the "clean" tank.

The reason I say I'd like to not have to use another Vegtherm on the centrifuge rig is so that I don't have two of them running at once...on on the van engine, and on the 'fuge.

One of these days I'll get back to it - busy with house (downstairs) construction and other things right now.

[loki]

Thanks - and I agree with David, you do have a nice centrifuge rig there, for sure.

I may join in the centrifuge fun soon - I have one sitting half-built here, mounted on a 60 litre tank, with a 12V pump....for on-the-road, while you drive centrifuging...

The first pump I had on it was not up to the task. This one should be. Then I added our HotPlate heat exchanger, and now I have to finish it up, put it in the back of my van in a big tote, and hook up the coolant lines to it, and see if it works.

I'm hoping the coolant heat will be enough but if not I might have to add electric heat (Vegtherm) to get the oil hot enough....the little oil centrifuges don't like to be run at more than 80 PSI, so the oil needs to be good and hot, thin, to work properly.

So then I'd cycle a batch through 3-4 times, then hit the switch for a 3-port and pump the oil into the "clean" tank.

The reason I say I'd like to not have to use another Vegtherm on the centrifuge rig is so that I don't have two of them running at once...on on the van engine, and on the 'fuge.

One of these days I'll get back to it - busy with house (downstairs) construction and other things right now.

I too have a dream of mobile centrifuging, but while your driving could be tricky. Not sure what setup your looking at, but the centrifuge I have needs the oil to be pretty damn hot for it to work and I'm not sure the alternator is up to the task of running the pump for long let alone the heaters (could maybe use coolant heat but not sure). I'm thinking of adding a second alternator for the job, or if I want to get fancy I could install an under-hood 120V genny but I would imagine those are pretty pricey. I think I will more likely end up with a trailer and stopping in the evening and plugging in to filter for a couple of hours. If it does work and doesn't kill your alternator I would be right on your heals to do the same (having a single tank setup I was thinking I could mount a tank where the spare lives and connect the centrifuge to that with a transfer pump to pump the clean oil to the tank :) It's a lofty goal but why not aim high right?

[after oil]

Nice set up, haven't seen one like this before!

yes you have

i used the same raw power centrifuge on my trip to mexico. its set up at home now.

luna, the condensation thing is an issue. i can see vapor rising out of the clean barrel as the fuge drains into it.... there is discussion on the rpc forum but nothing conclusive.

i pan tested and got some minor crackling after passing through the centrifuge.

[jessef]

Bring on the oil monster !

[after oil]

luna sea, did you ever come up with something to deal with the vapor? over on the RPC forum they seem to sort of pretend it aint an issue...

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
For now I have been heating the receptacle the oil goes into as well.
I have a bunch of tubing to do a coil condenser off the vent of the RPC,but have not done that yet.

The water that was condensed in
that (unheated)jug seems to have gone
to the bottom after it cooled.

I am making a few other changes and will post em soon(ish)
Got the lady into a diesel now too I am stoked!
Definitely will have a fill up for you if you pass through this
summer!

Right On!

[dfnder]

any updates?

[Luna-Sea]

Not too much to add right now,
I will take lots of pictures for
of the next phase.This is basically
cleaning up the hoses and fittings
and adding some inline goldenrod
filters at the end for polishing.

Right On!

[after oil]

i otter post some photos of my setup... its pretty smooth now, and 4 or 5 are sharing oil...