Metal Twister

Brand new to this Diesel Gig and I'm learning a ton of stuff from you guys. I did a search and was suprised to not find anything of value on water separation from WMO. So Monday I'm going to order my 5/1 micron filter sock from Grainger and plan on filtering 300 gallons of WMO I have stored in 55 gallon drums. I want to insure that the moisture is removed as well as I know some of the oil was drained out of boat engines. I am looking for the best home brew procedure that I can separate the water from the oil with? I really want to keep the investment on equipment at a minimum while keeping this as simple as possible. I will be doing this at my Shop / Business so the simpler and quicker the better! I want to keep this under the radar... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

rockmike

Best way IMHO is to mix in gasoline 15% by volume,let this settle for a week or so.The gasoline breaks down the oils ability to suspend contaminates like water and carbon etc,etc.Most the water and ick settles to the bottom of the tank(put a drain on it) Then pump that oil into an upflow tank (the upflow tank is easy and works great! at removing any and ALL water!)I then run it through a centrifuge and get some nasty slimey crap out of it with the CF then...

Run it through a 2 micron filter(better safe then sorry incase anything gets by the other cleaning methods)and into the trucks tank.

Gordon Anderson

that sounds like a lot of work and equipment....:
i just use a stainless steal 30 gl , old swimming pool filter tanki plumbed for about a $140.00,.. to make my bio - diesel ,.. after i let it cool off over night , and separate the gliseran ,.
i just re heat it to above 212* ,with the top off,.... and that boils all the water out.
the stainless steal 30 gl ,tank , has no problem ,. with the high temp.
and it cuts the mixing / brew time to just a few hours ,compared to a plastic tank @ 4 to 6 hr's.,were you need to stay below about 140*...,i think it cuts the time in 1/2 for every 10* above 140*,,,.. just make sure and stay below 160* , cs the flash point of methanol , is 167*.. boom....lol

kawi600

water will kill your injector pump, you need to remove it if you want to burn the oil obviously.
I used to use a water heater and heat the oil up, then draw a vacuum on it. Vacuum lowers the boiling point of water so it doesnt need so much heat to flash off.
Youll need a condenser or air dryer in front of the vacuum pump so you dont kill it.
If you think the amount of water is small, you can polish the oil with a water block filter which will swell up with the water and eventually clog.

Gordon Anderson

i have been making my own bio- diesel since 2008 @ $.97 cents a gl...,when diesel hit $5.50 a gl.. with this one stage system , i run B-50%,.max, .. with zero problems ,.
i have a big rig 1/2" in line NAPA water separator drain-able filter,.., right out of my 75 gl , fuel tank.. , along with the OME ...original filter / separator,., just after mt OME replacement Fass 18 psi lift pump..,and the V44 injector pump ,.were both installed in 2008.., i buy a 1 gl of 2 - stroke oil at walmart ,.. and dump it in the tank every now and then , to keep the v-44 pump lubed..so far so good.. ,but now that diesel is down to $2.60 , im not running , Bio- fuel right now.., but it's nice to know i can make 25 gl , every day of runnable fuel , if i need to..

VADSLRAM

Fastest, and easiest way is to burn it.
What goes up in smoke was oil, what turns to steam was water

Turbo67

I pick up the wvo in the original totes. Let them sit 6 months to a year to settle out. The fats, crumbs, water settles to the bottom. I pour off the clean oil from the top into my gravity settling - filter system. When the stream of oil becomes clouded, I stop pouring and save that for a centrifuge. The oil goes through panty hose, past a snap in polyester filter (around 100 or 75 microns depending on temperature and cleanliness of my oil) in a 5 gal bucket. The bucket has a single 1/16 diameter hole in the bottom to be very slow flowing. That 5 gal bucket is situated inside a 15 gal poly tank. The 15 gal tank is turned upside down with the bottom cut out of it. A standpipe is threaded into the 15 gal tank and into a 60 gal poly tank under it. With a couple of fittings, the standpipe continues further down into the 60 gal tank, almost to the bottom. This causes any new oil to start at the bottom and the lighter oil will slowly rise to the top with the heavy dirty oil staying at the bottom. This 1st 60 gal tank is sitting on concrete blocks about 2 feet higher than a second 60 gal tank beside it. I have a transfer line from the 1st 60 gal tank to the second. Within that second tank, I cut a round hole to stuff a 5 gal bucket down through the top. I have a small micron (25 I believe) sock filter housed in the 5 gal bucket. The bucket has lots of holes drilled in the bottom. So once the 1st 60 gal tank is full, oil will flow into the lower level 60 gal tank, going through the sock filter. I draw oil off the top 1/3 of the second 60 gal tank, push that oil through a 2 micron and then a 1 micron filter. One of these filters is a water repelling filter. These are very large filters, about 10 inches in diameter and 18 inches long. I use a harbor freight 1" centrifugal water pump to push the oil through the filters and into my vehicles. As long as the oil is 60 degrees or warmer, it flows very fast. I have to keep all this in the garage to use it in the winter, here where temps can get to the teens. I keep a vinyl tarp wrapped around it in winter and a 100 watt light bulb burning under the tarp. Just don't let the bulb come in contact with the tarp or the poly tanks. I have been using this for 5 years. Had to clean out the tanks after 4 years and occasionally clean / replace the sock filter and panty hose. But I don't pour the nasty stuff that settles out in the totes into this system. I save that nasty oil to run through a heater and centrifuge. I figure I only have 1 to 5 percent waste that I can't use after I centrifuge the oil I don’t pour through this gravity settling – filter system.

So to summarize, I use my eyes to watch the stream of oil I pour into this system. Water is heavier than oil. Once I see clear oil change to a slightly cloudy stream, I stop pouring. The water repelling filter is only there as a backup to my eyes.