A rancher in Southern California has an interesting oil filter setup. He runs Delo 15w40 in most trucks and tractors on the ranch. When he changes oil he puts the used oil in a tank that has an outlet at the bottom which is 4 pipes. Into the pipe he stuffs rolls of toilet paper with the center plugged so that the oil has to flow through 12 rolls of toilet paper, in series of three, into a second clean tank below. He rotates the rolls, throws out the top roll which has the most gunk in it, puts a new roll on the bottom and starts filling the tank, again. The oil in the catch tank comes out really clear. It takes several days for the oil to work it's way to the catch tank and he processes the oil three or four times based lab work and also makes a decision on when to start over with new oil. He supports 22 vehicles with this system and his books show that he is not only saving money on oil but his tbo for his tractors has increased by almost 50% with his more frequent oil changes that he can now afford to do. He is also using the system for hydraulic fluid with good results, too. Anyhow I just though I'd post this to see if there might be any comments. His oil changes go pretty quickly, with a pump to empty the sump and another to fill it. The filters on the engines last longer now, too, and some of them are really expensive. This guy is a real rancher/engineer, some of his tractors are 40-50 years old and they do all the work at their on site shop/barn.
An interesting oil filter
- Thread starter OneEyeJack
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One has to wonder about the moisture as well as the TAN numbers of his reclaimed oil as well fuel dilution.
+1
That's probably awesome for some applications, especially older diesels where dirt is more of a problem than base number.
For my "fleet" really the oil is probably too acidic for this to work from long OCI, mandatory ethanol, cold winters and short trips.
For my "fleet" really the oil is probably too acidic for this to work from long OCI, mandatory ethanol, cold winters and short trips.
"Wonder what kind of toilet paper he is using. Many of them disintegrate pretty easily and leave little specs behind."
He buys tp from Costco and it never disintegrates even when used for gasoline, diesel fuel, white gas, or even hydraulic fluid. It's a strange notion that such a thing would happen.
The TAN, TBN, moisture and other readings are very good. The system is very slow and totally impractical for a regular commercial operation but for the ranch it works. Part of the secret to the filter is the slow processing speed. Slow is everything when it comes to some filters.
He buys tp from Costco and it never disintegrates even when used for gasoline, diesel fuel, white gas, or even hydraulic fluid. It's a strange notion that such a thing would happen.
The TAN, TBN, moisture and other readings are very good. The system is very slow and totally impractical for a regular commercial operation but for the ranch it works. Part of the secret to the filter is the slow processing speed. Slow is everything when it comes to some filters.
I used to work at a refrigerated warehouse. We used to recycle the oil in the compressors. The filter was a large barrel with a drain spigot about half way up. The barrel had a baffle in it, and the center of the baffle was stuffed with cotton waste. The oil would go thru the waste, and then drip up the water thru a series of more baffles. There was a sight glass on the side of it, and we kept the water level below the spigot. The oil floated on top of the water, and we poured that into a can and then back into the compressors. I was always curious how well it work with motor oil.
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Wonder what kind of toilet paper he is using. Many of them disintegrate pretty easily and leave little specs on your behind.
Fixed it for you...
Wonder what kind of toilet paper he is using. Many of them disintegrate pretty easily and leave little specs on your behind.
Fixed it for you...
A lot can be done to recycle petroleum products but in California with the EPA and OSHA you had better watch yourself because they are not in the business of helping you with solutions, they are there to fine you and punish them. The ranch has been in existence for 105 years but in the recent past they had to hire a consultant because they need these environmental and safety laws translated into actions and procedures that will keep them from being fined and shut down. Their coolant recycling program may be shut down. They use additives in the coolant for their vehicles and evidently there now needs to be an environment impact report produced and the program is on hold. They pay a company to come and get the waste products but evidently that's not enough, now. Because of their program they use the coolant for 2-3 times as long, which means less new coolant is being purchased and disposed of. If all these programs are made illegal there will be a lot more petroleum products put into circulation. Every year since the 70's there have been more and more problems dealing with the government, insurance and the problems of illegals applying for jobs and getting turned away. They do not hire anyone that does not have proof of citizenship and be willing to submit to verification. Because of this they have problems, too. They have by one federal organization been declared a "green" operation and their beef sells to upmarket customers that pay a premium and their operation is inspected by these customers with full time on site inspectors and passes with flying colors. The problems is that none of this is good enough for the California government and it's many agencies. Their recycle programs all worked out with professional consultants and technical people from their own insurance company for safety of the employees and the environment, some of which are over 50 years in the works may all become illegal during 2011. The family has said that if things continue to keep getting more complicated they are going to shut down in 2015. As a hedge they have purchased land in Nevada. The state of Nevada has pledged help in the event the operation moved to their state. The state has already sent people to the ranch and unlike California officials, the Nevada people liked what they saw. I know this got way off topic but they have worked hard to recycle just about everything the ranch uses and lately have received nothing but pain for their efforts from the great green state of California.
It is all about TAX. If someone tried to use less oil, fuel ... the state will get less sale tax.
Sounds like a home made version of a Franz filter system.
They have one for Semi-tractors that is fairly large.
El-Cheapo T.P. works the best in those IIRC.
They have one for Semi-tractors that is fairly large.
El-Cheapo T.P. works the best in those IIRC.
so he filters it and then puts the old oil back in?
What kind of hours is he putting on the oil?
This reminds me of the guy that filters his antifreeze and reuses it because antifreeze "doesn't wear out"
Depending on the hours in service I would want to see UOA.
What kind of hours is he putting on the oil?
This reminds me of the guy that filters his antifreeze and reuses it because antifreeze "doesn't wear out"
Depending on the hours in service I would want to see UOA.
I think it probably works great at taking out insolubles like dirt and soot. Apparently his equipment does not care. I too would like to see a model of what he has done as it could be used to super-filter my used oil before I burn it in a waste oil heater.
I wonder how he plugs up the center tube of the rolls to keep oil from bypassing the paper?
I wonder how he plugs up the center tube of the rolls to keep oil from bypassing the paper?
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I'd like to see the viscosity checked over time to see if/how its changing.
He plugs the center with a wooden dowel. He uses the oil until the lab tells him it no longer suitable for continued use. Again, I think its the slow speed through three rolls that does the trick. The oil goes through several times but even on the first pass, black gunky looking oil comes out clear and amber colored like virgin oil. The oil starts as a 15w40 and when it's finished the tests I've seen show it to be a 10w30. Sometimes you will see a drop of pure water on top of one of the rolls of toilet paper, just as clear as can be. It comes right out of the oil every once in a while. I don't think any moisture makes it through the filter system. This may be why acid is so well taken care of in this filter process. Again, one of the keys to this system is the slow through put of the oil through the filter media. This is something you can't do on an engine.
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
Sounds like a home made version of a Franz filter system.
They have one for Semi-tractors that is fairly large.
El-Cheapo T.P. works the best in those IIRC.
Agreed. I'd like to try something like this at home, or a Franz for the cars.
Sounds like a home made version of a Franz filter system.
They have one for Semi-tractors that is fairly large.
El-Cheapo T.P. works the best in those IIRC.
Agreed. I'd like to try something like this at home, or a Franz for the cars.
The toilet paper filter might be worth a new look. This ranch is doing just fine with them and basing their work on lab results. I know that there are people that already know that these filters don't work and that "small bits" of paper dissolve into the oil system and cause all kinds of damage. None of this has happened in all the years that they have been doing this kind of stuff. I have not written about. They use toilet paper to filter gasoline, diesel fuel, white gas and hydraulic fluid. In every case they set things up to filter the fluid as slow as possible. It appears that slower is better. The diesel fuel storage tanks have toilet paper filters that filter continuously. Lab samples determine the pace and capacity of this system. Every one of these steps is cost effective but there is a problem. The problem is California state regulations. Since these are home grown systems and entails the handling of fluids, some of which are contaminated to some degree is becoming a problem with these guys.
Some partial lab number, sample drawn from bottom oil tank, cold oil, drawn with a syringe from the mid point in the tank.
Cu 9
Fe 7
Cr 3
Al 14
Pb 1
Ca 1011
Mg 257
Soot .5
Si---21
Viscosity@100C= 14.01
Values from the top, pre filter tank
Fe 123
Al 89
Soot could not measure, too high
There was moisture in the top tank, but none or trace in the bottom tank. This was only a test to adjust the frequency and timing of recycling the bottom oil back to the top tank to be re-filtered, which is a regular part of the process. After these lab results the top tank was emptied and scrubbed out, something that is not usually done for the bottom, clean tank.
The last tear down for overhaul of a ranch tractor showed an engine with gentle, even wear that required few hard parts, mostly gaskets, seals a valve job along with the replacement of injectors and some misc bits and pieces. The injectors receive fuel that has passed through a toilet paper filter and this replacement of injectors was to change the fuel mixture, not fix a fuel problem. New government regulations may put this ranch out of business because they can't afford to buy all new tractors and trucks so they are being very careful to keep everything running well in the mean time.
Cu 9
Fe 7
Cr 3
Al 14
Pb 1
Ca 1011
Mg 257
Soot .5
Si---21
Viscosity@100C= 14.01
Values from the top, pre filter tank
Fe 123
Al 89
Soot could not measure, too high
There was moisture in the top tank, but none or trace in the bottom tank. This was only a test to adjust the frequency and timing of recycling the bottom oil back to the top tank to be re-filtered, which is a regular part of the process. After these lab results the top tank was emptied and scrubbed out, something that is not usually done for the bottom, clean tank.
The last tear down for overhaul of a ranch tractor showed an engine with gentle, even wear that required few hard parts, mostly gaskets, seals a valve job along with the replacement of injectors and some misc bits and pieces. The injectors receive fuel that has passed through a toilet paper filter and this replacement of injectors was to change the fuel mixture, not fix a fuel problem. New government regulations may put this ranch out of business because they can't afford to buy all new tractors and trucks so they are being very careful to keep everything running well in the mean time.
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