does anyone use rerefined oils in their motor oils?

[Lawrence Richards]

I was just curious if any companies use rerefined oils for their motor oil base. what are the main uses for rerefined ( recycled) oils?

 

[TC]

Some good questions! I don't know if major U.S. firms use rerefined oils in their products, although a very few oils like Union 76 Firebird brand oil are trumpeted as such. Through a quick search I found other interesting info as well:

Other than rerefining, used oil is used for:
43% asphalt plants
14% industrial boilers (factories)
12% utility boilers (electric power plants for schools, homes, etc.)
12% steelmills
5% cement/lime kilns
5 % marine boilers (tankers or bunker fuel)
4% pulp and paper mills
http://www.recycleoil.org/Usedoilflow.htm

"The re-refining process removes additives, dirt and contaminants, leaving a pure base lubricating stock. New additives are then blended with this pure base stock to create a motor oil that meets car manufacturer warranties and American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications...Used oil can be re-refined because the base lubricating stock doesn't wear out or break down with use-it just gets dirty. API-certified re-refined oil is endorsed by Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz, and Mercedes-Benz uses it in all its German-made cars as factory fill. Also, the 1996 NASCAR Winston West Champion race car uses it."
http://www.metrokc.gov/exec/news/1997/081197nr1.htm

"Manufacturers also may label the oil 'recycled' to attract environmentally-conscious consumers, but they DO NOT HAVE TO add any qualifiers such as 'used' or 'rerefined.'" (It appears that rerefined oil doesn't have to labeled as same.) http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1995/10/uoil2.htm

"Our audit revealed that while re-refined oil can meet API specifications, not all currently labeled brands do actually meet the standards. API is not a reliable guarantor of quality with regard to bulk oil, and there are overall weaknesses with the audit program." http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/recycle/4perf24.asp

"Once the engine, which had 318,000 miles logged on it, was revealed during the teardown, it was in virtually new condition. Daniels credits quality lubricants such as 76 Lubricants Firebird 15W-40, a product of ConocoPhillips Company, as “one of the driving forces” behind the incomparable engine wear. Daniels noted little wear, including limited bearing wear, no visible sign of cylinder wear and no sludge build up on the inside. Once again, the re-refined oil had proven itself to the technicians at Kings County Metro Transit that it could perform as well as, or better than, their previous stock."
http://www.76lubricants.com/news/metro.asp

 

[Mystic]

Personally I can't see using rerefined motor oil in a car or truck engine unless you have a very old car or truck that is nearly ready for the junkyard. I am all for protection of the environment but when you consider you can buy a quality oil like Chevron Supreme for around a dollar a quart it just does not make sense to use rerefined motor oils. If you have a car or truck that requires 5 quarts of oil and you change oil 4 times a year you are talking about only $20.00 or so in cost.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
for many years New Zealand's Auckland City Council used re-refined oil in their large fleet of City buses
The obtained approval from MB and the other Bus makers. It was/is? very successful I believe

They probably have an e-mail address to confirm their long term results

Regards

 

[XS650]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TC:

"Once the engine, which had 318,000 miles logged on it, was revealed during the teardown, it was in virtually new condition. Daniels credits quality lubricants such as 76 Lubricants Firebird 15W-40, a product of ConocoPhillips Company, as “one of the driving forces” behind the incomparable engine wear. .... http://www.76lubricants.com/news/metro.asp

---

The US military is encouraging the use of re-refined oil that meets MIL-PRF-2104G. That's the oil they use in many of their their multi million dollar close combat vehicles. Most commonly 15W-40 which could be one of the reasons why 76 is making a 15W-40 re-refined oil.

 

[TallPaul]

I don't see where re-refined should be all that different than original refined. In either case it is a pretty nasty mess before it is refined.

 

[Terry]

Odis Beaver of Lubecontrol fame has used rerefined oils for years with LC in NEW cars with no problems. The more tests I read using the LC product the more I'm inclined to see his point.

 

[Ferb]

I guess i figure if the "used" oil it dumped into the same input vessel as crude, why should it make a difference! Just refine it like the virgin crude, and shouldn't it have the same properties? Yeah, it may have been oxidized or sulfated, but isn't the stuff coming out of the derricks just as nasty?

ferb!

 

[Blue99]

It appears the used crankcase oil market has several segments. Some oil is burned as a fuel, some goes into asphalt mix & some is reprocessed back into the lube market.

Anbody have info on what happens to the used oil collected at the local Jiffy Lube? Is drain oil at least filtered before it is sold for fuel? Is the re-refined process a solvent based method?

 

[pepper32]

We have a refinery down the road that pulls crude out of the Alaska Pipeline. The refinery produces diesel #1 and #2, jet fuel, gasoline and asphalt. After the refining process the waste product is reintroduced back into the pipeline with the crude and shipped to the lower 48.

 

[Lawrence Richards]

[QUOAnbody have info on what happens to the used oil collected at the local Jiffy Lube? Is drain oil at least filtered before it is sold for fuel? Is the re-refined process a solvent based method? TE] [/QUOTE]

 

[T-Keith]

Interesting considering how much antifreeze, water, dirt and gas, that is dumped into the used oil by accident or on purpose.

-T

 

[MikeW]

Anybody who's been using dino, and maybe even group III "synth", is probably using rerefined oil without even knowing it. I also doubt that rerefined base stock is at all distinguishable from 'virgin' base stock. I wouldn't be surprised if the used oil isn't just dumped back into the crude going into the refining process (however I can't say I know that for a fact).

 

[Ken2]

The only advantage I've seen to using properly rerefined oil is that it takes less energy for the rerefining than for refining crude to lube. This advantage can be offset by using a lube made from virgin base stock if the lube is made for a longer service life.

If used oil is not refined, it is made into paving asphalt or burned in industrial boilers. If the used oil is rerefined, the asphalt and boilers use virgin oil. Where's the savings?

If the used oil is rerefined by hydrotreating, it can be OK. If it is just filtered and the additives brought up to spec, it's still partly oxidised and won't be good for long.

Refineries are very careful about what's in the crude. I've been on tankers that have waited a day or more, at $25,000 per day (several years ago), until the refinery had a tank available to take this particular type of crude. They even displace the previous type of crude in the pipeline with diesel, then begin to pump the new type of crude through the pipe. We were carrying North Slope crude, and the previous ship had Indonesian crude. I think it's OK to slip maybe 1% or a bit more of used oil into crude, but not a lot.


Ken