I am new to biodiesel, I have made my own processor and am in the middle of making my first batch from veggie oil. I have access to used refrigeration oil by the hundreds of gallons and was wondering if anyone knows if it can be converted to something I can burn in my truck. The oil is from large ammonia refrigeration systems and is in abundance since I service these systems.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonehenge:
I am new to biodiesel, I have made my own processor and am in the middle of making my first batch from veggie oil. I have access to used refrigeration oil by the hundreds of gallons and was wondering if anyone knows if it can be converted to something I can burn in my truck. The oil is from large ammonia refrigeration systems and is in abundance since I service these systems.

What kind of oil is it specificly. TAG, PAG, or mineral?

The label says ISO WF 68

I found a link with the specs for the oil in a PDF. format

http://www.shell-lubricants.com/products/pdf/ClavusS68.pdf

I am not an expert on what oils will work, but here goes. This is a mineral oil, so it won't have the same properties as veg oils. You will have to find out if it has the nesessary hydrogen/carbon structure in it's molecule. That sounds intimidating but once you get used to the terminology it is pretty simple. You might also incounter problems with the ammonia disolved in the oil as ph is critical to this process. I hope someone with a better chemestry background than mine weighs in because I am truly guessing. Sorry.

How would I find out the hydrogen/carbon molecule structure?

google HTML version of the link

The spec sheet says it's parafinic - that's the carbon hydrogen structure. It's built like parafin - which is wax.

There's no triglycerides to chop off, so you can't make it into biodiesel.

Probably you could burn it directly, though. I think it ought to disolve redily in fossil diesel, but I'd get a second opinion.

Eric

If you had said this was from freon systems I would caution you about the nasty chemicals that could be in the used oil - especially if the oil came from units that had compressor burnout. Since you are getting this from Ammonia units - I have no expertise there. However, before I would use it, I'd talk to someone who teaches refrigeration at a local community college.

If it is actually a simple mineral oil It should burn just fine in a blend, Any residual ammonia should have boiled off once the oil was exposed to ambient air pressures. I can't say for sure but I dought there was any chemical reactions between the oil and the ammonia to produce any secondary substances in the oil. I blend up to 30% used engine lube oil with diesel during the summer and burn it in my Dodge Cummins pickup, this has worked well over the last several years, your refrigeration oil is much less thick and nasty than the lube oil.

Did a quick web search for oils used with ammonia -- Looks like it could be one of many. This web page gives a few trade names you might check on.

This is an airgas webpage about contamination, The only things they refere to are oil and water contaminating ammonia.

This is a Chevron web page about ISO 68 ammonia oil, the spec sheet it links to shows a pour point of -36F, should blend just fine without any worries of it seperating due to cold temps, and a flash point of 471 degrees f so it should burn just fine in about anything.

To be sure about the used oil I would think your company or your ammonia supplier could point you to a testing lab for it, large buildings use such a huge amount of both ammonia and oil that I am sure they don't change it out, or even run it through any of the verious in-place cleaning processes, unless a lab test says they need to do it.