I have a 275 gallon tote tank that I have been storing WVO in until I can get my heated fuel tank to complete my system. Should I be concerned about water in the oil from condensation? It was clean and filtered to 1 micron when I put it in the tank as well as put through a water oil separator filter. The tank is sitting in my unheated garage. I can filter it again before I use it, it would just be a big time consuming job that I don't want to do if I don't have to. Do you think some filters on my filler hose would do the trick even if the WVO isn't heated?

Nate

 

Giving you a bump. Curious to see the answer.

 

Water and oil don't mix, in more ways than one.
in the case of your thoughts (which are exactly what I am doing myself) Water is the enemy, especially in storage conditions, and I hope my advice is not too late.

Water in a storage environment can create havoc, in the past I've heard "RDV" used more than once, RDV = Rancid Dog Vomit, it is what happens when condensation/moisture is introduced into an oil storage environment.

it's a nasty looking substance formed in the tote and has an absolutely REVOLTING stench, that will never leave that tote, spoiling the entire batch.

Best thing I can tell you is this, keep it away from sunlight, COMPLETELY, sealed, and away from anything that can rise the temp above room temp.

Please bear in mind, I am not a professional, I am not an expert, I'm just sharing knowledge, so if I turn out to be wrong, I am sorry, but like I stated above, I've heard about it more than once.

And to answer your question about the filtered filler neck, a pair of golden rod filters twinned up would be the best insurance possible, impurities may have been missed.

I will be running a more expensive method, a centrifugal filtration system, with a 24hr 180* hold to evaporate all water, and storing it in a home heating oil tank, it's designed to hold oil, it's sealed from the elements/sun and won't hurt the storage times.

Hope this all helps my friend, and the best of luck to you.

P.S: I've been doing some serious research on WVO/WMO and WTF (Waste Tranny Fluid) being used as an alternative fuel source on older diesels, I am more than willing to swap/share ideas and information, give advice or help out in any ways I can, so don't hesitate to befriend me and PM me whenever you like.

 

Thanks Drew.

 

anytime bud.

 

Thanks for the reply. I do have some other questions then: aside from the RDV smell, how would I be able to tell if moisture has found it's way in? Or if it doesn't smell then I'm good to go? Also does Rancidity (is that a word?) eliminate the WVO from being fuel if it is passed though a water separator? Sorry if these are silly questions, I just hate to think that I am losing a couple hundred gallons of oil.

 

if it's got RDV stuff going on, it's completely spoiled.

The best way I've found to test for moisture is to look on top of the oil, any patches? and take a ladle and scoop some out, put it in a HOT sauce pan, if it starts spitting, you've got moisture.

if it just spreads out rapidly, your good.

DO NOT COOK WITH THIS OIL

 

Cool, that's simple enough. Thanks!

 

Anytime man.

 

I thought it was a bad idea to store in steel tanks?

 

The tote he speaks of is industrial grade plastic, I have 4 of them.

 

I've been burning WVO for about 2 years, so I'm still kind of a newbie, but there are a few rules of thumb. Use plastic containers (I also use totes to store my clean oil like you). Steel barrels/containers (like a heating oil tank) are bad juju - it reacts with the oil and polymerizes it (think chicken skin). Aside from a rancid smell, if it smells like paint thinner, it's polymerizing a lot and has gone bad.

The key is to clean and dewater the raw oil within a few weeks of collecting it to get the water and crud out. When you store it, keep the storage containers tightly sealed and as full as possible. As others mentioned, the air and heat are your enemy after you've gotten the water and crud out. It's a good idea to run the oil through a filter as your filling up, but it's not going to get any suspended water out of the oil. It will help remove some of the polymerized particles, which keeps it out of your fuel system on the truck. If in doubt, run another heat/settle/filter cycle on it in small batches to fill your veg tank on the truck.

I've been using a biocide and an antioxidant (VegStable from Frybrid.com) in my stored oil to try to prevent breakdown and polymerization. So far, so good.