Ok guys, I've been kicking an idea around for awhile and thought I'd post it here and see what you thought. Everyone has the same problem of cleaning the used oil, wether you are useing WVO or making Biodiesel, so.....What about taking an old washing machine and taking the top off, remove the center agitator, fabricate a gasketed "lid" out of sheetmetal with a hole about 12" in the center. Lock the transmission in spin, put a plastic bag as a liner in it to plug the holes in the drum, turn it on and presto! instant centrifuge.

The "heavys" should be forced to the outside of the drum, and the "cleaned" oil should flow out the center hole and into the outer drum where the built-in pump could pump it into the heating tank for Bio, or into the storage tank for those that are using WVO. When you are done cleaning your oil just remove the plastic bag with all the Junk in it, and it's ready to go again. So..............What do you guys think?



FABMANDELUX.

 

Fab, You are a genius!!!! Beats the heck out of my 5 gallon bucket with a mesh paint strainer and a pvc elbow in the bottom draining into a 55 gallon holding drum

 

Can you make a prototype (smaller maybe 1 gal) to test the theory? If it works it could be made from a 55gal drum.

 

Why? Used washers I can get for free, the drive is already there, the pump is there, don't have to try to balance anything. Just make a lid, and try it!


FABMANDELUX.

 

Go for it! I'm soooooo busy designing plants for others that I won't have time to even think of building one for at least a month! If you do, let me know how it works and post pics if you can.


FABMANDELUX.

 

seems like a great idea.

 

The only problem I see with your idea is that the oil isn't going to flow down through the center hole (where the agitator was?) like I think you are expecting it to. It will be thrown to the outside of the drum along with everything else.

How about if you use a bag made of filter media instead of a plastic bag as a liner? The oil will be forced through the filter by the centrifugal force, and into the outer drum to be pumped off. All the junk will stay inside. One of the great things about your idea (with this slight modification) is that the oil is forced through the filter so you should be able to use the filter longer to filter more oil, plus it will filter through really FAST!

Heck you should be able to fill it over half way, turn it on, and even add more oil while it is running. The centrifugal force should push the oil through the filter media faster than you can pour it out of 5 gallon jugs.

 

The idea was never to have the oil exit the bottom, but out the hole in the new removable top, this is how a commercial centrifuge works.

This could work also, but I didn't want to have to clean out any filters. Just pull out the plastic bag and through away!


FABMANDELUX.

 

Someone had told me that if you could come up with a way to spin it, it would do this, but I couldn't come up with a way. This idea is perfect. I'm going to try it and if it works I will post pictures!

 

Fabman, I believe you missed what Jeeper was saying. Having never seen a centrafuge work I have to go on my experience otherwise....

Spin a liquid in a drum it is forced to the outside of that drum. If your "top hole" is in the center where the original agitator was; how will the oil defy laws of gravity... g-forces and make it's way back to the center of the drum and into the hole?
My next question is... how high from the bottom of the drum will this hole be? If I'm thinking correctly and you're placing it at the top as part of the lid structure... then you'll have a cylinder (pipe) down to the bottom and out of the drum. Correct? Tell me then how you'll take the average extra large garbage bag and place it in the drum without cutting a hole in the center to fit down over the center drain where the good oil is supposed to go.

It seems more feasable to remove the agitator. Then having a clean drum, to fashion some sort of filtering bag to allow the good oil to pass through and out the holes in the drum made for the water to go out of.

Again, I don't understand how a centrafuge works, so I'm not really qualified to condemn your idea. As stated above I don't understand how the good oil will travel back to the center hole and drain out when it's being forced outward.

Thnx

 

If you go to my post #1. I said "remove the agitator", and the oil will be forced out the top center hole if you continue to add more oil as it spins.

I have used centrifuges in gold mining, and they will remove gold down to 400 mesh [about talcum powder size] on a continious basis.

This will not be a batch system, rather a continious system. As oil is pumped into the drum, clean oil is forced out of the drum.

Most Navy ships use this system to clean lube oil, and the units are availible, but they cost $$$$$! I'm just trying to find a way that we can use the same thing on a low cost "home-built" way.

FABMANDELUX.

 

So when you turn it on it will spin everything to the outside. As it is spinning you continue to fill it with new oil and as it fills the particles will be pulled to the outside and the clean oil will be on the inside. Once it gets filled to a certian point the clean oil will ???

I'm guessing from the discussion the oil will flow out the top? What then??? What are you going to use to catch the clean oil???

I'm very interested

 

Ok I'm begining to get the picture. My next question would be. My guess is the drum will hold about 30 + gallons of oil. Eventually you have to rid that oil of solids n dirty oil or risk it coming out the top. I understand your plan is to just remove the plastic bag... I would guess that you first would pump out the drum full of oil sumhow leaving most of the solids. Is that correct?

 

Washing machines have 2 drums, the inner is perforated with holes to let the water through. The outer drum has a drain on the bottom that is connected to the built in pump. The oil will flow out the top and into the outer drum, where it will be automaticly be pumped out.

At present I get about 5 gal of "crud" for every 500 gallons of oil processed, so I should be able to process about 1,000 gallons before I need to change the plastic liner.

FABMANDELUX.

 

oooooo, ok, I think I'm now fully understanding what you are saying. Now I just need an old washing machine. I'll start on that tomorrow.