In less than a decade, used industrial oil has gone from being considered the largest hazardous waste that pollutes human health and the environment to becoming a potential energy resource, a recycled and recyclable alternative fuel that can be fully recovered.

This evolution has been largely due to the need to bet on a substantial improvement of the environment, through the collection, treatment and evaluation of these industrial oils, since the environmental risks derived from their use have prompted to investigate the possibility to use alternative fuels instead of fossil fuels. The decrease in traditional fuel resources and the rise in their price have also come into play, which is why used industrial oil shows its contribution to minimizing the energy costs of processing plants, either as fuel alone or blended with other fuels.

Valorization of used industrial oil

After the treatment and necessary authorizations, the recovery of used oils through regeneration or other procedures, allows their use in the manufacture of other products such as asphalt, paint, ink, varnish, rubber, etc. Energy valuation transforms used industrial oils into fuel for thermal installations and boilers.

Thus, the energy valorization of this material allows the manufacture of an alternative fuel for industrial use, a substitute for traditional fuel oil, and which is used in large furnaces, either in cement factories, paper mills, building material factories or in thermal power plants for power cogeneration. And this happens because the manufacture of fuel through used industrial oil offers a yield close to 100% with respect to the volume of waste used as input to the process.

For its part, regeneration is the process by which industrial base oil is produced by means of a new refining of used oils, combining its distillation with physical and chemical processes that allow the elimination of contaminants, oxidation products and additives. they contain, until it is fit again for the same initial use.

Normative support

Real Decreto 679/2006, of June 2, regulates the management of used industrial oils, and establishes a regeneration objective of 65% of collected waste, thus leaving the remaining 35% of collected oil available for energy valorization.

Mainly generated by vehicle repair shops (40% of all used oil), and industry (30%). According to the data collected by the management network Sigaus, Management System for used industrial oils, 100% of the used oil collected in Spain is recovered, avoiding its polluting impact on the environment. And thanks to the different treatments, an important value is extracted from the used oil, for the production of alternative energy and raw materials for the elaboration of new products.

According to the latest Sigaus report, the management of used oil in Spain in 2020 would have involved the recovery and valoration of 121,004 tons of used oil. The subsequent treatment through regeneration has returned 55,321 tons of lubricants to the market for filling the crankcase of 13.6 million passenger cars, and has allowed 58,945 tons of CO2 to be emitted into the atmosphere. In turn, the energy generated through valorized used oil exceeded 342 million KWh, equivalent to the electrical energy consumed by 98,287 homes.

Combustion systems for used industrial oil

Soluciones Integrales de Combustión has participated over the last few months in installation and repair projects for combustion equipment that make it possible to operate with used industrial oil as fuel. An example is the installation of a combustion system to operate with recycled oil in a treatment plant dedicated to the regeneration of used industrial oils. The installed equipment responds to the mixed nature, which allows it to function with natural gas or recycled oil as fuel, depending on the availability of the owner company, which entails significant energy savings, given the current gas rates.

The system operates with a model JBD 11,500-GLO burner, with air atomization, which uses natural gas, with a pressure of 250 mbar, and liquid (in this case, recycled oil). In this way, the project, in addition to saving energy in the plant through recycling and reuse to recover waste into new resources, responds to the challenge of circular economy that tries to mitigate the impact of climate change.

JBD Burners

The JBD family burners are low temperature combustion equipment, suitable for operating with all types of liquid and gaseous fuels with low NOx emissions. The standard range includes industrial burners for traditional fuels such as diesel, natural gas and L.P.G., fuel oil and mixed gas-diesel and gas-fuel oil burners. The company also carries out special executions for the burning of biogas, recycled oils and other types of alternative fuels, such as hydrogen.

Also, as part of its combustion equipment repair activity, Integral Combustion Solutions has carried out burner repair work at a used oil regeneration plant, a chemical facility specializing in the collection and recovery of mineral and synthetic oils used in workshops and industrial plants.

The used oil regeneration process consists of an environmental process that removes contaminants through distillation. It allows the recovery of oils used by workshops and large industrial companies, such as combustion engines, hydraulic lubricants, insulation or heat transmission systems, once they have progressively lost their properties and have become unsuitable for their initial application. In this way, a toxic and dangerous waste is converted into a raw material suitable for manufacturing new lubricants.

Within the portfolio of services provided by the company, the repair activity constitutes an after-sales task that is highly appreciated by the production plants, which need the added value of non-stop operation or with the fewest possible interruptions in order to respond to their customers and maintain its competitiveness. Solutions services comprehensively cover the needs of engineering, installation, maintenance, repairs and revamping of thermal and combustion installations.