V SEP Membrne Filtrtion of Wste Oil A cost-effective nd environmentlly sound processing solution Overview A unique membrne filtrtion system ws instlled in July 2001 t mjor wste oil re-refining opertion in Portlnd, Oregn. The system mnufctured by New Logic Reserch, Inc. of Emeryville, Cliforni ner Sn Frncisco, is being used to process used crnkcse wste oil nd produce filtrte tht cn be sold s higher vlue bunker oil. The V SEP, (Vibrtory Sher Enhnced Process), system uses Microfiltrtion membrne module with specil construction for service with high temperture solvents nd wste oils nd is ble to process up to 80% of the dewtered wste oil. The use of high temperture polymeric membrnes hs mny significnt dvntges over the conventionl methods of oil rerefing nd lso over expensive cermic nd inorgnic filter medi. New Logic's use of Polymeric membrnes in it's V SEP Filter Pck is ground breking nd hs stirred the interest of oil recycling compnies round the world. Bckground Used Oil Mngement System Site Mp Improperly Disposed Motor Oil Sles Do-It-Yourselfer Spce Heter Collection Center Processor Trnsporter End-User Re-Refiner The wste oil re-refining opertion in Portlnd services lrge re in the Northwest nd hs severl stellite trnsfer sttions for pick up of used oil from mny customers nd other wste oil genertors. Used oil is produced by mny ctivities including uto repir, metl working, mchine lubriction, nd hydrulic equipment repir. Oil cn be recycled to mke new lubricnts or industril fuels. When properly recycled, used oil is excluded from regultion s hzrdous wste. Used oil does not wer out, it just gets dirty. It cn be used over nd over gin. 14% of used oil tht is reclimed is re-refined to its originl virgin stte. Re-refining bse oil is the end product of long process. The oil is first clened of its contminnts, such s dirt, wter, fuel, nd dditives. This is done through process of vcuum distilltion. The rerefined oil is blended with fresh dditive pckge to mke the finished lubricnt. 75% of used oil which is reclimed is reconditioned nd mrketed to: 43% Asphlt Plnts 14% Industril Boilers 12% Power Plnt Boilers 12% Steel Mills 5% Cement/Lime Kilns 5% Mrine Boilers (Bunker Fuel) 4% Pulp & Pper Mills 5% Other Used oil tht is ctully reclimed represents smll frction of oil ctully sold nd the mjority of this oil migrtes its wy into the ir nd wter posing thret to the environment. Regultors hve been improving incentives for recycling nd hve been ddressing the rodblocks to recycling like providing more convenient wys to drop off oil, incresing the number of collection sites, providing suitble continers for drop off, nd monetry rebtes similr to deposits pid on glss bottles. V SEP... A New Stndrd in Rpid Seprtion Pge 1
Recycling Progrms Results using V SEP Since the mount of used oil, which is mysteriously lost would dwrf the Exxon Vldez spill nd is huge environmentl problem, governments hve been looking t mny wys to improve levels of recycling. The EPA, (Environmentl Protection Agency), estimted tht 210,000,000 gllons of used oil ws generted in 1991. Only bout 40% of tht is recovered, with the disposition of the reminder being unknown. V SEP's Microfiltrtion high temperture membrne module is cpble of treting used crnkcse oil nd providing filtrte, which is free from suspended solids nd dirt. In ddition, the filtrtion process is ble to gretly reduce the levels of vrious metls in the oil. Sulfur nd Ash contents re lso significntly reduced. Further refining to reduce Sulfur nd Ash would yield Lube Oil qulity product nd methods for doing this following V SEPı re currently being investigted. The resulting filtrte hs n ASTM color index of bout 8. The qulity is comprble with Mrine Grde Diesel Fuel or Bunker Fuel. Being ble to sell the oil s Mrine Diesel represents significnt vlue dded when compred to the boiler fuel qulity prior to the V SEP filtrtion process. The V SEP process does not involve ny chemicl ddition nd meets the criteri of process engineers needs for inline utomted production. Both the Permete nd Concentrte cn be sold s product. Vibrtory Sher Process V SEP s unique seprtion technology is bsed upon n oscillting movement of the membrne surfce with respect to the liquid to be filtered. The result is tht binding of the membrne surfce due to the build up of solids is eliminted nd free ccess to the membrne pores is provided to the liquid frction to be filtered. The sher creted from the lterl displcement cused suspended solids nd colloidl mterils to be repelled nd held in suspension bove the membrne surfce. This combined with lminr flow of the fluid cross the membrne surfce keeps the filtered liquid homogeneous nd llows very high levels of recovery of filtrte from the feed mteril. In the cse of wste oil, lrge storge tnks contining wste oil re btch concentrted nd volume reduced by s much s 80% leving thick viscous reject s the remining 20% which cn lso be burned s fuel product. V SEP... A New Stndrd in Rpid Seprtion Pge 2
Process Description The used oil is collected nd stored in heted 20,000 gllons holding tnks. The wter is boiled off fter severl hours t high temperture nd then the used oil is pumped into the V SEP system for filtrtion. The viscosity of the oil plys big prt in the rte of filtrtion. Het will help to decrese the viscosity of the oil nd therefore improves the throughput of the V SEP system. The Portlnd instlltion is currently running t bout 90ºC. Some experimentl runs hve been ccomplished t tempertures of up to 115ºC. The mechnicl design of the V SEP filter modules is being redesigned to hndle tempertures over 120ºC which would double the throughput currently provided t 90ºC. concentrted nd volume reduced in process known s Btch Process. Multiple tnks re used nd this sme process repets for ech tnk in series. Ech V SEP unit is cn process one 20,000 gllon tnk in just under 2 dys One V SEP ws instlled in Portlnd in 2001 nd second V SEP is currently being brought online to double performnce. Once the oil hs been heted nd the wter is driven off to less thn 1% by volume, the feed wste oil is pumped into the V SEP Filter Pck t bout 60 psi. The contents of the 20,000 gllon feed tnk re processed so tht the filtrte is removed from the system nd sent to "Look See" holding tnk nd then lrger product storge tnk. As filtrte is removed by filtrtion nd the reject is sent bck to the feed tnk, the contents of the feed tnk re then The Permete flow rte will drop off, s the feed mteril in the heted storge tnk becomes more concentrted nd viscous. At the end of btch process, the Filter Pck is clened using clen diesel Fuel out of Clen in Plce tnk of bout 350 gllons. This is done by recirculting the diesel fuel with pressure nd vibrtion to dissolve foulnts tht hve found their wy to the membrne. Months of pilot testing nd lso ctul site conditions hve shown tht the membrne is ble to clen up very well nd the results from btch to btch re predictble nd stble. System Components TheV SEP system for this project ws configured for mnul mode where the opertor would initite ll operting sequences. The unit hs PLC (Progrmmble Logic Controller) which monitors pressure, flow rte, nd frequency. It lso provides the sfety in opertion by monitoring conditions nd inititing n lrm shut down should some configurble prmeters be reched. The control stnd contins the PLC, Opertor disply nd terminl strips for wiring connections to instrumenttion. The Filter Pck is mounted on the V SEP bse unit nd contins bout 1100 SF, (100m2), of membrne re nd is constructed out of high temperture mterils. The V SEP drive system, which supports nd vibrtes the Filter Pck is engineered using spce ge lloys nd mterils to withstnd the pplied stress from resonting frequency of bout 50 hz. Ech bse unit is fully stress tested nd the fctory prior to shipment. The V SEP drive system is mde up of the Seismic Mss, Torsion Spring, Eccentric Bering, nd Lower Pressure Plte. V SEP... A New Stndrd in Rpid Seprtion Pge 3
System Throughput NEW LOGIC RESEARCH Ech of the V SEP modulr units for this project is cpble of processing 20,000 gllon, (76m3) tnk of used oil in bout 1.75 dys. Since the units re modulr nd cn be used in prllel or in series, the number of V SEP's needed cn be clculted bsed on the mount of vilble used oil to be processed. At 90ºC the membrne flux is bout 8 GFD (Gllons per Squre Foot per Dy) or bout 13 LMH. System throughput is lso function of the extent to which the feed tnk is concentrted. At the beginning of Btch run the flux is bout 15 GFD nd flls to bout 4 GFD t the end of n 80% recovery of filtrte. The system throughput shown bove is for one V SEP unit operting t bout 90ºC. A second unit is being instlled in Portlnd which will double the throughput. In ddition, the second module will be configured for opertion t 120ºC. The difference in performnce between 90ºC nd 120ºC is lso doubled. So by running t higher temperture nd by using 2 V SEP units, the system throughput would be four times s high s tht shown. Project Economics Tble 1 below shows the potentil revenue from the instlltion of one V SEP module s currently configured in Portlnd. By dding the second mchine nd by operting t high temperture, the potentil revenues would lso be bout four times s much s shown in the tble below. Tble 1:Wste Oil Economic Anlysis One - 84" V SEP (1100SF) Feed 20 GPM 1179 ppm Clcium 0.70% Ash 0.36% Sulfur 80% Recovery As you cn see the economics re very compelling. The V SEP is uniquely energy efficient. It comes with 20 HP dive motor nd 10 HP Pump Motor. Opertors interfce nd mintennce limited to strting nd stopping the unit nd periodicl clening of the membrne fter btch run. The diesel fuel clening solvent cn be reused few times further sving costs. Not only tht the clening solution itself would hve residul vlue which is not shown below. The membrne replcement is the lrgest operting cost nd it is estimted tht the life of ech module is pproximtely 1-1.2 yers. Opertor cre cn improve the life nd dditionl svings could be yielded by hving the Filter Pck lst 2 yers or more. Description Expenses Vlue Added V SEP System Power Consumption $ 3,113 System Mintennce & Clening $ 15,095 Added Revenue from Oil Spred* *2,956,500 gl/yer x 0.30 $/gl $ 886,950/yer V SEP Permete 6 GPM 23 ppm Clcium 0.03% Ash 0.25% Sulfur Concentrte 14 GPM 1674 ppm Clcium 0.99% Ash 0.44% Sulfur The mrket for Oil nd therefore recycled oil is subject to fluctution bsed on supply nd demnd. The chief prmeter for economics nlysis of the V SEP process would be the spred in price between the boiler fuel grde oil which is the feed to the V SEP nd the Mrine Grde Diesel Fuel which is the by-product of the V SEP..The Tble below uses spred of $0.30 per gllon of filtrte produced. This spred will vry nd cn be s high t 0.50 $/gl nd s low s 0.10 $/gl. No mtter wht the spred, the economics for V SEP filtrtion of used wste oil re very compelling nd cn led to lmost immedite reliztion of profits from the opertions. In ddition to the vlue dded form of Mrine Grde Diesel Fuel which is currently under wy, process development is now being done to find even higher vlue dded products tht cn be produced from the V SEP including Lube Oil by reducing the Sulfur content nd color index. The possible uses of the V SEP filtrte re wide rnging nd nother use includes dust control. Additionl vlues nd uses for the filtrte will be found in coming months. V SEP... A New Stndrd in Rpid Seprtion Pge 4
Other V SEP Oil Applictions Oil/Wter seprtion covers brod spectrum of industril process opertions. There re mny techniques employed depending on the sitution. The oily wstewter ppliction cn be broken down into ctegories determined by the type of user of the V SEP nd the oil/ wter seprtion desired: Produce Wter - Drilling Opertions Bilge Wter from Drilling Derricks Used Coolnt from Mnufcturing Drilling Mud Wste Oil Hulers There is sying: Oil nd Wter don t mix. This is true, but, they cn exist s n emulsion. Oil is not soluble in wter but it cn exist evenly dispersed s globules in wter. The concentrtion of these globules is function of mixing or stirring. If llowed to stnd, the emulsion will seprte becuse oil is lighter thn wter, lthough, some mount of oil globules will remin in the wter. Another interesting fct is tht this emulsion cn exist two wys. If the concentrtion of Oil is less thn 50%, the wter will be the suspension fluid nd the oil will be the globule. A phse trnsition occurs if the oil content is more thn 50%. When this hppens, the oil is the suspension fluid nd the wter forms globules. For this reson, hydrophilic membrne seprtions will be possible only when the oil content is less thn 50%. Compny Profile New Logic Reserch, Inc. is privtely held corportion locted in Emeryville, CA pproximtely 10 miles from Sn Frncisco. New Logic mrkets, engineers, nd mnufctures membrne dewtering nd filtrtion systemsused for chemicl processing, wste strems, pulp & pper processing, mining opertions, nd drinking wterpplictions. The V SEP technology ws invented by Dr. Brd Culkin in 1985. Dr. Culkin holds Ph.D. in Chemicl Engineering nd ws formerly senior scientist with Dorr-Oliver Corportion. V SEP ws originlly developed s n economic system tht would efficiently seprte plsm from whole blood. The compny received contrct to produce membrne filtrtion prototype, which lter would be incorported into blood nlyzer system. Tody the compny hs dpted the technolgy to ddress the problems tht fce the old trditionl membrne systems nd offer compnies n efficient nd economicl wy to meet their process gols. The Series i (Industril) is full scle model nd comes in sizes rnging from 100 Squre Feet to 2000Squre Feet. These units re modulr nd cn be used in prllel or in s eries. Successful VGSEP systems re in plce now world wide including Europe, Centrl Asi, Southest Asi, Austrli, South Americ, Cnd, Mexico, nd of course here in the United Sttes. New Logic offers strong engineering stff to ssist customers in the design, development, nd testing of their filtrtion systems. After outgrowing two previous loctions in the lst ten yers, New Logic is now locted in 40,000 squre foot mnufcturing building in Emeryville. The plnt hs extensive equipment nd mchinery for mnufcturing nerly ll the V SEP prts. Mnufcturing, ssembly, nd testing of ll equipment tkes plce t this site. Systems nd procedures re in plce nd gered towrds high stndrds of qulity control nd hve met the cceptnce criteri of stringent pplictions such s nucler wste processing. For more informtion bout the Portlnd Wste Oil Instlltion or on VSEP technology nd its potentil ppliction to your process, plese contct: New Logic Reserch, Inc. 1295 67th Street Emeryville, CA 94608 (510) 655-7305 tel (510) 655-7307 fx e-mil: info@vsep.com web: www.vsep.com V SEP... A New Stndrd in Rpid Seprtion Pge 5