Filtering VS centrifuge

[symbols]

Ok, so I recently purchased a CF from PAbiodiesel supply. I am using waste ATF as fuel and have been using the multi filter process to clean my oil. I have been concerned that I wasn't doing a good enough job and I might have issues in the long run. So with that being said I pulled the trigger on a CF kit. I wanted something that was as close to self contained and self operating as I could get without spending thousands of $$$ and this kit seems to work great for me so far.

My previous process included filtering 4 times. 100 micron, 10 micron, 2 micron, and 2 micron. I was not heating the oil to remove water but I was using a waterblock filter and pulling oil from about 4-6" off the bottom after settling for a couple days.

So my first experiment included cfing the oil that I had filtered through my old process. Please keep in mind this 50 gals of oil had about 2 gals of diesel in it and it also had about 2-4 gals of oil only filtered through a 100 micron filter. There was also a light coat of rust on the inside of the barrel I'm using for the CF. This oil was also pretty clean and still had an obvious red tint to it so it wasn't real bad to begin with. I didn't collect as much sludge as I thought but the simple fact that I did get a good amount of nasty sludge built up in my rotor tells me it was worth every penny. I also noticed that there was a significant buildup of water on the bottom side of the lid after heating but is now gone after accidentally heating the oil to 225 degs. I will be doing this one more time as a comparison. PICS TO COME!

My next experiment was to CF 50 gals of the bulk oil that has only gone through a 100 micron filter as a comparison to the previously filtered oil. Please keep in mind this barrel also has a light coat of rust but has no added diesel in it. I will also be doing this one more time as a comparison. Not sure how much sludge I'll get on this yet as I will be doing that tonight. PICS TO COME!

Here is my old filtering setup minus the 100 micron filter not shown

Getting ready to cut holes in drums for cf fittings

More holes

[Jarrod B]

how long have you been running atf?

[symbols]

Been running ATF for about 8k miles now. I've actually been recycling my old oil from oil changes for a couple years though. I just started doing this full time since I took a big pay cut about 6 months ago.

[vegginpsd]

Just for clarity, is this test being run with a raw power CF or a Dieselcraft?

[symbols]

Not sure what you mean. It's under pump pressure if that's what your asking

On a side note I have pics to post but I can't find the dang USB cable for the camera

[vegginpsd]

Originally Posted by vegginpsd

Just for clarity, is this test being run with a raw power CF or a Dieselcraft?

So it is driven by the pressureized oil?

....And not a gravity feed.........

[symbols]

Yes, pressurized oil.

I think the GF accidentally took my cable so it may take me a couple days to get the pics up now.

[ridiculously_necessary]

Originally Posted by symbols

Yes, pressurized oil.

I think the GF accidentally took my cable so it may take me a couple days to get the pics up now.

she's jelous of your free fuel hobby.

[symbols]

Originally Posted by ridiculously_necessary

she's jelous of your free fuel hobby.

Well I can't find the dang cord. I guess I lost it. Ya'll are gonna just have to deal with camera phone pics for now.

Here is the CF's hooked up and ready to go


This is all I got out of the prefiltered oil after running for about 6 hours


This is all I got out of the bulk oil that has only been through a 100 micron filter and after about 8 hours of cf


Now the consistency of the sludge collected was very different as you can see. At first they are both very sticky with the feel of sticky tack. Then later the prefiltered batch dried out and turned into a cake like texture. The second batch (100 micron filtered only) has basically turned back into a liquid. My concern is that I actually got more out of the batch that was prefiltered 4 times.

Through deductive reasoning I have come to the assumption that the ATF and it's high detergent content is actually cleaning the sludge from the CF as it goes through the process.

This is only my assumption as when I was first started playing with the new system I had something weird happen. I had CF'd the prefiltered batch for about 2 hours and decided to check the rotor for contaminants. When I pulled the rotor it was a very nasty/sticky sludge inside that was actually very hard to clean. After getting frustrated I decided to just leave it in there since I was going to be CF'ing for another couple hours anyway and it wasn't enough to affect anything. Well I got occupied with something else and ended up leaving it to sit overnight. The next day the rotor was completely clean as if elves had come in during the night and cleaned it for me. I literally could not wipe this stuff out. I even used brake cleaner to try and break it down but it would only come out by scraping with a screwdriver yet somehow after sitting overnight over heated ATF it was clean as a whistle.

Any thoughts?

[vegginpsd]

You have in my opinion discovered the shortcomings of multiple pass CF's and why I feel they are far less effective than a simgle pass system.

1. There is no way to be certain that all of the contents are cleaned to the same degree. All that is certain, however, that some feedstock had circulated in the barrel for a specified ammount of time.

2. The contaminants that may have been collected are now released into the catch barrel, in effect wasting the energy and effort of cycling it for that long.

3. Is the pump of sufficient power to keep claimed contaminants pushed to the outer edge of the rotor wall? I cannot imagine it being able to get to the center for escape if it was.

4. refering to #3, there is no way to control flow rate. That would be troubling for me.



Maybe try running each barrel in series, with like 4 barrels and 4 cf's. At least that way what you are able to claim will not contaminate already "cleaned" feedstock


Just my $.02 though.