Question about burning waste oil

[Bullony13]

I have a wood stove made out of a 55 gallon barrel that I am converting into a wood heater for my hot tub. I allways have a lot of dirty motor oil I need to get rid of, it would be nice if I could just burn it. I don't want to make a full-on oil stove, I just want to supplement my wood burning. If I was to set it up so that a small drip of oil dripped onto a wood fire, would that burn relatively cleanly? I'm thinking I'll make a small reservoir out of steel pipe to fill with oil, with a valve on the end just slightly cracked open dripping on the fire.

[tecker]

   Lots of stuff in that oil to keep it from burning so you might just recycle it .That's by far the best use for it. It's gonna burn alright and a little on the wood would gasify ok , but the oil would get on everything and there is always the chance for a leak. Just seems like something that would take watching or a pretty involved automation.(something to atomize it maybe . A slow drip seems like it could migrate out of the fire box. On the otherhand I use rotted wood to soke up old cooking oil for fires in the morning before I go to work starts fast burns hot and fast and I don't have to leave a three or four hour smoldering mess in the stove.

[wildbill hickup]

Yes waste oil can suppliment your fire. Some things to concider though. First is that waste motor oil contains many toxins that will be released into the air. Nasty emmisions even if it appears to be burning clean.

Second if I understand your reservoir idea it will go in the fire, this may not be such a hot idea(no pun intended). As heat and pressure build inside the pipe your drip will turn into a high pressure stream(if there is water in the oil this will add to the pressure) turning your pipe into an uncontrolable blow torch(or worse). This would be OK and deffinatly would produce heat BUT if something were to go wrong you could have a very scairy situation on your hands. Also waste motor oil usually contains varying amounts of gasoline another potenualy nasty situation.

I have seen a few oil drip systems but reservoir and control valve always outside the stove. Waste veggy oil burns much cleaner than motor oil. Many restarants will give it to you. As mentioned above recycling the motor oil is best. For safty's sake, no matter what you use for oil I'd keep the res. out of the fire. The thought of a pipe full of boiling oil right at(or above) flash point under pressure rupturing and exposed to oxygen, well I wouldn't want to be there.

If I have misunderstood your design please forgive the above rant, just be careful!!

WIldbill

[RobC]

I heat a 2000 square ft shop with a waste oil stove I built ten years ago. It works good. One thing I do is add 20% diesel to the waste oil. I tryed a drip system but it didn't work. Next I tryed a positive displacement pump to meter in the oil and it has worked great ever since. The only maintence this stove requires is that that the clinker be cleaned out once a month and a new burner pot every 3 months. the burner pots are made from scrap brake drums so their free. Some people I know though burn there waste oil the same way that you want to and it works all right as long as your willing to keep an eye on it. My system had to be somewhat automated as I have to go for parts and leave it running. RobC    

[KHB1]

Just do a waste oil search on google and take your pick, I just did and got 154,000 hits im going to build one after I make up my mind which one would be best for my needs. KHB1

[zmoz]

I don't understand why people allways try to say that used motor oil doesn't burn very well or cleanly. It burns GREAT, why recycle it when you can turn it into free heat? Motor oil doesn't resist burning when it's put onto a hot fire. Sure, WVO has a lower flash point, but the flash point of motor oil is around 400 degrees; which of course is much lower than the temperature of a good wood fire. There are plenty of commercially available waste motor oil burners, these would not exist if motor oil did not burn well or cleanly. What do you think the recyclers do with the oil? They burn it...mostly in large ships.

As for the original question, yes, I think that would work quite well. I burn alot of wood and cardboard outside just to get rid of it. I keep a bottle of used oil near the fire and give it a squirt occasionally, it burns quickly and cleanly.

[troy]

Dear Zmoz,

This really has to do with how you define "clean".

The issue some people are concerned about has to do with heavy metal contamination.  WMO does have some heavy metals in there.  Where does the zinc and the cadmium and the lead go when you you burn it?  Into the air of course, with some left over in the ashes.

So no one who has experience with burning motor oil is really suggesting that it does not combust well, just that there is stuff coming out of the flue that you shouldn't breath 24/7.

Most chemists will tell you that the ultimate solution to pollution is dilution.  So the key is to avoid burning 10,000 gallons a day in a residential neighborhood.  I don't see a problem with a few gallons a day.

Best regards,

troy

[zmoz]

Just remember that most oil which is "recycled" is burned in one way or another, so you're not doing the environment any favors by not burning it efficiently yourself...

[DERFMOOSE]

Here is one for you Her in Sask they are dumping it down the potash mines to keepthe ground from fallin in

[TERRYWGIPE]

A BUDDY OF MINE SOKES OLD ROLED UP NEWSPAPERS IN WAST OIL FROM HIS AUTO REPAIR SHOP.

HE HEATS HIS HUNTING CABIN BY BURNING THEM LIKE WOOD JUST KEEP THE DOORS ON THE WOODBURNER CLOSED THE FUMES SUCK.

TERRY

[trailerguy]

I have a wood stove in my shop, with a drip system for waste oil. The toxins in waste oil are no worse than those found in wood. I start a wood fire and after I have a good bed of coals going I start the oil drip. A gallon of oil seems to produce about the same amount of heat as a 1/2 wheel barrow full of wood, and I don't have as much charcoal burried in the ashes. That's probably due to a hotter fire while the oil burns. Why give the BTU's away to the recycler? Have you ever looked around at JIFFY LUBE? The one in our town recycles into a tank, hooked to a waste oil heater that heats the shop .

[Psycogeek]

you could not do that here

Since its implementation on January 1, 1987, California's Management of Used Oil Act (SB 86) has prohibited the disposal of used oil by discharge to sewers, drainage systems, surface or groundwaters, water courses or marine waters, by domestic incineration or burning as a fuel, or by deposit on land, unless otherwise authorized by law

but they are right, 1/2 of it is burned, after they filter out the heavy metals.

http://www.synlube.com/usedoil.htm#Why%20is%20Used%20Oil:%20"Hazardous%20Waste"?

big long diatribe on it from 8 YEARS ago, since then there are more advancements.

(note: i am not advocating thier lube, nor do i think its claims are valid)

basically because LUBE oil is ONE of the things made from crude, that is plentifull compared to the almighty gasoline, Lube from Crude is more a BY-Product than a money maker.

so putting lube oil "back into a cracker", as crude would, isnt going to get them the $$$ so its off to the trash with it.

[Vee24]

I was planning on making all my woodburning stoves from 55 gallon drums until I learned why the EPA has new standards.  This page will show you how you can burn cleaner and hotter. http://www.epa.gov/woodstoves/technical.html

This guy had the same idea with his grate for hotter and cleaner burning. http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/1978_January_February/Build_aPap_O_Firein_Your_Fireplace__an
d_Save_on_Heating_Dollars

I had also planned on soaking newspapers in motor oil, but since finding this site, veggie oil may be better.  If I come across motor oil instead of veggie oil, I won't feel too bad with my EPA approved stove.