by Used motor oil is a recyclable resource. When drained from an engine during an oil change, used oil contains potential energy and material that can be recovered for continued use. However, if improperly disposed of down drains or in trash cans, used oil can pollute water and land. Recycling used oil helps conserve resources and protects the environment.
Collecting Used Oil
The first step in the oil recycling process is collection. Many auto parts stores, repair shops, and local government centers accept used oil dropped off by do-it-yourself changers. Larger oil change businesses have holding tanks to temporarily store waste oil before it is picked up by recycling haulers. Some community programs even offer curbside collection of used oil. Making used Automotive Oil Recycling easy to dispose of properly encourages more people to recycle their old motor oil rather than contaminate the environment.
Transporting and Storing Oil
After collection, used oil is transported in vacuumed tanker trucks to be processed. The tanks are sealed tightly to prevent leaks. Automotive oil recycling facilities have large capacity storage tanks to hold collected oil until it is ready for further treatment. Proper storage is important to keep recycled oil clean and maximize its potential to be reused.
Filtering and Separating
At a recycling plant, the first step is filtering used Automotive Oil Recycling to remove water and solid particles like road grime. Additional gravity separation extracts any remaining water. The filtered oil is then further separated using sophisticated distillation processes that divide it into various ‘cuts,’ or chemical components, based on boiling points.
Re-refining into Base Oils
The large distillation units essentially re-refine used oil back into base lube oils suitable for lubrication. Heat causes the various molecular pieces that make up used oil to separate from each other. Each cut undergoes additional processing like chemical treating or clay filtering to remove impurities and product clean base oil stocks. Some fractions can even be further refined into higher-value products.
Recycled Oil Products
Once re-refined, the automotive oil recycling re-enter the as a substitute for crude oil-derived versions. Recycled motor oil may be used to manufacture new lubricating oils, greases, hydraulic fluids, or other industrial applications. Using recycled oil conserves nonrenewable crude oil resources and avoids introducing more waste motor oil into the environment. Over 75% of collected used oil can be recycled for continued use.
Automotive oil recycling keeps valuable material and energy out of landfills and incinerators to benefit the environment and economy. It takes used oil that would otherwise be trash and transforms it through re-refining back into quality base lubricants. Convenient collection ensures old motor oil gets a second life rather than polluting the water or soil.Together these steps complete the recycling loop to reduce waste and bolster dwindling crude oil supplies through reuse of post-consumer products. Used oil recycling preserves resources for future generations.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
