I just need to come up with a way of filtering the engine oil properly. The hydraulic oil is quite clean in comparison.
The reason I'm looking at this is because used engine oil is far more readily available, and in greater quantities, than used hydraulic oil. Virtually every local indy service garage has told me that they have to pay to get rid and would let me have it for nothing. Most of them are happy as I'd be taking it away and not being paid so there is no profit in dumping it.
One place even said that it would do me free MOTs if I could help them to cut back on disposal costs.
My wife thinks I've gone crazy but I reckon if I can crack the filtration and mixing process it's a great way of saving money and recycling some obnoxious stuff at the same time.
Don't be TOO fussy about filtration.
Stage one is to let it settle out, and any water and hard bits can drop to the bottom.
Stage two is to get it out of your holding tank and through some filters.
Your local hydraulics people will have plenty good kit, and you could ask for two big filters (big = lasts longer) joined in SERIES (that's one after the other). The first filter could be one that stops everything bigger than 25 microns, and the second one stops anything bigger than 10 microns. Your hydraulic man will know. Filtering in two stages is a good principle.
The BLACK in engine oil is way too small to filter out and is nice carbon black, a perfectly good fuel and lubricant. Think of it like a teaspoonful of laser toner mixed in a litre of oil.
After that the oil is fit to lob into the fuel tank, and I reckon you could start with a 1 : 4 brew (1 oil to 4 diesel) and see how it goes.
Of course, if you had a nice big can full of filtered engine oil and added 10% to 15% kerosene to thin it down to diesel viscosity more or less, you wouldn't need any diesel fuel at all. Whilst PETROL is not quite as good a thinning agent as kerosene, it is TAX PAID, and that makes the oil-petrol brew legal as I see it.
You would be far from alone ....
CharlesY
