I have almost an unlimited supply of waste motor oil. I've filtered this and burned it in my truck for quite awhile last year but then stopped because my filtering system was more hassle then it was worth. Now I have a much better plan on how to set up my filtering capacity. I'm going to turn my shed into a filtering warehouse.

What all kinds of fuels can be used? I can get my hands on a lot of hydraulic fluid used motor oil and who knows what else I can get from my company.

 

Ok since that's gotten me no where. Here's another question.

What should I be filtering my new "fuel" down to micron wise? Right now I have it filtered down to 50 micron.

 

The fuel filter (if I remember correctly) is ten micron for the 7.3. You should use a filter tighter than that. I use a four micron filter. A centrifuge would be a good idea also if you are going to burn a lot of reclaimed oils.

There are a lot of oils that can be used as fuel in the 7.3, either as a supplement or a replacement. Motor oil, transmission fluid, and vegetable oil are some of the most common. You want to avoid silicates. They don't burn well and will cause issues. Watch for them in the synthetic oils.

Some oils have carcinogens and are bio hazards when burned. I found that out when researching the possibility of using transformer oil as fuel. Older transformer oils have strict regulations as to how they are handled because of the nasty stuff in them. I happened across 100+ gallons of newer transformer oil, and have been burning it up to 20% mix with diesel off and on for a while now.

Be careful. Waste oils can have contaminates and water in them which can destroy your injectors.

 

Alright thanks that's some good insight. I've yet to build a water separator into my system which is why I'm not burning it yet. I have 2 filters on my trucks fuel system right now just to make me feel better about the fuel I get at a diesel pump.
I will be filtering my new found fuel down lower then the 10 microns to save on fuel filters for my truck. Thanks for the tips much appreciated

 

Older transformer oils can be a hazard like stated, but that stuff is heavily controlled and regulated. The newer stuff is fine. Our transformers at work are certified to have less than 1 ppm of PCB's. So, as far as oils go, I wouldn't worry too much about synthetics, but would be cautious about burning a ton of it without adding some other types of Dino oil to it. Most oils should be fine as long as they are dry and not too thick. When working with hydraulic fluids, remember that there are new fluids out that are "enviro safe" and can actually be water based.

I would filter down to 2 micron and then centrifuge. Actually, that is what I do. I highly recommend a centrifuge. I filtered 8 gallons of WMO last week (75 mic, 15 mic, 10 mic + water separate, 2mic absolute) then centrifuged it for 36 hours and still pulled 1/4" of sediment out of the oil with the fuge.

 

I've been filtering wmo I went from 200 micron to 100 to 50 and that's where I stand now until I get some smaller micron filters.
I'm not going to burn transformer oil so that's not a worry.
What's suggested to add to wmo to make it a little thinner? I anticipate a drop in fuel pressure because it's thicker then diesel.
As stated above I will not be burning anything but diesel until I get my gauges back in the truck and have better base line numbers to work with.

 

Cut your WMO with diesel to thin it out. At a 50/50 mix you shouldn't see any drop in fuel pressure.

 

Just going to point out that if you want the viscosity of diesel from something thicker, you cannot cut the thicker oil with diesel and expect it to be the same. Cut it with regular unleaded gasoline. It needs to be thinner. Plus, the whole point of doing this is to save money right? In my opinion, it would be wasteful to cut with that amount of diesel when you can get a better product for less when cutting with rug. Just so you know, there is TONS of info on this at oilburners. Net and thedieselstop .com

 

I've read about guys mixing 80% wmo with 20% gasoline.
I'll be looking at that site thanks