The Dechlorination of Used Oil Products

ABSTRACT More than 1.3 billion gallons of used lubricants are generated in the United States annually, but only about 67 million gallons reach recyclers to be re-refined into clean lubricants. The rest is burned as a fuel or disposed of. Annually, almost 500 million gallons of used lubricating oil are injected directly into the environment through landfills or disposed of by other methods. Because there is always a need to produce cleaner, higher quality oils from used oil recycling processes, the main objective of this study was to produce a low-chloride product from various used oil sources. The effect of processing conditions on the removal of chlorides from organic and inorganic components in the oil was also studied. This study has shown that, by the innovative use of chemical and thermal treatment, a high-quality fuel oil can be obtained from a wide variety of used oil sources. Satisfactory dechlorination and ash removal from waste oil is optimized when each step influences a following step, leading...