Nifty Way To Handle Waste Oil Storage

Nifty Way To Handle Waste Oil Storage ENERGY Waste Oil 33-6-39 Nate Regier, Sutton, Alaska, works at a Bible camp in Alaska where he's in charge of the auto shop. He recently sent FARM SHOW photos of a system he came up with to collect waste oil in the shop. "I built it mostly from stuff I had laying around and am happy how it turned out. I spent only about $45," says Regier. "We burn waste oil for heat, and in the past, handling the oil was always a messy job. We had to carry the oil upstairs by hand and dump it into a storage tank. I wanted an easier way to catch oil with less mess, and to strain the oil for dirt and separate out any water in it." Regier needed a way to catch used oil under a car lift. He cut off the top one third of a 55-gal. drum to make a big funnel. The funnel mounts on a telescoping pipe on top of a used air compressor. The funnel is equipped with an expanded metal screen and furnace filter that takes out any big chunks in the oil. The oil drains down a 1-in. dia. hose to the air compressor tank through a 1/4-turn ball valve. A clear 1/2-in. dia. hose leads from the compressor tank through a 1/4-ball valve and back to the top of the funnel. It allows air from the compressor tank to escape and also serves as a sight gauge so Regier knows when the tank should be emptied. To empty the air compressor tank, he inserted a 1/2-in. dia. pipe to within 1/4 in. of the bottom of the tank and welded the pipe in place. He attached a hydraulic quick coupler to it, along with an air fitting, pressure regulator, and check valve. "I bought 30 ft. of service station hose -because it can take light pressure and is oil resistant - and ran it to another room to a waste oil tank," says Regier. "There, I run the oil through a filter and into the tank. I leave the coupler on the air compressor tank unhooked until the tank is full, which allows me to wheel the tank around. When I need to empty the tank, I just hook it up to the hose, close the valve to the funnel and sight gauge, and then hook up the air hose to the air coupler. "I keep the air pressure in the compressor tank set at about 20 psi. It only takes two to three minutes to empty the tank. "I pull the oil that we use for our heater off the bottom of the storage tank, so I built a frac or separating tank in line before it goes to the pump. This allows me to bleed any water or antifreeze. I like this method better than using a suction tube for the heater because I don't have to deal with the hassle of a foot valve in the tank." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Nate Regier, 64741 S. Victory Rd., Sutton, Alaska 99674 (ph 907 745-1931 or 907 745-4203; foundmaggie@juno.com).

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