Synthetic oil & waste oil burners

[Ashful]

A friend of a friend has been taking all of my waste oil for several years, and when I called to inquire if he could take hydraulic oil recently, he answered “as long as it’s not synthetic.” I hesitated to tell him that an increasing fraction of the used motor oil I’ve been giving him each year is synthetic.

What’s the verdict on burning synthetic oils in waste oil burners? If it’s a no-go, how’s that going to change the landscape, for manufacturers and users of these systems?

 

[salecker]

Mine will burn anything that is flammable,and gets through the filters.I have never had a known big amount of synthetic oil,but i have run everything that i have accumulated in 20 yrs through mine and have only had an issue once.
I had something cause the oil in the tank to turn into a thin pudding form.I had to drain the tank through a double layer of window screen to break it up.I then mixed a little diesel with it after it broke up and was able to burn the mix.
Mine is a Reznor i would buy another no problem.

 

[Highbeam]

It tastes the same!?

 

[blades]

If you ever paid any attention to Mother Earth News back in the day, there was a set of plans on how to build a waste oil burner from a hot water tank. A while back they stopped offering the plans due to the changes in the chemical composition of common automotive oils, I do not remember the specifics but there is an article about it. On units like the Reznor the companies have made changes to account for this.
Oil turned to pudding- sounds like you got some fuel oil that had been removed from a tank being taken out- it is common to added chemicals to the tank that does just that- litterally turns it into Jello like substance. including the sludge at the bottom of tank. makes for a much cleaner removal and less chance of hazmat problems.

 

[salecker]

Oil turned to pudding- sounds like you got some fuel oil that had been removed from a tank being taken out- it is common to added chemicals to the tank that does just that- litterally turns it into Jello like substance. including the sludge at the bottom of tank. makes for a much cleaner removal and less chance of hazmat problems.

I don't think it could have been that.There is nobody around here that would use a chemical like that.That happened about 15 yrs ago.Diesel is too expensive for anyone to not salvage the fuel for reuse.Plus in our small town i am also the fuel delivery guy,and know when someone changes a tank.
I think it may have been paint and painting solutions that were dumped into a barrel that i got from a company that was changing their cement trucks and repainting them.

 

[Bob Rohr]

I used to install Clean Burn waste oil boilers. They explained that the flash point of synthetics is much higher, so they basically cranked up those preheaters in the block before the oil hit the burner to help it light off.

It a good idea to know where the waste oil comes from. A local Ford New Holland dealer I installed years ago seemed to get a lot of antifreeze mixed in with drain oil. The burners didn't like that so well.

I think the reason waste oil burning comes under so much scrutiny is the crap folks try to burn, paints, cleaning fluids, anything that will light off.

Same with OWF owners burning tires, garbage and old diapers, not so much fun living downwind.

Brand new oil doesn't burn so well either I learned with my wood boiler