Recycling Process of Gasoline Engine Oil (LUKOIL 20W50) Using Organic Solvents

الملخص

Used engine oil generally contains environmentally harmful pollutants, so it should not be disposed of or discarded randomly. It is not possible to reuse this oil without recycling it because its specifications change when it is used in different engine operating conditions. As a result, the goal of this study is to recycle a particular kind of locally accessible oil known as "LUKOIL 20W50" by a solvent extraction using a combination of toluene and methanol (in equal amounts) at room temperature. The ratio of used oil to composite solvents was chosen as 2:3 after several tests to determine the appropriate ratio.                                                                                            

The recycling process comprised three stages: filtration using a Büchner funnel to remove the solid contaminants, followed by solvent extraction of the oil, and finally the adsorption process using aluminum oxide to restore the oil color.                                                                           

Several physicochemical tests, including specific gravity (S.G.), kinematic viscosity (K.V.), flash point (F.P) and density (ρ) were performed on samples of fresh and used oil to monitor the changes induced by the treatment process. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach to oil recycling for reuse and its compliance with environmental and technical standards. This recycling process offers a valuable contribution to resource conservation and environmental protection by effectively reusing waste engine oil.                 

Furthermore, a simulation of the extraction process was carried out using Aspen HYSYS V11.1.The results obtained from the simulation were highly consistent with the experimental results with an inaccuracy of less than 1%.