Green Refining
Rerefining of used oils and CO2 emissions
Rerefining or Used Oils is substantially improving the Carbon Emission footprint of the lubricant production industry, contributing to a world circular economy and to the conservation of natural resources and to the protection of environment in many ways.
Gas Emissions and How rerefining is reducing the Greenhouse Gases to the atmosphere.
In order to produce virgin Base Oils, we start from Crude Oil. It is easily understood that recycling of the already existing Used Lubricant Oils instead of consuming the natural resources by using crude oil for their production, is enhancing sustainability of natural resources.
Then, the production of Base Oils from Crude Oil, involves a series of operations as drilling for production of Crude Oil, Transportation and Storage of Crude, Distillation of Crude Oil and a series of treatments of the crude oils distillates to become Base Oils. All these operations, on top of other impacts on the environment, are intense energy demanding and therefore consume fuel thus resulting in emission of CO2 to the atmosphere.
Re-refining of Used Oils, because it is starting from already existing lubricants is avoiding many of the procedures required for the production of virgin Base Oil. The result is to have a much lower emissions of CO2 and other harmful greenhouse gases.
Recent studies have concluded that the production of Base Oils by rerefining compared to production from crude oil results in:
- Less emissions of CO2 by 70%
- Less emissions of particles by 90%
The rerefined Base Oils, are at least equivalent in the quality and the specifications to the virgin Base Oils.
Conclusion: Rerefining reduces our dependence on precious natural resources and has a crucial contribution to the fighting against climate change.
Rerefining and pollution of land and sea.
The reduction of gas emissions is crucial but the Used Oils have also other impacts on the environment if they are not properly managed and recycled.
In fact, the Used Oils that are not rerefined will either be burned as fuel or will find their way into the land, rivers and the sea.
The Used Oils contain various dangerous substances like heavy metals, PCBs and PNAs. Some of them are incorporated into the lubricant during blending of the Base Oils with chemical additives to produce the various types of lubricating oils. Others are created under the high temperatures and pressures inside the engines.
When the Used Oil contaminates the soil, it will contact with water and spread, contaminating also drinking water. When plants are grown in soil or fed by water contaminated by ULO pollutants, they absorb (bioaccumulate) high concentrations of heavy metals. This results to the poisoning of the food chain, which ultimately affects human health.
When Used Oils end up into the sea there are similar problems. In addition, Used Oils in the sea tend to form a very thin layer in the surface of the water. One litter of Oil can cover about 8000-10000 m2 of water. Also 1 Kg of biodegradable oil will consume 2.6 Kg of oxygen or about the quantity of oxygen contained in 290 m3 of water. The hypoxia (O2 starvation) of the waters becomes even worse, due to the oil film, restricting the atmospheric O2 to dissolve in the water and thus affecting the marine life.
Conclusion: The collection and recycling of Used Oils is crucial for protecting land and sea from severe pollution.