SOR Re-refining Process

Re-refining Used Lubricating Oil

More than 500 million litres of Lubricating Oil is sold in Australia each year and at least 230 million litres is collected for recycling and reuse. Used Oil becomes unfit for further use because of accumulating contaminants and the loss of performance from oil additives. Re-refining and energy recovery by burning at high temperatures are recognised as methods of disposal that are environmentally acceptable. Using re-refined oil helps reduce the depletion of the worlds oil reserves. Re-refining oil supports the growing trend towards responsible recycling.

Southern Oil Refineries Pty Ltd re-refines Used Lubrication Oils into Lubrication Base Oils and Fuel Oils.
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Used Oil Product Stewardship

The objectives of the Used Oil Product Stewardship program are to: Ensure the environmentally sustainable management, re-refining and reuse of used oil by supporting economic recycling options through product stewardship arrangements in partnership with oil producers and recyclers Ensure that oil producers progressively assume the costs of product stewardship and environmentally sustainable practices for used oil. Increase the recovery rate of waste thus avoiding environmentally damaging disposal of used oil. Ensure the products manufactured from waste oil meet the relevant Commonwealth health and environmental standards. Levy and subsidy schemes have been developed whereby all new lube products are levied to create a pool of funds to be applied to collection and reprocessing costs. Benefits are paid to used oil recyclers in proportion to the volume and quality of materials they recycle to the market. Southern Oil Refineries is the first and currently the only company in Australia to produce a fully re-refined (lube to lube) base oils. 3

Product Stewardship Program

Lubricant Producers
(domestic)

PSO levy
(excise)

Lubricant Importer

Recyclers:
Products for sale

oil enters the market Users:

purchase products for use

benefit claimed by Recyclers after sale

recovered

used oil

lost used oil (waste oil)

Used Oil Collection

Collecting used oil removes used, spent or unwanted contaminants eliminating the chance of environmental damage. This is the first step in the process of producing lube oil products from Southern Oil with equivalent or better specifications than original virgin lube oils. Used Oil is stored by workshops, industrial sites and collection stations throughout Australia. Contractors collect the oil and store it to be sampled and tested to make sure it is suitable for re-refining. It is transported by road tankers to Southern Oils Refinery at Wagga Wagga NSW.

Contaminants

Southern Oils re-refining process is based on the fact that molecules in lubricating oils are very stable. The base oil doesnt lose its molecular structure or lubricating properties after prolonged use. Its effectiveness as a lubricant in vehicles and machinery reduces with time, because additives degrade and contaminants build up. The chemical additives which are blended with the base oil to give special performance characteristics are gradually exhausted. By removing the contaminants through re-refining and replenishing the additives, the lubricants from re-refined oils regain the same performance characteristics as the original lubricant.

Composition of Used Oil

BASE OIL The main component of Lube Oil. It does not wear out, but simply becomes dirty. DEPLETED ADDITIVES The additives in the lube oil lose their performance characteristics. The main contaminants are: WATER - Fuel burns to CO2 and H2O. When an engine is cold the water created can pass through to the lube oil. FUEL Unburnt petrol / diesel passes through to the lube oil during engine start-ups. CARBON Forms as a result of incomplete combustion when an engine is warming up and passes through to the lube oil. DUST Small particles pass into the engine through the air breather. METALS Due to normal engine component wear. OXIDATION PRODUCTS Additive chemicals at elevated temperatures in the presence of oxygen can oxidise forming corrosive acids.
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Used Oil Reception

On arrival at the refinery the road tanker with 44,000 litres of used oil is tested for flash and chlorine to ensure there is not a high content of flammable fuel or solvents in the load.The Used Oil load is rejected if these tests fail. The road tanker is unloaded as soon as the flash test is passed. The Used Oil is continuously sampled as it is pumped from the road tanker to the Guard Tanks where it is quarantined for analysis to ensure the load meets SORs supply specifications such as for viscosity and water content. After passing analysis the Used Oil is accepted and pumped to the Used Oil Refinery Feed Tanks. If the analysis fails to meet the required specifications, the load is pumped
from the Guard Tank and returned to the supplier for disposal.

Used Oil Reception

Used Oil Guard Tanks INITIAL SAMPLE FOR FLASH TEST PRIOR TO UNLOADING CONTINUOUS SAMPLE FOR INTAKE SPECIFICATIONS Used Oil Feed Tanks

QUARANTINE TANKS USED OIL STORAGE

Refinery Production Yields

Water ~10% 6,500 litres / day
Light Fuel Oil ~5% 3,000 litres / day (naphtha and petrol diluents)

Used Oil
Daily Capacity ~ 65,000 litres / day

Gas Oil ~10% 6,500 litres / day (diesel diluents) Light Lube Distillate ~37% 24,000 litres / day

Heavy Lube Distillate ~16% 10,500 litres / day

Heavy Fuel Oil ~2% 1,500 litres / day Residue ~20% 13,000 litres / day
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Dewatering & Evaporation Sections

The used oil feed at a rate of approx. 65,000 litres / day is pretreated with caustic to reduce process fouling and help lower the acidity of the offgas. The Used Oil is heated in the Dewatering Vessel. Water and Light Fuel Oil are distilled from the Dewatering Vessel, condensed and then separated. The Light Fuel Oil is pumped to storage and sold as a furnace fuel. The remaining defueled dry oil is directly fed to the Pre-flash Evaporator where it is heated under a vacuum. The Gas Oil and the first cut of the Lube Distillate fractions are evaporated in the Pre-flash Vessel, condensed and fed directly to the Fractionation Column. The remaining Lube Distillate and Residue fractions in the Pre-flash Vessel are fed to the Wiped Film Evaporator which are heated, also under a vacuum. The second cut of the Lube Distillate is evaporated in the Wiped Film Evaporator, condensed and joins the first cut as Distillate Feed to the Fractionation column. The remaining Residue from the Wiped Film Evaporator is pumped to storage and used offsite as kiln fuel.

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Dewatering & Evaporation Sections

WATER ~ 5% & OFF GAS (INCINERATED) LIGHT FUEL OIL ~ 5% TO STORAGE (SALES) Pre-flash Evaporator (vacuum) OFF GAS (INCINIRATED) USED OIL FEED

CAUSTIC INJECTION Caustic Treatment

Dewatering

FRACTIONATOR FEED

Wiped Film Evaporator (vacuum) EVAPORATOR FEED RESIDUE TO STORAGE (DISPOSAL)

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Fractionation & Solvent Extraction Sections

The combined Distillates from the Evaporators are fed directly to the Fractionation Column where they are separated into four fractions by vacuum distillation at temperatures from 20 oC to 300 oC. The produced fractions are Gas Oil, Light Lube Distillate, Heavy Lube Distillate and Heavy Fuel Oil. The Gas Oil and Heavy Fuel are pumped to storage and sold as furnace fuels. The Light and Heavy Lube Distillates are pumped to intermediate storage as feed supply for Solvent Extraction Treatment. The Light and Heavy Lube Distillates are individually fed to the Solvent Extraction Column where they counter flow with Solvent (NMP) which removes the last of contaminants (Extract) I.e. coloured, odorous, and polar components. This is necessary to meet Product Stewardship regulations which require the Re-refined Lube Base Oil specifications to be equivalent to Virgin Lube Base Oils. The solvent treated Lube Distillate requires further processing to recover entrained solvent before pumping to storage to be sold as Lube Base Oil. The Solvent that has absorbed Extract from the Lube Distillate also requires further processing to be recovered. The Extract is pumped to Heavy Fuel Oil storage.
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Fractionation & Solvent Extraction Sections

OFF GAS (INCINERATED) LIGHT BASE OIL TO STORAGE (SALES) ~ 20 oC HEAVY BASE OIL TO STORAGE (SALES)

GAS OIL ~ 10% TO STORAGE (SALES)

SOLVENT

~ 150 oC FRACTIONATOR FEED Fractionation (vacuum)

LIGHT LUBE ~ 37% DISTILLATE Storage Tanks Solvent Extraction DISTILLATE HEAVY LUBE ~ 16% FEED Storage Tanks EXTRACT OIL TO HEAVY FUEL OIL STORAGE DISTILLATE

~ 300 oC

HEAVY FUEL OIL ~ 2% TO STORAGE (SALES)

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Product Load Outs

Products from the Re-refining process are stored in dedicated tanks. Samples are taken from each tank to ensure they meet to specifications. An on site laboratory tests various quality parameters of each sample. The Light Base Oil (SN150) and Heavy Base Oil (SN300) require a Certificate of Analysis (C of A) from the laboratory to verify the products meet the customers required specifications.

A sample is taken of the load out to the road tanker for the customer purchasing the product along with a copy of the C of A.

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Light Fuel Oil

Product Load Outs

Fuel Oils SALES

Gas Oil

Heavy Fuel Oil

Residue

Residue

DISPOSAL

Light Base Oil

(SN 150)

Base Oils Heavy Base Oil

(SN 300)

SALES

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