Filtering heating oil/Paraffin.

[Rorschach]

I need a cheap and easy solution for filtering some mucky heating oil so I can run it in a high efficiency heater.

My first thought was a simple coffee filter but I was wonder if this would be fine enough as coffee still has a murkiness to it at the bottom of the cup so they are clearly not perfect. Second thought was to cut up a Henry Hepaflo hoover bag as these filter to 0.3 micron but this might be too fine/overkill and I am not even sure if the liquid would flow through it fast enough to be practical.

Any advice gladly accepted.

 

[Sideways]

Not too fine.
I tried a coffee filter to strain diesel used for degreasing.
The fine sediment blocked the filter in moments and after waiting minutes for even an eggcup full to pass through, I got bored and gave up.
There's probably a fine wire mesh that is the right size for the job but can you not just let it settle for a couple of days then pour or syphon the clean layer off the top and leave the sludge behind ?

 

[Cabinetman]

What about an oil filter from a car or a truck, if it’s really bad put it through a mesh filter first. Ian

 

[artie]

How many gallons do you need to filter?

If it's only a few, buy a bag of kittty litter and put it in a bucket with a few holes in the bottom let gravity do the work.

If it's a lot, go to the breakers yard and buy a diesel lift pump ( not the injector pump) + filter and housing and pump it through .

 

[Robbo3]

Filter it through several layers of ladies tights or stockings.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Google "heating oil filter". Loads available.

Usually fitted near the tank although I don't know what head is required to make it work properly.

Some with a bowl will also separate out any water.

 

[Rorschach]

I should add this will need to done manually via gravity. Basically through a funnel.

Interesting to hear on the coffee filter, I would have thought it would flow through quite quickly.

 

[Sideways]

I can only say that it didn't for me but it will only take you a few minutes to try. Plenty of variables, you could be luckier than me .

 

[Rorschach]

True, I reckon I can find/beg a coffee filter to give it a try.

 

[dickm]

If it's only a few, buy a bag of kittty litter and put it in a bucket with a few holes in the bottom let gravity do the work.

I'm told that less scrupulous users of red diesel use the same technique to take out the colour, so it can be used on the road. NOT recommending this, of course!

 

[Tris]

J cloth or horticultural fleece, layered as appropriate. Then a coffee filter if required. Use an old kitchen sieve in the funnel or once the fabric is wet it'll stick and reduce the filtering area to the outlet only, been there (for too long)

 

[julianf]

People on biofuels forums generally like to use time when removing contaminants.

Barrels in lines where the product just sits and the rubbish settles out.

If this doesn't work or you need faster, then 10" water filters are cheap enough and you can get the elements in all sorts of different micron sizes.

Pump or gravity.

But, if all that sounds too expensive or too much like hard work, then I'm guessing your quantaties are not that great? If that's the case, just buy fresh.

Or if you want a perfect result, go the centrifuge route. But you're probably looking at a couple of hundred on setup.

 

[julianf]

Budget -

Old Jean legs sewn up.
Old bed sheets sewn up.
Then jay cloths.

But again 10" filter housing and elements are not massive money.

 

[Rorschach]

I am aiming for a compromise of time, budget and practicality. I am expecting to only filter maybe 10 litres at a time. It doesn't need to be perfect but I also don't want to stuff up the injectors on the heater burner. The savings represented are just getting into 3 figures per year so not worth spending too much time or money on but worth a little bit especially if I can some up with something straight forward.

 

[Tris]

That reminds me, must check the homebrew

 

[julianf]

I am aiming for a compromise of time, budget and practicality. I am expecting to only filter maybe 10 litres at a time. It doesn't need to be perfect but I also don't want to stuff up the injectors on the heater burner. The savings represented are just getting into 3 figures per year so not worth spending too much time or money on but worth a little bit especially if I can some up with something straight forward.

Two oil drums (of whatever size)
Fill them both up.
Leave for as long as possible.
Syphon off the top half of the first one and refill it to brim.
Use that fuel.
Syphon off the top half of the second one, and refill to brim.

Repeat.

If you're not using fuel that quickly this method will work. It just requires the storage.

Anything that has not settled out in X weeks of settling will not block nozzles. It may create a poor burn etc. but you're not going to be able to filter out miscable contaminants anyway.

 

[hairy]

Mr Funnel?

 

[Rorschach]

Mr Funnel?

Looks great and well reviewed but YIKES! is is pricey!

 

[hairy]

Not as cheap as a coffee filter, but they do at least three sizes the smallest showing up on Amazon is £20? Same medium, just bigger flow rates. Some reviews say they are dubious, others say it's fab, and to keep water in the filter you do have to keep it level while in use.

 

[Rorschach]

I think I am going to try a coffee filter (I am sure a friend will give me one) first and see how that goes.