Full Hydrocarbon Management Services

Environmental Benefits

Key Environmental Benefits:

• Environmental Sustainable Practice - Full Cycle Management
• Waste Reduction through segregated hydrocarbon collection and onsite reuse of reprocessed waste
• More efficient utilisation of resources
• Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions:
• Implementation of Oz Future Fuels key climate change technology ensures low emission fuel through a carbon capture closed loop re-refining system.
• Reduced Transportation emissions compared to clients current waste collection transport. Oz Future Fuels collection trucks run on a biofuel blend which produces up to 78% less CO2 emissions compared to petroleum diesel fuel.
• Lifecycle analysis of biodiesel production, distribution and use show that biodiesel produces up to 78% less CO2 than petroleum diesel fuel. (United States Department of Energy).

Importance of Correct Hydrocarbon Management on Climate Change

Climate Change is a by-product of industrialisation with the bulk of Australia’s emissions coming from electricity generation, transport and agriculture. In 2006, Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions using the Kyoto accounting provisions were 576.0 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent (Mt CO2-e). The energy sector was the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing 69.6% (400.9Mt CO2-e) of emissions, and 4.9% from industrial processes and 2.9% from waste.  Stationary Energy emissions ‘includes any emissions from fuel consumption for electricity generation, fuels consumed in the manufacturing, construction and commercial sectors; and other sources such as domestic heating’ (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper July 2008).

Carbon pollution is causing climate change, resulting in higher temperatures, more droughts, rising sea levels and more extreme weather. Damaging our well-known icons like the Great Barrier Reef and the Kakadu wetlands.
(National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2006, Department of Climate Change)

Waste Hydrocarbon Oils – Environmental Impacts

Used Hydrocarbon Oils – Carbon Rich Waste.
Currently most waste oils are stockpiled, dumped at landfills or used as burner fuel. Waste oil which leaks into the environment through inappropriate storage or dumping or used as burner oil results in the release of excessive greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that trap and retain heat from the sun, creating a warming effect on the Earth. Oil industry data suggest that in Australia around 75% of collected waste oil, about 120 ML, is reused as a burner fuel, for example, in cement and lime kilns, furnaces and industrial burners. (www.oilrecycling.gov.au/cpss.html).

Table 1 below indicates the potential pollutants from a range of hydrocarbon waste which contribute excessive greenhouse gas to the environment. Used oils can contain heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium and lead, and may also contain arsenic and dioxins. Low temperature burning of used oil can create airborne pollutant emissions.

The emissions from burning waste oils reflect the compositional variations of the waste oils.

Potential pollutants include carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx),Particulate matter (PM), particles less than 10 micrometers in size (PM-10), toxic metals, organic compounds, hydrogen chloride, and global warming gases (carbon dioxide [CO2], methane [CH4]).

Table 1 Current Pollutants Created from Waste Hydrocarbon Burning.

Waste Oil Contaminants (www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42/ch01/final/co1s11.pdf )

• Particulate Matter
  Ash levels in waste oils are normally much higher than ash levels in either distillate oils or residual oils. Waste oils have substantially higher concentrations of most trace metals relative to those concentrations found in virgin fuel oils. Without air pollution controls, higher concentrations of ash and trace metals in the waste fuel translate to higher emission levels of PM and trace metals than is the case for virgin fuel oils.
• Sulphur Oxides
  Emissions of SOx are a function of the sulphur content of the fuel. The sulphur content varies but some data suggest that uncontrolled SOx emissions will increase when waste oil is substituted for distillate oil but will decrease when residual oil is replaced.
• Chlorinated Organics
  Constituent chlorine in waste oils typically exceeds the concentration of chlorine in virgin distillate and residual oils. High levels of halogenated solvents are often found in waste oil as a result of inadvertent or deliberate addition of contaminant solvents to the waste oils.
• Other Organics

The flue gases from waste oil combustion often contain organic compounds other than chlorinated solvents. At parts per million levels, several hazardous organic compounds have been found in waste oils. Benzene, toluene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polychlorinated dibenzo-d-dioxins are a few of the hazardous compounds that have been detected in waste oil samples. Additionally, these hazardous compounds may be formed in the combustion process as products of incomplete combustion.

Table 2 indicates the level of greenhouse gas emissions from standard waste oil burning methods. Common oil burning practice in space heaters or industrial burners releases up to 100% of the waste oils sulphur, nitrogen, polynuclear, chlorinated hydrocarbons and phenols gases into the environment. Furthermore, up to 50% of the waste streams lead, cadmium, chromium and zinc are released into the environment with the remaining toxins converting to ash or soot for disposal.

Table 2: Environmental Impact Characteristics for Used Oil Burning

Waste Oil Collection In Australia

Figure 1.1 Used Oil Proportions

(Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering)

Used oil is generated from lube oil at a rate of 52% to give approximately 270 ML of ‘potentially collectable’ used oil against an estimated 220 ML collected in 2002-03 (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering).

Used Oil collected In Australia

• 520 million litres of oil is sold each year in Australia
• It is estimated that at least 250 million litres of used oil is generated each year, which could be as much as 300 million litres.
• Australian’s recycled around 230 million litres last year
• up to 70 - 100 million litres remains unaccounted for (Automotive Waste Resources, Dept of Environment and Heritage Power Point report).

Uncollected oil collection is further explained in table 4.2 below. From this table, it can be seen that Australia’s collection rate is good at 81%. This collected waste oil needs to be recycled so it can become a renewable energy source.

Each year, 100 million litres of oil goes missing – much of it stored in remote parts of Australia with little access to recycling facilities. Where there is often fierce competition from recyclers to collect waste oil
in many urban areas, this does not apply in most regional areas.
(www.deh.gov.au/minister/env/2001/mr18dec01.html).
The NT and WA have the largest waste oil stockpiles at 15 ML and 16 ML, respectively.
(www.oilrecycling.gov.au/cpss.html).

Oil Recycling Industry
Used oil recycling in Australia has evolved to meet the increasing demands of industry as it has expanded and produced greater volumes of used oil, recognized by some as a recoverable resource. An illustration of the recycling industry is provided in figure 1.2 below.

Figure 1.2 Oil Recycling Industry (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering)

Waste Oil Collection and Recyclers
The annual volume of potentially recoverable oil in Australia is estimated to be about 200 ML, and perhaps even as high as 260-280 ML. Collection figures tend to cluster around 150-165 ML, or around 75% of potentially recoverable volumes. This figure, if accurate, is very respectable when measured against the performance of other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, but data in this area must be treated cautiously.

Recovery and recycling processes range from simple collection and delivery for use as burner fuel to more technologically advanced processes, such as re-refining to lubricant.

Recycling technologies in use in the used oil industry include:

• Filtering and dewatering – oily water and solids collected in strainers
• Dehydration – applying heat to reduce water to <1% Filter to 10micron.
• Demineralisation – chemical treatment to remove metals, ash, water and solids
• Thin Film Evaporation (TFE) with vacuum distillation, producing diesel fuel, base oils and bituminous bottoms.
• Propane de-asphalting (PDA) producing diesel fuel, base oils and bituminous bottoms
• Thermal cracking – at >300c to produce diesel fuel
• Solvent extraction – further refining to produce lubricant quality base oil
  (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering).

Current oil recycles in Australia including technology type and main products extracted from the waste engine oils. Oil industry data suggest that in Australia around 75% of collected waste oil, about 120 ML, is reused as a burner fuel, for example, in cement and lime kilns, furnaces and industrial burners. temperatures and long retention times in the burning zone ensures the destruction of toxic compounds. (www.oilrecycling.gov.au/cpss.html).