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Abstract
Volume 43 - 2017 -
Issue 161
7
The Organization ofArab PetroleumExporting Countries (OAPEC) is indeed
fortunate in selecting the theme of this year’s resea rch titled “Re-Refining of
Used Lubricating Oils and its Economic & Environmental Implications”.
Used lubricating oils affect the environment adversely for the pollutants that
they accumulate as a result of deterioration throughout the service life under the
conditions of heat and friction.
At the same time, used oils are still a hydrocarbon resource that should
be conserved as much as practicable to lessen the needs for crude oil and its
products.
While the collection of used oil and its utilization for fuel or in re-refining
industry in the Arab countries is small and limited to few countries, increasing
interest is seen forthcoming and will pick up momentum once the governments
make it a policy to support the industry by laws and regulations and financial
compensation.
The breakdown of the requested research as outlined in (OAPEC)
announcement has been covered here with the variation that was found
necessary to cover the intended purpose especially with respect to burning
used oil for energy recovery and the relationship with virgin lubes supply and
demand. It was found that the used oils question is not isolated and must be
viewed in relation to the overall industry of lubricants and to fuel users as well.
Chapter 1 deals with the history of lubrication and re-refining to see how the
re-refining industry evolved from the consumption of virgin base oils and to
take note of the similarity in processing steps of both.
In chapter 2 the environmental impact and resource conservation of used oils
disposition is discussed with respect to dumping, burning for energy recovery
or processing for base oil production.
Re-Refining of Used Lubricating Oils and its
Economic and Environmental Implications
Saadallah Al Fathi