400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A. Tel: (724) 776-4841 Fax: (724) 776-5760 Web: www.sae.org 2005-01-1805 Re-refined Lubricants and the US Military – Current and Future Directions Colin Paul Colvin Safey-Kleen Systems Reprinted From: Military Vehicle Technology (SP-1962) 2005 SAE World Congress Detroit, Michigan April 11-14, 2005 SAE TECHNICAL PAPER SERIESDownloaded from SAE International by University of British Columbia, Monday, July 30, 2018The Engineering Meetings Board has approved this paper for publication. It has successfully completed SAE’s peer review process under the supervision of the session organizer. This process requires a minimum of three (3) reviews by industry experts. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without the prior written permission of SAE. For permission and licensing requests contact: SAE Permissions 400 Commonwealth DriveWarrendale, PA 15096-0001-USAEmail: [email protected]: 724-772-4028Fax: 724-772-4891 For multiple print copies contact: SAE Customer ServiceTel: 877-606-7323 (inside USA and Canada)Tel: 724-776-4970 (outside USA)Fax: 724-776-1615Email: Customer [email protected] ISSN 0148-7191Copyright © 2005 SAE International Positions and opinions advanced in this paper are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of SAE. The author is solely responsible for the content of the paper. A process is available by which discussions will be printed with the pap er if it is publishe d in SAE Transactions. Persons wishing to submit papers to be considered for presentation or publication by SAE should send themanuscript or a 300 word abstract to Secretary, Engineering Meetings Board, SAE. Printed in USADownloaded from SAE International by University of British Columbia, Monday, July 30, 2018ABSTRACT Re-refined base oils have been widely available for many years. Quality and consistency have been of concern with older less effective technologies. Modern re-refining techniques, utilizing hydrotreatment and fractionation, produce high quality base oils and finished lubricants that meet or exceed a wide range ofapplications including passenger car and heavy dutyspecifications. Re-refined base oils have been reviewedand approved for military use in SAE J2359 (MIL-PRF-2104G), J2362 (A-A-52039 B) and J2363 (A-A-52306)applications. Modern and future re-refining techniques, quality and consistency of finished base oil and finalapplication within the US Military are explored. INTRODUCTION Modern re-refining techniques have been in existence in North America for more than 20 years. Techniques such as prequalification of used oil streams coupled with the commingling of individual streams into large feed tanksfacilitate extremely consistent feedstocks. Consistent used oil streams are then feed directly into multiple production units to produce vacuum distillate oils which are hydrotreated to produce high quality API Group I Plus base oils suitable for use in most automotive and industrial services. Data on the consistency and quality of the base lubricants have been submitted andapproved for use in finished military tactical and non-tactical vehicles. Presidential executive order EO13149 and 13101 have ensured the procurement of re-refined lubricants into the military and other government agencies. Future re-refining design modifications look atincreasing the quality level of re-refined lubricants tomeet or exceed the quality of current API Group II Pluslubricant manufacturers. PREQUALIFICATION AND CONSITENCY OF USED OIL FEEDSTOCKS USED OIL PROCURMENT AND PRE-QUALIFICATION It is estimated that over 1 Billion gallons of used oil is generated annually in North America from a wide range of industries and geographies. As expected, not allstreams are chemically and/or physically acceptable for re-refining into qua