ABSTRACT
The main objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of the extraction-flocculation regeneration process for different types of Waste Lubricant Oil (WLO). The solvent used in the regeneration was 1-butanol. Two WLO samples with significant differences in physicochemical characteristics were selected. The effect of most critical parameters, namely the solvent/oil ratio, addition of KOH as flocculant agent and the Critical Clarifying Ratio (CCR) were investigated. The results showed that the equilibrium yield varied from 89 to 92% and the sludge removal from 6.5 to 8.5%, depending on the type of waste oil. The addition of 1 g/L of KOH in 1-butanol led to an increase of 13.1 and 32.9% in the sludge removal. The critical clarifying ratio varied from 1.4 and 2.1. This study demonstrated that different operation conditions could be used to optimize the efficiency of regeneration by adjusting the process to the type of waste oil.
