Software Support for Waste Oil Management

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1 Software Support for Waste Oil Management SANJA VRANES, FABIO DALLA GIOVANNA, OLFA KHELIFI, ANDREA LODOLO, STANISLAV MIERTUS ICS-UNIDO International Centre for Science and High Technology United Nations Industrial Development Organization AREA Science Park, Padriciano 99,34012 Trieste, ITALY Abstract: - Regeneration is an environmentally beneficial and energy-efficient method of managing used oil. Less energy is required to produce a liter of regenerated base stock than a liter of crude oil. Once the contaminants are removed from collected used oil, it is as good as new, returned to a full and useful life, "closing the recycling loop." Of course, the regeneration technology depends on many factors type of contaminants, available budget, yield and quality of the main product, scalability, development stage, environmental friendliness, etc. Therefore, we have developed a software package to help decision makers to select the regeneration technology that best suits their own criteria and preferences. The tool is easy to use, Web accessible, Java based, and implements PROMETEE outranking method as a preferable multicriteria decisionmaking paradigm Key-Words:-Multicriteria Analysis, Decision Support, Environment, Waste Oil Regeneration 1 Introduction European Commission s Waste Oil Directive 75/439 in its first article defines a waste oil (used oil, spent oil) as any mineral-based lubrication or industrial oils which have become unfit for the use for which they were originally intended and, in particular, used combustion engine oils and gearbox oils, and also mineral lubricating oils, oils for turbines and hydraulic oils. Or, as defined by American Environmental Protection Agency ( used oil is any oil that has been refined from crude oil or made from synthetic material (animal and vegetable oils are excluded), that has been used as lubricant, hydraulic fluid, heat-transfer fluid and for other similar purposes and, as a result of such use, is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities. Physical contaminants could include metal shavings, sawdust and dirt. Chemical contaminants could include solvents, halogens and saltwater. Used oils are generated at a very diverse set of locations, ranging from mine sites and do-it yourself urban and rural locations to more concentrated locations such as city automobile garages and workshops and industrial sites. A huge quantity of used oil is unaccounted for and little is known about the disposal of this oil. Some of it is likely to be from inappropriate disposal, such as putting out with rubbish or pouring on the ground. According to the EC sources (europa.eu.int), about 5000 kt of base oils were consumed in Europe annually, among which about 65% of automotive oils and less than 35% of industrial oils. About 50% of consumed oils are lost during use (combustion, evaporation, residues left in the containers ). The remaining 50% represent the collectable used oil. Engine oils represent more than 70% of the collectable used oil, while black industrial oils represent about 5% and light industrial oils less than 25%. The average used oil collection rate reached about 70-75% in the E.U. in The remaining %) are accounted as illegally burnt or dumped in the environment. It still vary from country to country. The efficiency of the collection systems is often very high for engine oils (more than 80%) and low for black industrial oils (less than 10%). An average of 25% of the collectable used oil, (i.e. 33% of the collected used oil) would have entered a regeneration plant in the EU in 1999, while about 50% of used oils were energetically used in the E.U., in Cement kilns play an important role in the energetic use of WO: about 17% of the total used oil and 35% of the used oil burnt, are burnt in cement kilns at the European level. The Waste Oil Directive 75/439/EEC is designed to create a harmonised system for the collection, storage, recovery and disposal of waste oils, such as

2 lubricant oils for vehicles, turbines, gearboxes and engines, hydraulic oils, etc. The Directive also aims to protect the environment against the harmful effects of illegal dumping and of treatment operations, since the used oil is a hazardous waste as it displays some hazardous properties. Used oils that are found in rivers, lakes and streams threaten aquatic life. Indeed, a litre of used oil can contaminate a million litres of water. Furthermore, severe soil contamination that significantly reduces soil productivity can result from waste oils being left on the ground. Therefore, the paramount recommendation from EEC and all relevant environmental meetings is that the sooner the various ways and means for collecting and regenerating used oils are considered, the less acute would be one of the major preoccupations deriving from apprehensions about our physical environment. The EC ordinance specifies that waste oil regeneration must have priority over other options such as energy recovery through the use as fuel in cement kilns. Germany, for instance, already regenerates over 40% of waste oils collected, and the government expects the proportion to rise further under the new ordinance. The developing and transition countries are looking to Europe to find a "standing" model in their quest for the best "product stewardship" strategy for oil. To help its target beneficiaries (investors, environmentalists, policy makers, technologists, etc. from the developing world) to catch up with Europe regarding waste oil management, the ICS-UNIDO has undertaken the development of repository of the best available technologies for waste oil regeneration, together with the innovative Web-based decision support tool for the assessment and selection of the most suitable technology to regenerate particular waste oil, taking into account the type of dirt present in it and the specific needs and preferences of various stakeholders (including technology maturity or development stage, quality of the product, yield of the main product, operating cost, by-products, etc.). The demonstration prototype of the software has already been implemented, and its validation and verification is under way at ICS-UNIDO, as well as continuous acquisition of data on emerging waste oil-regeneration technologies. 2 Rationale for regeneration It has been widely recognized now that the oil does not wear out, it just gets dirty, weather by physical or chemical contaminant. One of the more popular methods of used oil recycling, especially for machine lubricants and cooling/ quenching systems, is reconditioning the oil on site. This involves removing impurities from the used oil using a commercial oil filtration system. While this form of recycling might not restore the oil to its original condition, it does prolong its life. A more sophisticated reuse method is regeneration, defined by EEC Directive as any process whereby base oils can be produced by refining waste oils, in particular by removing the contaminants, oxidation products and additives contained therein. Regeneration prolongs the life of the oil resource indefinitely. This form of recycling is the preferred option because it closes the recycling loop by reusing the oil to make the same product that it was when it started out and, therefore, uses less energy and less virgin oil. Regeneration of used oil takes only about one-third the energy of refining crude oil to lubricant quality. EEC Directive gives the priority to the regeneration of waste oils upon other disposal option, when economic, organisational or technical constraint so allow (Article 3). If these constraint the regeneration of waste oils, the next option to consider is their combustion for energy recovery, which involves removing water and particulate so that used oil can be burned as fuel to generate heat. This form of recycling is not as preferable as methods that reuse the material because it only enables the oil to be reused once. Nonetheless, valuable energy is provided. Lastly, the used oil can be inserted into a petroleum refinery, which involves introducing used oil as a feedstock into either the front end of the process or the coker to produce gasoline and coke. Used oil regeneration plant takes dirty oil and turns it back into fresh, good-as-new oil that can be used in cars, tracks, and elsewhere. As the advertising slogan of the used oil regeneration factory says the engine won't know the difference between virgin and regenerated oil but the Earth will. Indeed, test after test has shown that re-refined oil is of equal quality to oil made from a virgin base stock. Certified rerefined oils must pass the same tests that virgin oils do, including cold start and pumpability, rust corrosion, engine wear, high temperature oil thickening, deposit, and phosphorous tests. Moreover, re-refined oil may sometimes be a few cents per quart cheaper than the virgin oil. The final cost is, of course, dependent on factors such as the

3 blend, quantity, and supplier. Also, re-refining is energy efficient -- less energy is used to produce a gallon of base stock from used oil than to produce the same gallon from crude oil. At least the following good reasons for regenerating used oil could be given: 1. One of the main axes of the European Commision Directive on used oil is that, among the different options for recovery, priority is given to the regeneration of used over their incineration (in spite of this, several studies clearly demonstrate that Member States do not favour regeneration of used oil, but on the contrary are widely using it as fuel in industrial installations). 2. Used oils are a very valuable resource. They are a very refined fraction of petroleum and their recovery possibilities are extremely high. Average crude oils have 3-8% lube content, whereas lube crudes typically have 12-16% lube content. This compares with 60-75% recoverable lube content in used automotive oils, which if burned or dumped would mean the loss of a valuable natural resource. 3. Re-refining of used oils is energy efficient -- less energy is used to produce a gallon of base stock from used oil than to produce the same gallon from crude oil 4. Re-refined oil prices are competitive to equivalent virgin oil prices 5. It is macro-economically viable because it reduces dependence on imported oil, helps in reducing the trade deficit (if one exist in certain country) and it creates new jobs 6. It is environmentally friendly. In addition to losing a valuable resource, burning or dumping or used lube oils in landfills and/or city sewers seriously pollutes the environment by contaminating our soil and waterways. It is estimated that the amount of used lube oil winding up in the sewers and garbage dumps, and being spread on land each year is considerable larger than the oil spilled by tankers. Therefore, recovering the lube content of spent automotive oils, in contrast to simply disposing of them, is desirable for environmental protection since the used oil can foul sewage treatment processes or, if dumped on the land, it significantly reduces soil productivity; Oil from a single automotive oil change can ruin the taste of a million gallons of drinking water. 7. Used oil regeneration allows for the conservation of natural resources (no need to produce fresh lubricants from virgin oils). 8. There is no compromise in the quality of rerefined oil. There is no compromise in the quality of re-refined oil. Re-refined oil is used motor oil that undergoes an extensive re-refining process to remove contaminants to produce good-as-new base oil. The base oil is then sold to blenders who add additive packages to produce high quality lubricants. Re-refined oil products are subject to the same stringent refining, compounding, and performance standards applied to virgin-oil products. They must pass the same cold-start, pumpability, rust-corrosion, engine-wear and high-temperature viscosity tests that virgin oils do. The best proof that the rerefined oil is as good as virgin oil is the fact that for instance, Merzedes Benz installs re-refined oil in every new car manufactured. Also, US post Office and National Parks service use rerefined oil in their vehicles fleets. 3 Demonstration Prototype To help its target beneficiaries ( investors, environmentalist, policy makers, technologists, etc. from the developing world) to catch up with Europe regarding waste oil management, the ICS-UNIDO has started the development of repository of the best available technologies for waste oil regeneration, together with the decision support tool for the assessment and selection of the most suitable technology to regenerate particular waste oil, taking into account the type of dirt present in it and the specific needs and preferences of various stakeholders (including technology maturity or development stage, quality of the product, yield of the main product, operating cost, by-products, etc.). The demonstration prototype of the software has already been implemented, and its validation and verification is under way at ICS-UNIDO, as well as continuous acquisition of data on emerging waste oil-regeneration technology. The demonstration prototype has the following functions Enables its users to identify and systematically compare information about mature and innovative technologies for used oil regeneration, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses Establishes a structure of technology evaluation and selection process, which simplifies the decision

4 making and streamlines the variety of factors involved in the regeneration process Defines consistent, measurable indicators for key technical, environmental and economic criteria that influence selection and deployment of technologies Provides documented, reproducible evaluation which can be updated as needed information becomes available Provides a flexible, multicriteria optimization approach allowing tradeoffs among criteria on the basis of contaminant type and user s specific needs Favors communications and helps focus dialogue between various stakeholder in the technology selection process Provides its users with the opportunity to explore alternative options quickly, etc. The software is based solely on the information in the current version of the ICS-UNIDO compendium on used oil remediation technologies [1], based on compiling readily available information from the literature or personal communications with involved technology owners/vendors/inventors. However, it could be easily extended in the future to reflect additional information acquired, and/or updates /revisions/additions to the ICS-UNIDO repository of best available technologies (BATEV). The software is extremely user friendly after defining the contaminant present in the used oil, user is presented with only those technologies that are, at least to the certain extent, capable of eliminating those contaminants. Then, the users selects the criteria he considers the most important and their relative weights and preferences. System ranks the available regeneration options according to the chosen set of criteria The software presents its users with a variety of configuration and input parameters from which to choose. Several are mandatory (such as identifying technologies to be evaluated), but there are many that the user can choose to leave blank or use the supplied default values. This way, the user decides how to tailor the analysis to satisfy his/her specific needs. Application configuration and data entry process encompasses several tasks: Entering available technologies and their descriptions. Initially, technologies are classified to two broad categories technologies for producing lubricants/base oil and technologies for producing marketable fuel. Within these two categories, technologies are further classified according to the development stage, into technologies with proven industrial applications, those that at the prototype or pilot stage, and those that are only emerging from R&D laboratories, or currently being patented. New technologies can easily be entered during the interactive session, while those that have become obsolete could easily be cancelled. Also, the parameters describing the performance of the existing technologies against certain criteria can easily be change (if technology has been improved in certain aspects during the software life cycle). Entering criteria to be considered simultaneously. Demonstration prototype uses twelve technical, environmental and financial criteria (yield of the main product, quality of the product, feed limitation, stream factor, development stage, scalability of the plant, possibility to work on site, additional equipment/substances, capability of PCB removing, existence of solid wastes, by-products, capital cost, operating cost). It is extremely easy to add new criteria. However, the major bottleneck is the acquisition of the reliable criteria values (scores of technology performance against these criteria) for all the technologies considered. The technology vendors are reluctant to give precise data for those criteria that do not represent comparative advantage of their technology. Setting weights of chosen criteria and selecting the type of preference function. Not all the stakeholders are equally interested in the criteria listed above. Investors are more interested in capital cost than the environmental acceptability of certain technology, while the local community and/or the environmentalists have exactly the opposite viewpoint. Therefore, the system enables its user to select the subset of the criteria offered by the system to be taken into account in particular MCDM session, as well as to put the relative weights to the chosen criteria that best reflect their specific preferences. The application s main window (see Fig. 1) consists of the current state of configuration, and a few dialogs for data entry purposes.

2. Buttons for manipulating nodes of the technologies tree 3. Button for selection of the contaminants present in the waste oil 4. Criteria tree structure 5.

5 2. Buttons for manipulating nodes of the technologies tree 3. Button for selection of the contaminants present in the waste oil 4. Criteria tree structure 5. Buttons for manipulating nodes of the criteria tree 6. Button for setting weights (relative preferences) of the selected criteria 7. Button for starting multicriteria decision making process Fig. 1. Demonstration application main window In the Figure 2, for instance, the button connected to the regeneration technologies producing lubricantbase oil and are mature enough to be applied in industry has bin pressed, and technologies are listed (not all the list can be seen in one screen, it needs to be scrolled down). Also, button for the criteria used in multicriteria decision making has been clicked, so the criteria are visible at the right hand side of the picture. Fig. 2. The main window with partial technologies and criteria lists It is connected to the database that contains previously entered information on available technologies and selection criteria. Application uses JDBC-ODBC Bridge for accessing database. Therefore, the database should be registered by ODBC Administrator application. An application main window consists of the following sections: 1. Technologies tree structure A dialog box Technology Properties is used for entering and updating information on particular technology. It consists from a few text fields and standard OK and Cancel buttons. Main fields are for technology identification code, name and description. Three other text fields are disabled, and they are used for presentation of multicriteria analysis results. Radio buttons On and Off are used for including/excluding selected technology in multicriteria analysis. A dialog box Criterion Properties is used for entering and updating attributes of particular criterion. It consists of several text fields, four radio buttons, and standard OK and Cancel buttons. Main fields are for criterion identification code, name, weighting factor, function ID, i.e. the identification code of the selected preference function for the criterion, and its parameters. Radio buttons On and Off are used for including/excluding selected criterion in multicriteria analysis. Min and Max radio buttons show whether selected criterion is maximized or minimized. After the criteria are selected and their relative preferences set by the user, pushing Analyze button on the application main window starts the multicriteria decision making process, and the system recommendation as well as ranked alternatives are presented to the user. This result is not shown in the paper, since we would not like to remain an honest and objective technology broker and not to publicize any particular technology (that would come up as a recommendation from a particular session with our decision support system). 4 Conclusions Among the available alternatives for used oil recycling, regeneration has been recommended as the best choice, for a plenty of reasons, listed in the

6 second chapter of this paper. However, even when the decision to undergo the regeneration process has been made, the selection of the best available technology according to the multiple, sometimes conflicting criteria remains to be done very carefully. To help its target beneficiaries from developing and transition economy countries in this sensitive decision making process, the ICS-UNIDO has started development of the Internet accessible decision support tool that helps assess the available technologies against various technical, environmental, financial and social criteria, and select the most suitable technology according to the specific objectives and preferences of a particular user/stakeholder. The demonstration prototype has currently being completed and is a subject of severe internal validation and verification process before being posted on the web for wider beta testing by beneficiary institution and/or individuals. References: [1] F. Dalla Giovanna, O. Khlebinskaia, A.Lodolo, S. Mieruts (Eds.), Compendium on Used Oil Regeneration Technologies, ICS-UNIDO, 2002 [2] Sun Microsystems: Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), [3] Turban E. and Aronson J., Decision Support Systems and Intelligent Systems, Prentice Hall, 2001 [4] Salminen, P., Hokkanen, J., Lahdelma, R.: Comparing multicriteria methods in the context of environmental problems, European Journal of Operational Research, No. 104, 1998, pp [5] United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO): Manual for the Preparation of Industrial Feasibility Studies, Vienna, 1991 [6] Vraneš, S., Stanojević, M., Stevanović, V.: Investment decision making, in Leondes (ed.) Expert Systems, Academic Press, 2002 [7] Brans, J.P., Vincke, Ph.: A Preference Ranking Organisation Method, Management Science, Vol. 31, No. 6, 1985, pp

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