Technological Proposal for Reduction of Residual Lubricating Oil In Oil Filters Removed from Automotive Engines 2017-36-0196

In this study, a prototype oil filter was developed as a replacement for the shielded filters currently used in automotive applications. The goal was to reduce the residual lubricating oil disposed with a used filter. This is considered a Class I, waste (dangerous), under NBR 10004. Current Brazilian legislation, including CONAMA Resolution No. 362 of 2005, prioritizes the collection and disposal of used lubricating oil, and requires all contaminated material to be recycled or, where current technology does not permit this, to be sent to industrial landfills certified to handle toxic waste. To quantify the volume of residual oil in a commercial shielded oil filter, an experiment was conducted using 120 samples of a standard model. These samples were weighed before and after use. Before developing our novel design, a survey was conducted of professionals from the automotive field, to identify the main opportunities for progress. On the basis of the useful suggestions provided, a digital model and later a prototype were developed. The prototype was tested in an Otto cycle engine for 20,000 km. The oil retained in a conventional shielded filter and in the prototype was compared. The volume of lubricating oil retained by the commercial shielded filter, after use and drainage, was 118.4 ml on average, compared with 39.0 ml for the prototype, a reduction of 67%. Extrapolating this reduction to the 2015 Brazilian fleet of 48,226,804 cars the results suggest that approximately 4 million liters of extra lubricating oil could be sent directly for re-refining, without requiring further separation after the filter exchange.