Oil Re-Refining Co. has opened a plant in Portland, Ore., that produces approximately 500 barrels per day of base oils. Through a joint venture it plans to build another plant of the same size near Reno, Nev. Although small compared to existing facilities, the two plants together will increase rerefined base oil capacity in North America by 16 percent. According to Orrco officials, they also operate on a scale that should improve the viability of rerefining.
Orrco, a private company based in Portland, collects a variety of wastes throughout the northwestern United States. It claims to be the regions largest collector of used motor oils. It also collects used oil filters and oily solids, animal fats and greases, and used tires and provides wastewater treatment services.
Officials say the company has worked the kinks out of the Portland rerefinery after starting operations a few months ago. The plant has capacity to process nearly 600 b/d of used oil, with 80 percent of its output being Group I 100 and 300 solvent neutral base oils. The remaining output is diesel fuel and asphalt flux.
Orrco is a partner with Best Energy Inc., of Reno, Nev., in Encore Energy, which is building the second plant outside Reno. Orrco President Bill Briggs said Encore has all necessary permits and is preparing to begin construction, which should be finished in six or seven months.
At the moment, Orrco is selling most of its base oils as industrial fuels, but Briggs said the company is working to develop outlets in the industrial lubricant market, which would offer better prices.
Rerefined base oils have been slow to catch on in North America. Aside from Orrco, the continent has just four plants that produce them, with a total capacity of 6,200 b/d. Safety Kleen Corp., which accounts for 81 percent of that capacity, emerged from three years of bankruptcy just eight months ago.
Briggs predicted the Orrco and Encore plants will be more profitable for two reasons. First, they cost $3.5 million to build, compared to much larger price tags for existing plants.
Those operations had such large investments that I dont know if they ever made money, Briggs said.
The processes used by rerefiners such as Safety Kleen, Evergreen Oil and Newalta include distillation and evaporation followed by severe hydrotreating, producing oils of a higher quality.
The second advantage for the new plants, he said, is the technology they use – a rerefining process developed by Pesco (Pragmatic Environmental Solutions Co.), of Roanoke, Va. Briggs said Pescos process, based on evaporation and clay processing, is efficient and yields an unusually high proportion of base oils.