Businesses substitute diesel with used oil

Fadli, The Jakarta Post/Batam

Since fuel prices were increased on Oct. 1, some businesses in Batam have turned to recycled lubricating oil as a substitute for diesel fuel.

Before the fuel price increases, recycled oil was used by a limited number of businesses for very specific activities, such as to feed burners in the plastic industry. Now more companies in Batam are using recycled oil as a substitute for diesel fuel in more and more machines.

"Several industries had started shifting to used oil before the fuel price hike, but the trend has increased following the fuel price increases," Kurniawan, the general manager of Desa Air Chargo Batam, a company involved in the disposal and treatment of hazardous wastes produced by industries in Batam, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The company, which collects used oil from garages in Batam, supplied processed used oil to at least two companies prior to the fuel price hike.

Since the price increases, four other companies have placed orders for recycled oil with his company.

"The significant increase in diesel fuel prices for industries has forced businessmen to find ways to reduce production costs while at the same time maintaining the quality of their products. One way to do this is to replace diesel fuel used in machines with a cheaper option," said Kurniawan.

Several components in machines and engines must be modified before switching from diesel fuel to recycled oil, in particular the injection pump nozzle, which has to be fitted with a filter to remove solid metal particles and other contaminants from the fuel system.

"Not all machines can simply be switched from diesel to used oil. If a diesel engine is modified to use recycled oil, a lot of money is needed to buy additional equipment," said Kurniawan.

He said one of the machines most often modified was the blower used in the plastic industry, which functions as a heater and works just as well when running on recycled oil.

He said the fuel costs for running a blower could be cut considerably for an initial investment of about Rp 75 million (US$7,500) for the filtration equipment.

"This is a long-term investment for the industrial sector because the price of used oil is a lot cheaper than diesel," said Kurniawan.

The price of industrial diesel fuel is currently Rp 6,000 per liter, while recycled oil sells for Rp 300,000 for a 200-liter drum, or Rp 1,500 per liter.

Kurniawan said he bought old oil from garages in Batam for Rp 50,000 per 200-liter drum. The oil is then processed to separate water from oil. There are six industries that buy recycled oil from his company on a regular basis.

In practice, there is not much difference between the efficiency of recycled oil and diesel fuel, but the use of recycled oil does carry with it the danger of reducing the life span of an engine or machines.

The life span of a diesel powered engine is about 10 years, while those fueled by recycled oil may last for just seven years.

"We collect 200 drums of used oil each month from a number of our business partners. The supply of used oil will remain steady as long as there are cars on the road," said Kurniawan.

However, before a company can use recycled oil as fuel it must first obtain a special permit from the Office of the State Minister for the Environment, keeping in mind the emissions produced by used oil can be more harmful than normal emissions.

"Gas emissions produced by machines powered by used oil are considered normal. But since recycled oil is listed in the B3 (harmful) waste category, it requires permission from the environment ministry," said Kurniawan.

The head of the Batam Regional Environmental Impact Management Agency, Mawardi Badar, said that according to Law No. 23/1997 on environmental management a special permit was needed for the disposal and use of used oil.

"Businesses cannot just think about how to cut production costs at the expense of the environment. Environmental recovery is more costly than trying to cut the production costs of a company. But we will accept the use of recycled oil if it is in line with regulations," said Mawardi.