While oil is an essential factor of modern industry, to the point it’s nearly ubiquitous in the objects and machines we use daily, it also contributes to many environmental problems. These problems arise from both the production of new oil and the processes which must be used to manage waste oils after they have finished their time within various manufacturing processes.
Oil drilling and the environment
Oil drilling is a problematic experience for the environment as a whole. In addition to obvious changes, such as the landscape itself and the ensuing problems for wildlife which emerge, there are other problems.
While the oil drilling process itself would seem quite benign to the layman, there’s a lot of damage done by the drills themselves even if you leave aside the construction of wells and pipelines which dot the landscape in many places.
This is the future the company hopes to build, a greener future and the most efficient usage of oils ever within the economy.Oil drilling is a problematic experience for the environment.
Even offshore drilling has its consequences, both in the release of problematic chemicals and disturbing of the sea bed and marine life.
Depending on the operation, and the care they take, these consequences can range form fairly minimal to quite drastic. Some of the newer types of oil mining, such as targeting oil rich sands, can have even more drastic effects on the environment than the previous drilling and mining methods which have been used for quite some time.
Indeed, the ever-increasing demand for oil is only going to increase the problems associated with oil mining of any sort. While several areas have been “marked-off” from such processes, it’s likely only a matter of time until these oil rich resources will need to be tapped as current sources dry up.
This is without getting into the environmental concerns raised by high levels of carbon dioxide production inherent to the processes of both procuring and refining oil after it has been successfully pulled from the ground.
Waste oil’s deleterious environmental effects
Whether it’s the motor oil in your vehicles or the oil used in lubricating amazing industrial processes, all oil has a limited life span within its designated usage. These waste oils are a serious problem, as the oil itself becomes an environmental hazard at this point in its life span.
These oils, when not managed properly, leach into the environment. From there, they often reach the water table itself, which causes further health problems farther down the line even if the initial improper disposal was in a remote area.
These problems come in the form of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known carcinogens, as well as smaller amounts of heavy metals which can be produced by the oils which make their way in from the machines and engines the oil is used within.
Released directly into water, oil poses an even larger risk. A liter of oil can actually contaminate one million liters of freshwater. It’s easy to see the risks which come about from our use of oil, but it’s also completely essential to modern techniques of manufacture and power.
Used oil is even more of a problem than “new” oil. It’s quite “sticky” which means that smaller spills will eventually accumulate until they become a much larger problem than can originally be anticipated. This accumulation of oil isn’t a minor menace, it’s downright toxic and will have serious effects further down the line.
The oil recycling process
There’re also many problems which emerge from the fact that not all waste oils are compatible and while they’re mixed on occasion they must often be collected and processed separately in order to maintain a high level of purity for re-use.
This isn’t a minor problem, there are major logistic headaches awaiting facilities which process these oils and more problems further down the line with inefficient filtration and the general mismanagement which inevitably ensues from human error.
It’s still more environmentally friendly than dumping it on the ground or into the nearest gutter, but it isn’t doing nearly enough to contribute to the health of our environment.
In most cases, oil can only be purified so far. This means a constant shuffling, from ground to manufacturing processes to use in heating oil, asphalt, and other “end products” which ensue. Indeed, most oil recycling isn’t so much about purifying the oil for re-use as it is used to keep the one way transition going.
A solution in the form of a circular economy of oil
RecondOil’s patented Double Separation Technology (DST) is providing a serious solution for this problem, however. The dual-process purification can be used to return oil to a ridiculously high-grade for usage.
Indeed, their entire program has produced amazing results. Whether it’s nearly continuous usage of the same oils in an industrial process or taking exceptionally “dirty” oils and converting them to a power source, RecondOil’s technology is offering solutions to an environmental atmosphere which is plagued with concerns about oil.
What if, instead of a honing machine needing the oil to be changed frequently due to particle accumulation, thus generating both waste oil, the oil could be purified to more than 99%, entirely “in-line.” Or if the oil used in tire production could be reclaimed and used as a cleaner power source further down the line?
DST offers both of these realities to the world.
The environmental impacts of both finding new oil and dealing with the waste can be mitigated through the usage of adequate filtration methods. This means less carbon dioxide, less environmental impact as demand for “new” oil decreases, and less wasted oil within the entire cycle.
Indeed, with the off-line production which can be utilized in this manner, you can also see the world beginnings of something truly unique: a circular economy of oil. By keeping more oil within the cycle, this technology really does offer something new to the world: the possibility of a future where oil demand has decreased to a trickle and instead real and nigh-perpetual usage of oil in industry practices can be seen.